NCAA Approves Early Signing Period For High School Football Prospects
College football recruiting added a new twist Monday.
The College Commissioners Association announced it approved a brief December early signing day period at the Division I level of NCAA football. The vote was expected to take place next month.
Effective immediately, high school football players with college football scholarship opportunities from NCAA Division I member universities now have the option to sign at the same time as junior college football prospects transitioning to the NCAA. The 2017 early signing period will run between Dec. 20 and Dec. 22, and the standard signing period will start Feb. 7, 2018.
Some Texas high school players will inevitably have to juggle signing day ceremonies with state championship weekend. The University Interscholastic League championship games this season will all be played between Dec. 20 and Dec. 23.
The higher the level of classification, the closer the games are to the evening of Dec. 23. Naturally, the largest classifications yield the most college football prospects.
Mid-sized college programs as well as major conference programs with modest football histories are applauding the NCAA decision. They tend to lose committed players down the final stretch of the recruiting process as more reputable schools strike out on their first-choice picks and make alternative arrangements.
East Texas currently has 15 rising seniors with scholarship opportunities from the Division I FBS level alone, and the group owns a combined 141 offers from FBS schools. All of them are eligible to sign during the December period or in February -- as are any other 2018 graduates who pick up NCAA Division I football opportunities between now and Dec. 22.
Signing early might be particularly beneficial to Carthage running back Keaontay Ingram or Arp safety DeMarvion Overshown. Both have already eclipsed 25 FBS school choices and consistently have dialogue with interested schools as well as reporters covering those schools.
Both players' seasons will end on or before Dec. 22.
2018 East Texas Football Players With Division I FBS Offers
- Tre Allison, John Tyler, OLB, 6-0, 200 — committed to SMU; additional offers from Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech, Mississippi State, Texas State, ULL (6)
- Chance Amie, Tyler Lee, QB, 6-3, 190 — offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Central Florida, Colorado State, Georgia State, Houston, Iowa State, North Texas, Rutgers, Southern Miss, Syracuse, Tulane, ULL, Virginia (14)
- Xavier Benson, Pleasant Grove, LB, 6-0, 200 — offers from Arkansas State, Army, North Texas, Southern Miss, Texas State, Texas Tech, Tulane, ULL, ULM (9)
- Drake Centers, Tatum, OL, 6-4, 295 — offer from Texas State (1)
- Kris Dike, Van, OL, 6-6, 283 — offers from Colorado, Houston, North Texas, Oklahoma State, SMU, TCU (6)
- Dekalen Goodson, John Tyler, DE/OLB, 6-2, 215 — offers from Houston, Mississippi State, SMU, Texas State, ULL (5)
- Trae Hall, Henderson, QB/ATH, 6-3, 185 — offer from ULL (1)
- Conner Henson, Harmony, OL, 6-4, 250 — offers from ULL, ULM (2)
- Chasen Hines, Marshall, OL, 6-3, 340 — committed to LSU; additional offers from Arizona, Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Minnesota, North Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Rice, Southern Miss, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas State, Texas Tech (16)
- Tevailance Hunt, Texas High, WR, 6-2, 180 — committed to Kansas; additional offers from Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Iowa State, Louisiana Tech, Marshall University, Nevada, North Texas, Southern Miss, Tulsa (10)
- Keaontay Ingram, Carthage, RB, 6-0, 198 — offers from Arkansas, Baylor, Colorado, Florida State, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas, LSU, Memphis, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, UCLA, USC, UTSA (27)
- Malik Jackson, Lufkin, WR, 5-8, 165 — offer from Arkansas State (1)
- DeMarvion Overshown, Arp, ATH, 6-4, 196 — offers from Alabama, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, Baylor, Clemson, Colorado, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, LSU, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, SMU, South Carolina, Southern Miss, Stanford, TCU, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, USC, UTSA (30)
- Jonathan Shepherd, Kilgore, WR, 6-3, 196 — offers from Colorado State, Florida Atlantic, Kansas State, ULM, New Mexico, Oregon State, TCU (7)
- Tyree Wilson, West Rusk, LB, 6-5, 225 — committed to Washington State; additional offers from Kansas, Southern Miss, Texas State, ULL, ULM (6)