Wednesday is National Letter of Intent Day.
You will hear and read the term “4-star recruits” quite a bit.
I’ve never heard a head coach say on signing day that his class is full of guys with no stars.
I remember the absolute fever coming from Sun Devil fans and alums when John Elways son signed with ASU back is 2008.
The Arizona State football department couldn’t tell me enough times how amazing Jack Elway was going to be. The Sun Devils were soooooo excited about Elway, they didn’t sign another QB in that years class.
One year later, Elway quit the program.Head coach Dennis Erickson said, “he’s just tired of football and wants to do something else with his life”.
The ASU football website wrote this about QB Michael Eubank. “One of the country’s most explosive and versatile quarterbacks…a dangerous threat in and out of the pocket…has incredible scrambling abilities and is a very accurate passer”.
Eubank was rated as a four-star prospect by both Rivals.com and Scout.com. Eubank left ASU with a whimper in December for Samford.
Junior College players will also be hailed on signing day. I am fine with JUCO players, but again you have to ignore the hype. For every Marion Grice, Chris Young or Jaelen Strong, you have a Mike Pennell(complete bust). To Arizona State head coach Todd Grahams credit, he has had pretty good success on the JC front.
I understand the PR side of LOI day. The big-cigar alums and fans don’t want to hear that they were beaten out by their rivals for a player. I am just suggesting that this is a week where what you hear and read, isn’t always filled with fact.
Hype is the four letter word of the week.
Brad Cesmat
