With Early Commitments, Being No. 1 in August Does Mean Something

Texas is No. 1.

Or is it Oklahoma? Or does Florida, USC or defending recruiting champion Ohio State have enough juice to finish with a flurry over the next five months and land the nation's top 2010 recruiting class? While questions remain, this much is certain: for many top schools, football coaches are receiving non-binding verbal commitments long before February's national signing day.

Many believe the trend of committing early was a recruiting strategy first implemented by Texas coach Mack Brown.

"Most teams are either pretty much done or halfway done at this point, compared to five years ago when teams were barely getting started commitment-wise by late summer," Jamie Newberg, national recruiting analyst for Rivals. com, told FanHouse.

"I knew it hit us two falls ago when FSU and Miami had a combined 32, 33 commitments before Aug. 1. It's unbelievable. Teams are evaluating earlier, offering earlier, getting kids on campus and to camps. I crunched some numbers for the fun of it and looked at the BCS schools two Junes ago and commitments were up over the same period five years prior by 500 percent.

"It's all because of Mack Brown and Texas. They are basically done by the May evaluation period, so they get a jump on next year. So what happened? The rest of the teams in the Big 12 had to recruit accordingly and it has kind of laterally spread across the country. And now everyone is recruiting like this."

Last week, for example, Oklahoma received a commitment from Scout.com three-star prospect Trey Millard of Columbia, Miss., helping the Sooners overtake the top spot from rival Texas in Scout.com's updated team recruiting rankings.

Oklahoma has 22 commitments for a total of 3,803 points (3.59 average star ranking), according to the site's five-star ranking/point system. The Sooners have received commitments from four of the site's Top 100 players. Texas, meanwhile, has 19 commitments for 3,777 points (3.89 average star ranking). Alabama, LSU and Georgia round out the top five schools in Scout.com's team rankings. Ohio State, which hauled in last year's top class, according to Scout.com, is currently 19th with 11 commitments.

Texas, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida and Alabama hold the top spots in team rankings by Rivals.com.

Scout.com National Director of Recruiting Scott Kennedy posted that he believes the Sooners are probably off to their fastest recruiting star under coach Bob Stoops. Kennedy believes the rivalry with Texas for recruiting dominance in the Lone Star State has intensified the urgency on the recruiting trail.

"Their main rivals for recruits right now is the team that goes out and gets the recruits the absolute earliest, Texas," Kennedy said.

"So if they are going to try and get some of the players that Texas wants then they need to get out there and start offering and taking commitments even earlier, because as we all know Texas is going to be done with their class in March. OU is one of the few teams if not the only team that can go head-to-head with the University of Texas with that type of success."

Not much has changed atop the individual rankings.

Seantrel Henderson, a 6-foot-7, 310-pound offensive tackle from Saint Paul, Minn., continues to be ranked No. 1 by Rivals.com and Scout. com. Henderson, also an accomplished basketball player, has received more than 50 scholarship offers in football and at least two in basketball.

He has made unofficial trips to Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Florida, USC and Ohio State.

Henderson, a senior at Cretin-Derham Hall, is scheduled to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Jan. 9 in San Antonio. Henderson, who plans to announce his school of choice on National Signing Day in February, is scheduled to take official visits to Ohio State in September, Notre Dame in October and USC in November.

Henderson's three favorites have been reported as Florida, Ohio State and USC. In its summer prediction, Scout.com has Henderson becoming a Gator.

Barry Every, a recruiting analyst for Rivals.com who has worked in the recruiting offices of coach Mark Richt at Georgia, Bobby Bowden at Florida State and Brown when he was at North Carolina, offered this written evaluation of Henderson:

"Physically one of the biggest offensive linemen in the country. Henderson will remind some observers of Ohio State offensive tackle Mike Adams. Upper and lower body structure is in proportion and he has the powerful base to blow anyone off the line of scrimmage. Henderson has offers from almost every college in the country, and once he starts year-round focus on football, he should develop into a first-round draft pick."

Of course, early recruiting has both a good side and a bad side.

Many prospects are taking unofficial visits to campuses and finding that connection with a particular school. The benefit allows players to enjoy their senior seasons and focus on the tasks at hand, rather than concerning themselves with the pressures of being recruited. It also allows them to focus on their academics and ease the transition from high school classes to collegiate academics. It's also a boon to college football programs; they can start the evaluation process earlier for the following year.

There's also a negative side of committing early.

Injuries are a factor, potentially affecting a player's development. There are also evaluation mistakes made earlier in the process. Plus, in some instances, a head coach may leave a school, prompting a player to change his commitment. And, when dealing with teenagers, let's also not forget that players can change their minds for a multitude of reasons, leaving coaches with holes in their recruited class.

"There are tremendous advantages of recruiting early, but there are also great risks," Newberg said.



Last year, according to Scout.com, Ohio State managed to stay atop of the team rankings from day one. But a number of schools are within striking distance of Oklahoma -- Texas, Alabama, and LSU are all within 300 points of the Sooners.

Newberg also is keeping close tabs on the recruiting efforts of Notre Dame and Miami.

Notre Dame, which needs to make strides this season under coach Charlie Weis -- many believe he is essentially on a one-year contract in 2009 -- has built critical depth through its past three recruiting classes, including players who undoubtedly would play extensively for any team in the country. UM head coach Randy Shannon, in his third season, has two highly-rated recruiting classes on campus and the pressure is turning up on him to bring the Hurricanes back to national prominence.

"I think it's safe to say that both coaches [Weis and Shannon] have to have good seasons," Newberg said.

"With Miami, there is more talent in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties than I have ever seen. You would think that Coach Shannon would pretty much have the pick of the litter, but they are struggling a little bit down there and that shocks me. But it also tells me that teams across the country are hammering these kids that, 'Look, things are not changing at UM.' Every team in the country is recruiting kids down there."

Defending national champion UF, meanwhile, has just 15 commitments, the same as Penn State. The Gators, however, have received commitments from a trio of five-star players, the most of any team listed in the top-25, according to Scout.com's rankings. USC, a notoriously strong finisher, has just 13 commitments.

"When you look around, there are early commitments every where," Newberg said. "But I also have been doing this long enough to know that it's still August and a lot of things can still happen.

"It's recruiting."