[editor's note, by outsidethesidelines] National Signing Day is now upon us and we will track all of the developments in this one thread. The five remaining prospects are all listed here, and they are listed in order of the time that they will announce. I am going to update each player's category throughout the day as things develop, and the player with the nearest announcement will be moved to the top of the thread so you can get all of the up-to-date news without having to filter through everything else. Finally, I am also going to post some links that I have found for live streaming audio / video of some of the announcements, but keep in mind that these servers will experience heavy traffic, and it may be very difficult to get them to load throughout the day.
Update [2008-2-6 10:45:53 by outsidethesidelines]: We have several letter of intents to already come in at this point. It does not seem like we are going to lose anyone of the current commitments, which was to be expected. Melvin Ray, Devonta Bolton, Mark Barron, Barrett Jones, Robby Green, Dont'a Hightower, Damian Square, and others have all faxed in. We seemingly have held onto all of the commitments coming into today.
Update [2008-2-6 11:47:14 by outsidethesidelines]: I figured I would keep a blurb open for prospects from other schools and their most recent developments. To begin with, Enrique Davis, the five-star tailback, spurned Auburn and signed with Ole Miss. Huge pick-up for Johnny Reb, and Auburn recruiting continues to fall apart. Antoine McClain got his panties out of a wad just long enough to sign with someone, as he ended up signing with Clemson. Good for him, we won't have to face him, but it does make me worry a bit about Harris now. Also, Florida lost two big commitments this morning, so we should pass them with no trouble.
Update [2008-2-6 12:43:23 by outsidethesidelines]: Now that Julio, Dareus, Bryant, and Quinn have already made their decisions, we only have one guy left on the board, Jerrell Harris. He will announce here in a little over two hours, and I'm going to take a bit of a break. I'll be back in a while, and we'll have the Harris announcement covered.
Update [2008-2-6 16:22:20 by Todd]:
Obviously huge credit goes to OTS for staying on top of things throughout the morning. Saban brought in quite a haul, and now that everyone we were waiting on has announced their decisions, here are your 2008 Crimson Tide Signees:
Commit | Position | Height | Weight | 40 Time | Rating |
Star Jackson | QB | 6'3" | 182 | 4.6 | |
Brad Smelley | QB | 6'3" | 220 | 4.7 | |
Ivan Matchett | RB | 5'10" | 206 | 4.5 | |
Jermaine Preyear | RB | 5'11" | 205 | 4.5 | |
Julio Jones | WR | 6'4" | 215 | 4.48 | |
Destin Hood | WR | 6'3" | 190 | 4.5 | |
Melvin Ray | WR | 6'2" | 185 | 4.55 | |
Chris Jackson | WR | 6'0" | 187 | 4.45 | |
John Michael Boswell | OL | 6'6" | 290 | 5.2 | |
Barrett Jones | OL | 6'5" | 271 | 4.9 | |
Tyler Love | OL | 6'7" | 285 | 5.1 | |
Undra Billingsley | DE | 6'4" | 260 | 4.7 | |
Glenn Harbin | DE | 6'6" | 250 | 4.8 | |
Brandon Lewis | DE | 6'3" | 260 | 4.7 | |
Michael Williams | DE | 6'6" | 240 | 4.7 | |
Terrence Cody | DT | 6'5" | 395 | 5.5 | |
Kerry Murphy | DT | 6'5" | 325 | 5.3 | |
Damian Square | DT | 6'3" | 270 | 4.78 | |
Marcel Dareus | DT | 6'4" | 227 | ? | |
Don'ta Hightower | LB | 6'3" | 248 | 4.7 | |
Courtney Upshaw | LB | 6'2" | 220 | 4.7 | |
Jerrell Harris | LB | 6'2" | 220 | 4.5 | |
Robby Green | DB | 6'0" | 175 | 4.5 | |
Alonzo Lawrence | DB | 6'1" | 187 | 4.43 | |
Robert Lester | DB | 6'2" | 205 | 4.59 | |
Wesley Neighbors | DB | 6'1" | 190 | 4.5 | |
Mark Barron | ATH | 6'2" | 202 | 4.5 | |
Devonta Bolton | ATH | 6'4" | 220 | 4.45 | |
Mark Ingram | ATH | 5'10" | 195 | 4.4 | |
Chris Jordan | ATH | 6'2" | 201 | 4.41 | |
Burton Scott | ATH | 5'11" | 194 | 4.4 | |
Corey Smith | K | 6'1" | 208 | 4.65 |
Jerrell Harris Announcing: 2:00 Position: OLB Rating: Height: 6'2" Weight: 220 Forty: 4.5
|
1:20: I must say that earlier I was highly confident that Harris would sign with Alabama. However, after Antoine McClain signed with Clemson, that has me very concerned. Those guys are very close friends and have talked openly about going to the same school, and Harris still has Clemson very much in the running. Though it looks like Auburn is out, I'm afraid that Harris may very well sign with Clemson and head up north with his buddy McClain. At the very least, apparently Harris was at McClain's press conference earlier this morning, and McClain will be at Harris' later this evening. I'm a bit concerned by all of that, honestly, though hopefully it will work out for us in the end.
