Recruiting: One Month until National Signing Day 2012

PHOTO BY CHUCK LIDDY - THE NEWS & OBSERVER

With National Signing Day exactly four weeks away, February 1, 2012 and the new year upon us, I wanted to post a small bit on the college recruiting front that will hopefully be of some help to those out there that have recently completed their senior season or are an underclassmen thinking about what's next in the process.

During this past season I had a number of informal conversations with student-athletes and parents of student-athletes regarding the college recruiting process and unfortunately it seems that in may ways the knowledge gap still exists - something that quite frankly isn't positive for the student-athletes or their high school programs.  I've always thought that the more the high school student-athlete knows about the system and the more their family understands about how it all works, the higher the probability that the student-athlete will end up in a situation that matches not only their athletic pursuits but also the academic side of things.

Rather than go into anything too in-depth, I'll throw just a few things out there:

Current Seniors:

For the seniors that are out there that are 'in-the-process' at the moment and haven't made a decision.  A few things to keep in mind.  Most D-IA or FBS schools at this point in time have the guys they've offered for this class and in many cases they have verbal commits.  Point is that in many cases unless you have been actively recruited by one of these schools, it is not the most realistic position to assume that an offer is still going to materialize.  I would add that as with most things, this isn't a 100% statement.  I can recall a tight end from the RDU area being offered by a major program in the ACC about a week prior to signing day.  As in he didn't have an offer from the school and then he did and it appeared that just weeks prior that the school had little interest in him.  So as I said, it's not impossible, but unlikely.  If you think a school is recruiting you at this level and you are 'waiting to hear from them'...point being that you are uncertain of their intentions, then do the following.  Pick up the phone, or have your high school coach pick up the phone and find out.  You'll get an answer and depending on the answer you can  have some peace of mind however the conversation goes.

Durham/Area Athletes All Over N.F.L. Scouting Combine 2011

PHOTO BY DON CALLAHAN

To think back to 2005 and 2006 and the incredible amount of talent on the football fields in Durham and the surrounding area is highlighted by this weekend's N.F.L. combine in Indianapolis where there will be quite possibly the largest contingent of local area talent on display for every recruiting board guru, N.F.L. coach and general manager.  For those interested in watching these young men compete, the N.F.L. has set up a live stream of the entire combine [http://www.nfl.com/combine].  I watched a portion of it last year and the stream was fairly high quality and I'm sure that this year it will be that much better.

Hillside will be represented by North Carolina wide receiver Greg Little.  Greg was in many ways a man amongst boys when he played in Durham.  He was someone that everyone knew about coming out of middle school and he fit into almost any position with ease.  One of the more dominant football players to suit up in Durham over the past fifteen years.

Riverside will be represented by two young men, Wake Forest wide receiver Marshall Williams and South Carolina tight end Weslye Saunders.  Marshall was another versatile and dynamic athlete playing both quarterback as well as wide receiver at times.  Some of the more outstanding catches over the past decade were made by Williams.  Saunders was quite simply a beast on the offensive side of the ball.  He played both defensive end and tight end in high school with the occasional short yardage shotgun quarterback routine as well.  He was a load to bring down and had enough in the way of agility and speed to run slot and tight end screens that could result in monster gains.  It always took two to three to bring him down and during their run to the championship in 2006 he played a huge role, especially during the playoffs.

Southern Durham and University of Florida offensive tackle Carl Johnson will also be showing off his skills at the combine.  Johnson was a load for defensive players to go against and when he was 100% tuned into the action it was almost without question that you would not be getting into the back field to touch Southern quarterback Kevin Atkins or getting a good piece of one of their running backs as Johnson cleared a path.

The Garner Trojans will be represented by one of the quickest skill position players to hit the North Carolina gridiron of late in South Carolina defensive back Chris Culliver.  I can recall prior to his senior year he was somewhat of an unknown on the recruiting circuit but went out and put up insane 40 times at combines and it wasn't long before everyone was very interested in Culliver.

A number of other North Carolina high school talent will be at the combine as well, so if you have some time, you should check the N.F.L. Scouting Combine site and see how North Carolina contingent does in comparison to some of the 'best' collegiate talent vying for the opportunity to play at the next level.