Early signing period live updates: Where will South Florida’s top players sign?
1:45 p.m.: Most of the signings in South Florida are just about finished. With that, a couple tidbits to show the volume of signings during the first day of the early signing period:
▪ Miami-Dade and Broward Counties account for 34 of Florida’s top 100 players. 29 of them signed today or will sign (IMG Academy offensive lineman and Miami native Dontae Lucas is set to sign at 4 p.m.). The five who haven’t: Cardinal Gibbons’ Khris Bogle, University School’s Josh Sanguinetti, Jackson’s Breion Fuller, Chaminade-Madonna’s Cam Williams and U School’s Tyler Scott. (Yes, I’m counting Tyrique Stevenson as signing even though it’s not public where he signed).
▪ Of the 95 area players with at least a three-star status, 74 signed on Wednesday. That’s just under 78 percent.
▪ Only 20 of those 74 signees are going to in-state schools. Miami has five, UCF four, FSU and FAU three each, USF and Florida two each, and FIU one.
▪ As for out-of-state schools, Pittsburgh leads the way with four signees. Toledo, South Carolina, Kentucky and Indiana each has three.
11:35 a.m.: The latest round up of signing updates (including a fair amount that needs to be brought up from the past hour):
▪ Three Palmetto Panthers signed their national letter of intent on Wednesday morning and locked in their college decisions. Three-star safety Cornelius Nunn headlines the list and will be heading to Syracuse. Linebacker Eddie Williams will play at FAU and Jason Vaughn will play at USF.
Nunn, a two-way player for Palmetto, recorded nine total touchdowns in 2018 (four receiving, three punt returns, one kickoff return, one rushing) to go along with 32 tackles, four interceptions and eight pass breakups on defense. Williams tallied 126 tackles, 17 tackles for loss and five sacks.
▪ South Dade: We already mentioned Frank Ladson below, but two other South Dade players finalized their recruitment and signed a letter of intent on Wednesday. Wide receiver Najeh Baker is heading to Toledo and linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste is heading to UCF.
Baker finished his senior season with 1,093 yards and 10 touchdowns on 58 catches. Jean-Baptiste recorded 108 tackles, one sack and six forced fumbles this year.
▪ Deerfield Beach: Ge’Mon Eaford’s Oregon signing was noted earlier, but here’s the rest of the Bucks’ signees: defensive back Marcus Lafrance committed to Middle Tennessee State, wide receiver Donte Banton committed to Utah, defensive lineman Javon Denis committed to Georgia State and wide receiver Dashaun Davis is going to Appalachian State.
10:45 a.m: We have a lot to catch up on, so let’s get to it.
▪ Southridge five-star cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has signed his national letter of intent. But the question remains: Where will he play college football?
The public will have to wait until Jan. 5 for that answer when Stevenson announces his commitment at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. His final two schools: Georgia and Miami.
Four other Southridge players also signed letters of intent at their high school on Wednesday. Running back Courtney Reese will play at UNL. Cornerback Chris McDonald and linebacker Joe Smith are heading to Toledo and linebacker Diamante Howard will play at FAU.
▪ Plantation’s Adrian Cole, a three-star cornerback, signed with Syracuse.
▪ Carol City held its signing day ceremony. That full story can be read here.
9:10 a.m.: They closed out their high school career with a state title. And now, six of Cardinal Gibbons’ seniors have locked in their college commitments by signing their national letter of intent on Wednesday. Quarterback Nik Scalzo and tight end Nikolas Ognenovic will play at Kentucky, running back Vincent Davis is going to Pittsburgh, offensive lineman Jamari Williams is heading to Arizona, cornerback Sidney Porter is committed to Marshall and linebacker Yahweh Jeudy will play at Iowa.
Scalzo, a three-star prospect who is three weeks removed from having surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee, has been Gibbons’ offensive leader for three season. His final high school career stats: 6,471 passing yards and 74 touchdowns to 23 interceptions.
He’ll see a familiar face in Lexington next year in Ognenovic, a 6-5 tight end who also held offers from Pittsburgh and Boston College, among others.
Davis, a three-star running back, finished his senior year with 1,107 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. Two of those scores came in the Class 5A title game.
Williams chose Arizona over more than two dozen other suitors, including Louisville and Boston College.
Porter, a three-star prospect, has been verbally committed to Marshall since September. The safety filled up the stat sheet this season, recording 61 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries and a forced fumble. Porter blocked a punt that he returned for a touchdown in the Class 5A title game.
