Top recruits keep options open for National Signing Day

Two-time state champion and U.S. Army All-American quarterback Torrance Gibson has been committed to Ohio State since November.

But like a lot of recruits across the country, he has kept his options open with visits to Auburn, LSU and the hometown Miami Hurricanes over the past three weekends.

So on Wednesday morning, when Gibson and his teammates at Plantation American Heritage gather at 8 a.m. to sign National Letters of Intent with their respective college choices, there’s a chance the No. 3-ranked overall recruit in the Dade-Broward County area could be flipping his pledge and his future destination.

And if he does, Gibson will only become another example of a growing number of recruits to do so in the past 365 days.

“I think the decommitments are getting out of control,” Rivals.com national recruiting director Mike Farrell said. “On Monday [after the final official visit weekend of the year], we had so many kids that were committing to their second, third or fourth school.”

No recruiting website tracks decommitments as an official statistic, but Rivals is hoping to add it to its database when it receives its next facelift, Farrell said.

“I don’t have the exact numbers in my head, but South Carolina has like nine, Kentucky has seven,” Farrell said. “I don’t know how many Miami has, but they are a few schools in their company, let’s put it that way.”

An early signing period, being discussed as a 72-hour period in mid-December by the Collegiate Commissioners Association, could help resolve some of that as early as the end of this year. But for now, the mad scramble will continue until those “commitments” finally become official for the Class of 2015 beginning Wednesday at 7 a.m. when fax machines across the country crank up.

“There are lot of big decisions to be made — especially for a lot of five-star kids like [Seffner Armwood defensive end] Byron Cowart, [Apopka offensive tackle] Martez Ivey, [Baker County defensive end] CeCe Jefferson,” Farrell said of three top uncommitted recruits in the state. “That’s really going to be the story of the day — how those guys impact the team rankings and the whole landscape.”

The Florida Gators and new coach Jim McElwain could be the biggest benefactors. UF is in play for all three along with a couple of other SEC schools including Auburn, where former Gators coach Will Muschamp has been cleaning up as the Tigers defensive coordinator.

A big finish would only catapult Florida, usually a top-10 team in the rankings, high up the charts. Last week, UF had eight commitments and was ranked in the 100s by 247Sports.com’s recruiting rankings. On Tuesday, it jumped all the way up to 42nd after Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas four-star running back Jordan Scarlett decommitted from the Hurricanes and pledged for Florida.

Florida, with three commitments from the Dade-Broward area (UM and FSU have four), is looking to add more from South Florida on Wednesday.

Booker T. Washington three-star receiver Antonio Callaway will announce between UM, UF and West Virginia shortly after 9 a.m. Wednesday, and Westminster Christian four-star running back Jordan Cronkrite will choose between Miami, UF and West Virginia at around 2 p.m.

Other high-profile decisions to be made locally: Miami Killian three-star cornerback Sheldrick Redwine (Louisville or UM), Miami Norland four-star cornerback Carlton Davis (expected to pick Auburn over Ohio State) and Carol City three-star cornerback Rashad Fenton (UF, Louisville and South Carolina).

Meanwhile, Florida State continues to sit pretty (ranked third by 247Sports team rankings behind No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 USC), and the Hurricanes (ranked 28th) and Gators (42nd) scramble to finish strong and USF (62nd), UCF (68th), FAU (74th) and FIU (91st) trail behind.

“Their class is awesome,” 247Sports national recruiting insider Ryan Bartow said of FSU. “They have probably the top big back in the country in Jacques Patrick out of Orlando. They got a couple really good receivers in Da’Vante Phillips and George Campbell, big, tall, explosive guys.

“They also got the quarterback of the future in Deondre Francois, an Orlando native. Then, defensively they could potentially land five-star defensive tackle Terry Beckner [out of St. Louis].”

Said Farrell of the Noles: “They own the state of Florida. As far as the big three, it’s Florida State No. 1 and then Florida and Miami fifth and sixth. There’s a huge gap between the two.”

UM enters Wednesday trying to hold onto two key out-of-town commitments: Bradenton IMG Academy four-star offensive lineman Tyree St. Louis (considering UF) and three-star Baton Rouge, Louisiana, receiver Terrell Chatman (TCU, Arizona State also in the mix). After losing Scarlett and being left with only one running back in the class, former UM commitment and Orlando West Orange four-star prospect Dexter Williams (also considering Notre Dame) could be added back to class.

“I think traditionally you want a Miami class that is 75 to 85 percent from West Palm Beach down, if you’re doing it right,” said Bartow, who likes early enrollees Charles Perry, a linebacker from Royal Palm Beach, and former Miami Killian safety Jaquan Johnson as UM’s top two defensive recruits in the class. “I’m not saying it’s a bad class. But if you’re doing it right, you don’t need to be going north of West Palm to get most of what you need.”

That’s the way a lot of UM fans figure to feel Wednesday. A strong finish, though, could quell some of that frustration following a bitter end to a 6-7 season.

“I’m hearing pretty good things,” Farrell said of UM’s chances with Williams. “Confidence isn’t high out of Notre Dame that much. Confidence is really high at Miami. They think they’re going to get him back, and I would tend to agree.”

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This story was originally published February 3, 2015 at 6:55 PM with the headline "Top recruits keep options open for National Signing Day."