It’s Friday the 13th and everything is okay. National Signing Day is approaching, and some elite recruit is making a plan to show the sports world how selfless of a player he is, by making a spectacle of his collegiate choice, a celebration of his own narcissism. He is picking out three or four new hats, making sure to include one of his future team’s rivals for good measure. While deciding where an athlete will spend his playing years in college is an important decision, keeping coaches, fans, and media guessing until the first Wednesday in February speaks volumes of character. Former USF beat writer and current ESPN sports reporter, Brett McMurphy, tweeted yesterday that the American Football Coaches Association has proposed that an early signing day be added on the third Wednesday in December. This date coincides with the signing day for junior college athletes, and had unanimous support from the AFCA member coaches. The NCAA had considered a second signing day in June, but that had no support from coaches, who feared that high school seniors would skip their senior year of playing to be keep from damaging their collegiate prospects. What a second signing day in December would do is greatly diminish the media circus that occurs every February. The third Wednesday of December would be in the middle of bowl season, a great time for a team player to not make it about him.
Looking Back
A ranked USF football team, a win over an SEC team in the Birmingham Bowl, and another record breaking season have finally started to get Quinton Flowers the national recognition he deserves. If his senior campaign is anything like his past season, he will likely be on many watch lists, including the one that begins with a capital H. In fact, he now has something in common with past winners of that illustrious trophy, which combines performance, popularity, and a large panel of judges to choose the sport’s most valuable player. Flowers has received a different high honor, College Football Performance Awards’ National Performer of the Year. The National Performer of the Year trophy is awarded based on a more scientific basis, where the player’s value to his team are measured and the popularity of the athlete is irrelevant. As it happens, the past four Heisman winners have also won the National Performer trophy. Flowers is the first non-Heisman winner to take the award since Matt Barkley won the award back in 2011.
The Birmingham Bowl did not get a lot of love before it was played. It was widely viewed as a middle of the pack bowl game, whose results didn’t much matter. The game was considered to be of such little consequence that it was scheduled for 2 PM on a week day. After the fact, ABC News has seen the light, and ranked this the 5th best bowl game of the year.
Looking Forward
While some in the media were making light of the fact that five star defensive lineman, Marvin Wilson, had USF in his top four, he went ahead and scheduled and official visit. If you’re a USF hater, look away, now. USF has another elite recruitscoming to campus for official visits with Charlie Strong’s staff. Four star safety, Naytron Culpepper will be on campus on January 20th. The 6-0, 175 pounder is ranked the 25th best safety in the country. He holds offers from Maryland, Michigan State, South Carolina, and Oregon, amongst 25 others. Those others include the likes of Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisville, and Arkansas, to name a few.
One of two defensive tackle recruits answering to the first name Kelvin. 6-2, 274 pound Kelvin Kegler will be taking his official visit at USF this weekend. He’s a two star recruit with offers from FAMU, Georgia Southern, and Minnesota.
Joining Kegler on campus this weekend is three star FAU receiver commit, Jordan Merrell. The 5-11, 178 pounder runs a 4.48 40 yard dash and holds offers from Louisville, Michigan, Cincinnati, Syracuse, and Temple, among others.
Two other recruits from Clearwater will taking official visits, as well. Jacquez Jones is a three star receiver who runs a 4.5 40. He checks in at 5-11, 170 pounds and is considered to be a hard commit to Tennessee, despite visiting USF this weekend and UCF sometime in the next few weeks. He has offers from 19 schools, topped off by the likes of Miami, Louisville, Wisconsin, and Cincinnati. His schoolmate at Clearwater and visitation companion is Kane Taylor, a 6-2, 280 pound defensive tackle whom 247 Sports rates at four stars. His 14 offers include Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Louisville, Michigan, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Apparently, there may be academic issues with Taylor. It certainly says something about new head coach, Charlie Strong, and his staff that a five star and two four star recruits will be visiting a progam which had only 12 committments and only the fifth best class in The American.
Not to be overlooked in the middle of all that football recruiting news is the fact that the #20/21 women’s basketball team will look to rebound from a humiliating 60 point loss to #1 UConn. The ladies will take out their frustration on ECU at 7 PM, Saturday.