Thursday, January 31, 2013

Race to the Finish: National Signing Day

With National Signing Day quickly approaching, college football fans are eager to see which schools emerge victorious in the recruiting war. Sure the usual suspects are there, Florida, Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio St., USC, but there a few other schools in this year's race that are worth keeping an eye on.

Texas A & M found a new home in the SEC and a new star in Johhny Football. With the spotlight shining bright on their program the Aggies have used that to their advantage on the recruiting trail. Last year their recruiting class ranked 15th, but they will finish with a top ten class this year, thanks in part to verbal commitments from receivers Ricky Seals-Jones, Derrick Griffin and Sebastian LaRue, who are obviously excited at the prospect of catching passes from Johnny Manziel. And yes, the Aggies may have the Heisman trophy winner running their offense, but their newest QB addition isn't too shabby either. Joining the team this year is Southlake Carroll QB and AP Texas high school football player of the year, Kenny Hill. The Dragons finished 39th in our inaugural iBN 50 and Hill is one of the reasons why. 
Next up UCLA. That's right Bruin fans, Coach Mora and his staff have been hot on the recruiting trail and it's paying off. Just this week two of the nation's top ten safeties, Priest Willis (Marcos De Niza, AZ) and Tahaan Goodman (Rancho Cucamonga, CA) verbally committed to UCLA. Plus the Bruins are making a push for the nation's #1 dual threat QB, Asiantii Woulard out of Winter Park, FL. Woulard was the ESPN Elite 11 MVP. UCLA is picking up steam at the right time and is poised to give their cross town rival a run for their money in the recruiting battle.
Finally don't sleep on Ole Miss. Coach Hugh Freeze and staff are rounding out their first full recruiting cycle and the results are impressive to say the least. They scored verbal commitments from DE Elijah Daniel, dual threat QB Devante Kincade and the nation's top wide receiver, Laquon Treadwell. But the cherry on top could come from landing the number one prospect in the nation, DE Robert Nkemdiche, which is a very real possibility. The Rebels could very easily go from the 40th best recruiting class last year to a top ten recruiting class this year!
Of course anything came happen as we continue to count down to signing day. Make sure to keep checking out the iBN Sports Network YouTube page as we continue to post highlights from the nation's top recruits. It's been fun covering the best of the best in high school football, can't wait to see what they do at the next level!