40 Acres Sports

The recruitment of 5-star running back Darrell Scott has been a whirlwind to follow for Texas fans, but that all ends today on National Signing Day as Scott will announce his college choice at 11:50am Central. ESPNU and ESPN.com will carry his announcement live along with those of several of the nation’s other top undecided players.

Rivals.com‘s top running back in the country, Scott has narrowed it down to Colorado and Texas but no one is sure (maybe even Darrell himself) which one it’s going to be. Texas threw their hat into the ring for Scott’s services relatively late in the game, really not beginning to recruit him until he show interest early last Fall. At the time the Horns were seen as a long shot against schools such as Colorado, Florida, and UCLA.

The Texas coaches including Bobby Kennedy and Ken Rucker were able to build up a relationship with the young man and bring him in to Austin for an official visit. As always, Darrell left town extremely impressed with the coaches, the facilities, and the city. Texas quickly went from underdog to one of the favorites.

Next came Scott’s trip to San Antonio for the US Army All-American Bowl in early January. While in town Scott was impressed by the love he was shown by Texas fans, tons of people wishing him luck and flashing him the Hook ’em. And the big news, Jamaal Charles was leaving Texas early for the NFL Draft. Suddenly the depth chart was wide open and the experts were calling the Longhorns the favorites.

In the last 48 hours things have gotten truly crazy. All the inside sources, Darrell’s coaches, and the experts believed that he was clearly leaning towards Texas and would sign with the Horns. Then things went quiet. Family pressure has been pushing him to Colorado all along to play with his uncle (Josh Smith) and it is believed that has intensified in the last two days. Things have gone from Texas being the clear leader Monday, to 50-50 yesterday morning, and now it appears that the family has decided he’ll be headed Colorado. No matter which school he chooses, I hope Darrell is able to make the decision that is best for him and his future.

We all find out where Darrell is headed later today, stay tuned…

Update: According to Geoff Ketchum over at Orangebloods, Texas has “zero shot” of receiving Scott’s commitment today. The poor kid’s recruitment has become a “circus.” (10:40 am)

Update: Here is the link to ESPN’s live feed. Scott is supposed to announce at 11:50. (11:26 am)

Update: It’s official: Darrell Scott is headed to Colorado. He sounds like a well spoken young man, it’s a shame things turned out the way they did because it sounds like there’s some questionable things going on around him. (11:54 am)

[tag]Oklahoma[/tag] recruit Donald Stephenson signed on the dotted line Wednesday like most of the nation’s top prospects, but he didn’t sign with his teammates in front of the local paper’s lone reporter and photographer. And he didn’t fax it in from the coaches’ office or get the school secretary’s help in the front office.

Instead Stephenson faxed in his letter of intent from Office Depot because he’s currently suspended from school. Apparently some “bad luck” made him break into cars and steal an iPod, a purse, and some caramel bars with his friends. He never denies he committed the crime in the article.

To top things off he accepts a favor from the Office Depot clerk because he’s an athlete, a clear violation of NCAA rules:

An Office Depot employee named Jeanne lights up when told she’s faxing copies for Oklahoma’s latest recruit. She doesn’t question why Stephenson’s at her counter at 8:58 a.m. instead of at school.

“Voila! Five pages sent,” Jeanne exclaims, then shows Stephenson the confirmation page. “And the fax is on me. You don’t have to pay for it.”

Stephenson flashes his dimpled smile.

“That’s the least I can do,” Jeanne gushes. “We’ve got a celebrity here!”

Stephenson finishes his eventful day of signing with Oklahoma and NCAA violations by flying through a school zone while driving without a license or proof of insurance. I think there’s an opening at Big Red Sports/Imports in Oklahoma City, sounds like we’ve got a top candidate here.

Open Letter From Your Recruit on Signing Day. Funniest thing I have read all week. Not for the easily offended.

We’ll be updating this list as we get news (mostly from Rivals) of which players have officially signed their letters of intent and if everything goes as planned will be the newest Texas Longhorns in August. The first two players to become Longhorns were Ian Harris out of San Antonio and Cody Johnson from Waller. Keep checking back here because we’ll update this list as we hear more names.

Confirmed Signings

• Ian Harris
• Cody Johnson
• Kyle Hix
• Tray Allen
• Michael Wilcoxon
• Russell Carter
• Aundre McGaskey
• Tyrell Higgins
• Sam Acho
• James Kirkendoll
• Brandon Collins
• G.J. Kinne
• Ahmard Howard
• Keenan Robinson
• Malcolm Williams
• Blaine Irby
• Earl Thomas
• Christian Scott

Early Enrollees

• Curtis Brown
• John Chiles
• Michael Huey
• Andre Jones
• Ben Wells
• Fozzy Whittaker

Update: Just added Blaine Irby and Earl Thomas to the list which leaves only Christian Scott remaining. The stud safety just was the last player to commit to the Horns (just this weekend) and it looks like he’ll be the last one to fax in his letter of intent as well. Hopefully he’s not having any second thoughts. (10:38 am)

Update: Christian Scott’s letter is in and confirmed by both Rivals and Inside Texas (thanks Eric!). That means all 24 recruits, 18 today plus the 6 already on campus, are signed and will officially be Longhorns either this summer or in the fall if their grades are in order. Congrats to the class of 2007 and welcome to the family. (11:58 am)

Today is National Signing Day and recruits all around the country finally are able to sign on the dotted line and make those commitments a little more binding. We’ll be posting updates throughout the day as we hear news of the players who have signed their letters of intent and make their commitment to the University of Texas official.

