The headline says it all, this is about the top college football recruiting classes in 2009. Like Rivals, we're calling Alabama the top recruiter after a stellar final day saw the 'Tide seal the deal with in-state five star cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and four star linebacker Tana Patrick. They also picked up the south's best back in Floridian Trent Richardson.
Signing day has come and (nearly) gone, filled with celebration and upheaval. Sort of like life. We're here to parse what can be parsed and detail the recruiting classes that were for the major conferences.
Last year's big story in college football until its series of bowl flops, the Big 12 finds itself once again among the nation's top conferences when it comes to recruiting. Several schools finished well, with three falling inside of Rivals.com's top 25 classes list. Predictably, Texas and Oklahoma have separated themselves from the pack this year, but the conference remains competitive to where we find many big names at Big 12 places we wouldn't expect.
Signing day has come and (nearly) gone, filled with celebration and upheaval. Sort of like life. We're here to parse what can be parsed and detail the recruiting classes that were for the major conferences.
While recruiting services Scout and Rivals differ widely in their overall assessments of this year's Big Ten recruiting classes, they're both impressed by many of the same things. Of course, they're also unimpressed by many of the same things.
But hey, you're a smart person. You can figure things out for yourself. You want to know who helped themselves. You want to know who shot themselves in the foot. You want to know if the talent-rich got richer, like Michigan did with defensive end Craig Roh (pictured). Make the jump, grasshopper; all will be revealed.
Signing day has come and (nearly) gone, filled with celebration and upheaval. Sort of like life. We're here to parse what can be parsed and detail the recruiting classes that were for the major conferences.
First up, the wild and unconstrained Pac-10. So long as Pete Carroll's around, the story every year will begin with USC and end with a lot of broken hearts. This year was no different with the Trojans easily claiming the best signing class in the conference, and one of the three to four best, nationally. The Trojans' headliner is future golden boy quarterback Matt Barkley, but didyouknow USC hemorrhaged several major recruits this year? Details after the jump.
Tennessee receiver Marlon Brown has done the unthinkable in spurning the home state Volunteers to play for Mark Richt and the University of Georgia Bulldogs. The six-foot-five receiver was widely regarded among the nation's best, with an excellent combination of speed, hands and leaping ability.
His offer sheet included nearly every top national program before he narrowed things down to Florida, Ohio State, Tennessee and eventual pick Georgia. Asked by ESPNU to explain his decision, Brown cited Georgia's ability to get young receivers up to speed. The 'Dawgs clearly have a solid record of that lately, as A.J. Green was among the SEC's best receivers as a true freshman last year.
Provo, Utah offensive tackle Xavier Su'a-Filo has chosen to play football at UCLA. Su'a Filo selected the Bruins over suitors Utah, BYU, USC and LSU. His decision was yet another in a day of surprises, as many had expected him to end up with the home state Utes, who were last seen thrashing Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
As one of the last remaining uncommitted offensive linemen, Su'a-Filo's stock has continued to rise, and no school came close to needing him as much as UCLA.
Whenever you are dealing with young kids, you're going to experience some difficulties in decision-making. Plenty of adults have issues with commitment, so kids are bound to have the occasional change of heart. I've never thought it was a terribly big deal when it happened, but it seems to be grounds for assault when a teenage athlete changes his/her mind on a college choice. One of those who has made that change on Signing Day is Kraig Appleton, a wide receiver from East St. Louis, Illinois. YouTube of his skillz is after the jump.
You would think with the success of Missouri in the last couple years, the Tigers would really start to see more dividends in recruiting. Instead Mizzou has not had it that much easier. Even with the in-state talent.
Despite being the only 1A program in the state, it took until December for the state's top player, defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, to give a soft verbal to the Tigers. Even then, he still seemed intrigued with heading to Miami. The last weekend of January saw him take a recruiting visit down south.
Today, however, the state's top player and one of the best defensive tackles in the country signed with the home state team. Missouri gets a 6' 4" and nearly 300 pounds beast, that will very likely rise in the Tigers two-deep with the graduation of Ziggy Hood.
FanHouse takes you into the belly of the college football beast that is recruiting. We'll be around before, during and after Signing Day '09.
Considering Michigan went 3-9 last season, Rich Rodriguez has a pretty impressive class rolling into Ann Arbor. It's not as strong as it could be, though. Defensive tackle DeQuinta Jones -- once a Michigan commit -- reportedly signed his letter of intent with Arkansas.
Jones is the second potential Wolverine to say "No thanks" and head elsewhere on signing day. Earlier, Pearlie Graves, another defensive lineman, eschewed Michigan for Texas Tech.
The biggest football recruit in the history of the state of Hawaii -- Manti Te'o -- has chosen to play football for Charlie Weis and Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish beat out USC and UCLA for Te'o's services after he dropped the favored BYU Cougars from his list after a visit several weeks ago. Te'o is a 6'2", 225-pound middle linebacker long considered one of the nation's top prospects.
If Vontaze Burfict wasn't the nation's top linebacker, Te'o was, and both spurned longtime favorites USC on signing day.
The headline says it all, this is about the top college football recruiting classes in 2009. Like Rivals, we're calling Alabama the top recruiter after a stellar final day saw the 'Tide seal the deal with in-state five star cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and four star linebacker Tana Patrick. They also picked up the south's best back in Floridian Trent Richardson.
Signing day has come and (nearly) gone, filled with celebration and upheaval. Sort of like life. We're here to parse what can be parsed and detail the recruiting classes that were for the major conferences.
Signing day has come and (nearly) gone, filled with celebration and upheaval. Sort of like life. We're here to parse what can be parsed and detail the recruiting classes that were for the major conferences.
Signing day has come and (nearly) gone, filled with celebration and upheaval. Sort of like life. We're here to parse what can be parsed and detail the recruiting classes that were for the major conferences.
Tennessee receiver 
Provo, Utah offensive tackle
Whenever you are dealing with young kids, you're going to experience some difficulties in decision-making. Plenty of adults have issues with commitment, so kids are bound to have the occasional change of heart. I've never thought it was a terribly big deal when it happened, but it seems to be grounds for assault when a teenage athlete changes his/her mind on a college choice. One of those who has made that change on Signing Day is Kraig Appleton, a wide receiver from East St. Louis, Illinois. YouTube of his skillz is after the jump.
You would think with the success of Missouri in the last couple years, the Tigers would really start to see more dividends in recruiting. Instead Mizzou has not had it that much easier. Even with the in-state talent. 
Considering Michigan went 3-9 last season, Rich Rodriguez has a pretty impressive class rolling into Ann Arbor. It's not as strong as it could be, though. 
The biggest football recruit in the history of the state of Hawaii -- Manti Te'o -- 