Jeudy, a three-star prospect, announced his commitment to Iowa on Tuesday night, a little more than 12 hours before signing his letter of intent. The 6-2, 215-pound outside linebacker led the Chiefs with 124 tackles this year and recorded a team-high 10 tackles in the state championship game. Jeudy also intercepted a pass and forced a pair of fumbles this season.
9 a.m.: A shocker out of South Florida: Fort Lauderdale three-star offensive lineman Kaleb Boateng, who was expecting to be choosing from Arizona, Maryland, and FAU, signed with the Clemson Tigers. The Sun-Sentinel’s David Furones reported that Boateng received the Clemson offer on Friday and kept it on the down-low until signing Wednesday. That’s another South Florida win for Clemson, which also signed South Dade’s Frank Ladson, the highest-ranked player in South Florida for this cycle (No. 4 in the state)
Other signings since the last update: St. Thomas Aquinas’ Curt Casteel (Harvard) and Julian Hernandez (Vanderbilt).
8:30 a.m.: The big announcement of the day has arrived: St. Thomas Aquinas safety Jordan Battle, the 10th-ranked player in the state of Florida, has flipped from Ohio State to Alabama. There were murmurs about the flip happening over the past few days following Ohio State coach Urban Meyer’s announcement that he is retiring. Now, it’s official.
Other signings that have occurred since the last update (full disclosure: I likely missed a few here since I was driving to Carol City in the interim): Columbus’ Kalani Norris (Georgia Tech), Luis Cristobal (Georgia State), Gary Cooper (Indiana) and Jeramy Passmore (Indiana); St. Thomas Aquinas’ Daniel Carter (Pittsburgh), Vincent Murphy (South Carolina) and Anthony Solomon (Michigan); Chaminade-Madonna’s Keontra Smith (Miami); Cardinal Gibbons’ Nik Scalzo and Nik Ognenovic (both Kentucky) and Carol City’s Wardrick Wilson (Florida).
7:25 a.m.: Four of Broward County’s top players and one from Miami Dade have already sent in their letters of intent. Deerfield Beach outside linebacker Ge’mon Eaford sent in his LOI to Oregon, St. Thomas Aquinas cornerback Jaden Davis is locked in at Oklahoma, University School’s Zay Flowers sent in his LOI to Boston College and Coconut Creek’s Taiwan Mullen is heading to Indiana. Meanwhile, Carol City’s Daniel Richardson’s LOI has been received by Central Michigan.
Eaford, a four-star prospect, is the No. 9 outside linebacker in this cycle and the 24th overall ranked player in the state of Florida regardless of position. He recorded 81 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, two interceptions and three sacks to help Deerfield Beach reach the Class 8A state semifinals. Davis, the No. 26 ranked corner in the country and No. 35 overall prospect in the state, recorded a pair of interceptions this year. Flowers, a three-star prospect, played on both sides of the ball for University School, recording 8 touchdowns on offense and a pair of interceptions on defense.
Richardson committed to the Chippewas on Monday following his official visit over the weekend. The 5-11, 198-pound quarterback threw for 3,254 yards and 32 touchdowns during his senior season at Carol City to finish his four-year preps career as the Dade County leader in career passing yards (9,791) and passing touchdowns (117). He spent his first three seasons at Booker T. Washington.
ORIGINAL POST: The fax machines are whirring. College coaches are huddled together in their offices. Hats with various college mascots are being placed on stages at high schools across the country.
It can only mean one thing: Signing day is back.
The three-day early signing period officially begins at 7 a.m., at which point high school seniors can officially lock up their college commitment and get ready for the next stage of their football career.
The Miami Herald will be providing updates throughout the day as dozens of South Florida’s top players sign across the dotted line.
There are several developments to watch for throughout the day. Among them: St. Thomas Aquinas safety Jordan Battle’s decision between Ohio State and Alabama; Carol City cornerback Jarvis Brownlee’s decision among FSU, UCF and Miami; and how Southridge cornerback Tyrique Stevenson will handle signing on Wednesday while keeping his decision secret until Jan. 5.
Most South Florida schools are holding their signing ceremonies between 8:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., so expect steady updates throughout the morning and into the early afternoon.
Unless noted otherwise, all rankings on this live blog are based on the 247Sports composite.
This story was originally published December 19, 2018 at 6:31 AM.
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