There probably won’t be any surprises (good or bad) for the Longhorns or their fans but stay tuned for all the latest news.

MapGameDay.com has great information on NFL and college football stadiums, transportation, food, and hotels all integrated with Google Maps. Today on National Signing Day they’ll be updating their maps as the letters of intent roll in and plotting players on the map based on school, state or conference.

Check out the incoming Frosh from around the country. Top High School, and Junior College players will be moving this fall, and the recruiting map will help you see where your local favorites will be playing in the fall, or where your favorite university recruits most heavily. Some of these guys are gonna be piling up the frequent flier miles, and we have them covered.

Check out the their recruiting maps now.

(via EDSBS)

I’ll update this post from time to time today with any news on National Signing Day including who has sent in their letter of intent and any other rumors going around. Most of the guys should be signed by around noon and then we’ll just be waiting around for Jonas Mouton’s decision this evening.

Morgan shocks Aggies and Seminoles

4-star linebacker Michael Morgan was expected to choose between Florida State and Texas A&M last night and surprised everyone when he announced he’d be headed to USC next fall. While the Trojans were in his final three, most experts believed he was headed to FSU or possibly to the Aggies if he decided he wanted to stay closer to home.

The announcement sent the Aggie fans into meltdown mode. He was a critical recruit and one they had been very confident about landing for a while. The Aggies had a down year on the field this season and it’s been reflected in their lack of success in recruiting, Morgan would have been a very nice addition to an otherwise average class.

Latest on Mouton

Seems like most experts are predicting Jonas Mouton will pick Michigan tonight when he announces his decision on Fox Sports West. There’s still people predicting Texas or USC and Mouton has kept things pretty close to the vest, so these are all just guesses and gut feelings. I think in the end Texas just got in too late to have a chance to completely win him over.

Signed letters of intent as of 9 a.m.

According to Geoff Ketchum over at Orangebloods.com, 19 players have already signed their letter of intent to play for the Horns as of about 9 a.m. The following players have been confirmed by the Orangebloods staff:

• [tag]Ben Alexander[/tag]
• [tag]Chykie Brown[/tag]
• [tag]Buck Burnette[/tag]
• [tag]Antwan Cobb[/tag]
• [tag]Dustin Earnest[/tag]
• [tag]Brian Ellis[/tag]
• [tag]Sherrod Harris[/tag]
• [tag]Robert Joseph[/tag]
• [tag]Sergio Kindle[/tag]
• [tag]Hunter Lawrence[/tag]
• [tag]Vondrell McGee[/tag]
• [tag]Steven Moore[/tag]
• [tag]Jared Norton[/tag]
• [tag]Phillip Payne[/tag]
• [tag]Jevan Snead[/tag]
• [tag]Greg Smith[/tag]
• [tag]Roy Watts[/tag]
• [tag]JMarcus Webb[/tag]
• [tag]Montre Webber[/tag]

Steve Moore was the first one in this morning at around 7:30 and there’s been a steady flow since. I’m glad to see Ben Alexander‘s name already on the list as I had a slightly bad feeling about him. He’s out of state and several schools from the ACC and SEC have still been recruiting him since he committed back in June.

All letters of intent are in (11 a.m.)

The last six of the 25 man class are signed and Orangebloods has confirmation on them. Add the following names to the Class of 2006:

• [tag]Deon Beasley[/tag]
• [tag]James Henry[/tag]
• [tag]Lamarr Houston[/tag]
• [tag]Eddie Jones[/tag]
• [tag]Josh Marshall[/tag]
• [tag]Britt Mitchell[/tag]

Now just waiting on Mouton…

Mouton to Michigan (4 p.m.)

His press conference isn’t for several more hours but it appears Jonas Mouton has already made his decision. Lloyd Carr’s official press release on the Wolverines’ signees confirms that Mouton has signed his letter of intent and makes tonight’s press conference just a formality.

That wraps up things for the Longhorns today as everybody we knew about is already in and no one new is really left out there. We’ll have an overview of the entire class soon as well as a position-by-position breakdown of next year including the new guys in the coming days/weeks.

National Signing Day is finally upon us and Longhorn fans will unexpectedly have something to look forward to.

With a fantastic class in both quality and quantity mostly wrapped up months ago, the only recruit that Texas has offered that has yet to announce is 4-star safety Jonas Mouton out of California. Texas didn’t get in on Mouton till after the US Army All-American Bowl three weeks ago but made a very strong push and has a great shot of landing him. It’s a three team race between Texas, Michigan, and USC.

He’ll be announcing his decision at a 8:30 p.m. CST press conference on Fox Sports West and we’ll have that info as well as any other news or rumors here as soon as we hear them.