Day before Letter-of-Intent Day 02/03009

UPDATE: Everybody is correct. I was thinking today was the 4th. So tomorrow is signing day.





Well, it's Letter-of-Intent Day. And it's snowing again here in the great Granite State. I just updated the blog post on Jamar Smith. Scroll down.

Most teams announce their recruits late in the day as it gets really crazy in the last 48 hours. Many recruits hold out for a I-A/BCS offer and then start a hasty re-evaluation when the call does not come.

Many I-A colleges don't get recruits they want and make a last minute bid for local players. Boston College was famous for that in the past. Coach Jimmie Reid said UMass lost a couple of recruits at the end of the recruiting period every year. What really frosted his preserves was that the I-A school would ignore the kid during the whole recruiting period and then sign a UMass leaning kid in one day.

FCS/I-A teams are allowed 63 scholarships over 85 players. So then the "perfect' recruiting class is 17 recruits. Gray shirts and walk-ons are not counted.

Gray shirt definition here .

This article from ESPN looks at why a recruit might disappoint.

I'll be back later when UMass announces it's list. The school cannot comment on a recruit until they get the signed letter of intent.