1:51: You can follow Harris' press conference live by copying and pasting the following link into your browser: http://media.myfoxal.com/live/index.html
1:52: It looks like they are doing this very much like they did with Julio, having the press conference live at the school gymnasium. It looks like the entire school has turned out for this one. Fingers crossed.
1:58: Harris makes his way up on stage.
2:04: Harris just committed to Alabama! He announced by pulling a houndstooth hat out from under the podium. Wow, this is all simply unreal. Saban literally got just about every guy he wanted. We went into NSD with the #1 class in the country, and he still hit a grand slam today with Julio, Dareus, and now Harris. If you would have told me all of this a few weeks ago, I would have never believed it.
Julio Jones Announcing: 11:30 Position: WR Rating: Height: 6'5" Weight: 215 Forty: 4.45
|
11:12: We are getting close, very close, to the decision for Julio. You can catch it live on ESPNU, or you can click here to watch it online direct from ESPN. I figure that is the best bet, as it's the one least likely to crash due to a high traffic volume.
11:22: Since there is no news on Bryant and that is seemingly behind schedule, I'm moving Julio ahead on the thread. He should announce in a few minutes.
11:30: Julio has committed to Alabama! He went ahead and announced it just a minute ago, and I suppose ESPNU will air the delay of it in just a second. Either way, Julio is in!
11:31: They are about to air it on ESPNU, just click the earlier link. Julio has already announced, but ESPU is apparently going to air it with a bit of a tape delay.
11:33: They just showed it on ESPNU, and I think dang near everyone in the Foley area was in that gymnasium. It was packed, to say the least, and it erupted when he chose the Tide.
T.J. Bryant Announcing: 11:00 Position: DB Rating: Height: 6'1" Weight: 175 Forty: 4.4 |
10:32: I went ahead and moved Bryant up because now he is going to announce at the same time as Marcel Dareus. Given the apparent inability to get anything started on time, it may be after 11:0, but that is the time stated at the moment. Hopefully he will be prompt.
10:50: We should hear something on Bryant soon. I don't have a link to anything live, but if you can find one then please post it. Fingers crossed.
11:13: Still no word just yet, should come shortly.
11:39: Apparently Bryant chose the USC Trojans, though I haven't been able to get any firm confirmation of that. I can't say that is a major surprise, USC is a recruiting giant, and the bright lights of LA can be tough to turn down. I would have loved to have had him, but with Julio Jones and Marcel Dareus in the bag, you won't hear me complain one bit.
Marcel Dareus Announcing: 10:00 Position: DT Rating: Height: 6'4" Weight: 277 Forty: ?
|
9:46: Okay, we are about 14 minutes away from the Dareus brother's press conference, so I moved them ahead of Quinn on the thread because we have a better shot with them than Quinn. Supposely, you can click here and follow their press conference live.
9:51: I just verified the above link, and it is working fine at the moment. Press conference should start, live from Huffman High, in about ten minutes or so.
10:02: Everyone getting settled in at the press conference now. I imagine a couple of people will say a few words, and then Dareus will make announce his decision
10:15: Announcement should come any minute now, they have hats and letters of intent in front of them, and should be ready to go.
10:23 They are all ready to go, and then some guy mentions that things will start at 11:00 sharp. You know, it would be nice if they get this situated before hand, but I suppose I should not be overly confident in the execution of a press conference by a public high school. At least a couple of the women in the back are wearing something that looks like crimson, maybe that is a sign.
10:45: Marcel Dareus just signed with Alabama. Huge pick-up for the Tide. And on a side note, the public school system still couldn't get the PC going at the stated time even on the second try. Roll Tide, Marcel, and welcome aboard.
Robert Quinn Announcing: 9:30 Position: DE Rating: Height: 6'5" Weight: 245 Forty: 4.6
|
9:30: Quinn's press conference should be starting about right now. No real changes from what I can tell, as most still expect him to sign with North Carolina. That would probably be good news for us, as least if he goes there we won't have to see him.
9:35: No word yet on Quinn. There are some rumblings that he may have moved his announced back by thirty minutes or so to 10:00. If that is the case, we will find out on him and Dareus here in about 25 minutes.
10:11:: Robert Quinn just announced that he will sign with North Carolina. No real surprise there, it was what most expected. At least in Chapel Hill we won't have to face him like we would have at either Auburn or South Carolina.