The new early signing day has come and gone while the “normal” old February signing day is quickly approaching. Was a Dec. signing day a good idea? Was it a bad idea? I am indifferent but here are a few of my thoughts on the subject.
Risk Versus Reward
If I am one of the lucky student-athletes to receive a letter of intent for the December signing period, do I sign? Or do I wait it out?
If I were advising my own son, I would tell him, “If you tripped and loved the school, sign. If you aren’t 100% sure, don’t sign, but understand the risk involved.”
Signing early relieves a lot of pressure and saves players ready to sign months of headache from continuous recruiting calls. It let’s them focus on school, winter sports, etc.
It also forces the school’s hand. If they really want the player, they will issue a LOI, if they don’t they won’t and they writing should be on the wall for the player.
If you are issued a LOI and choose not to sign it, there are several things that could happen. One, the schools may wait and continue to recruit high profile players, players they deem “worth it”. Two, the player gets dropped and loses their scholarship offer. This in turn has the school looking back at their board for new prospects, ones that haven’t signed yet. A few lucky souls could end up getting heavily recruited from December to February.
We have seen examples of both here in Arizona.
Perry quarterback Brock Purdy is a kid that has exploded in recent weeks. When I talked to him at the Ed Doherty Awards in December, he was planning on visiting Big Sky schools. He did not sign in December, choosing to wait it out. A few weeks later and he is on the phone with Nick Saban getting an offer from the national champs.
On the other side of the coin, we saw today what happened to offensive linemen Hunter Mayginnes from Hamilton. He has been committed to Arizona State for months but chose not sign in December, and for the record, I don’t blame him, he didn’t know who his offensive line coach was going to be. Arizona State decided to move on today. And for the record, I don’t blame them either, but I would have done it sooner if I was ASU, just because I would move on from players that choose not to sign early despite being committed. He tripped to UCLA recently, but I do not believe the Bruins offered. Idaho and New Mexico offered prior to him committing and Louisiana offered Mayginnes after Billy Napier and Rob Sale left ASU for that new job. Thanks goodness he still has options, because that is the risk, you could get left with nothing if you choose not to sign.
