MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / February 5, 2000

Hectic. Confusing. Too long. Aggravating. Fun.Those were some of the words I heard players and coaches used in describing the recruiting process over the last couple of weeks, culminating in National Signing Day Wednesday.

National Signing Day. One of the most important days of the year for collegefootball. St. Charles Catholic head football coach Frank Monica, who recruitedas an assistant coach for Tulane, described the process as the lifeline for a college program. It’s been compared to the NFL Draft albeit on a much widerscale.

Like the NFL Draft, National Signing Day is a crapshoot. Some players aregreat high school players but hit their peak at that level. Conversely, a playerwho was a step below in high school might become an outstanding college player.

Can’t miss players like Ernie Badeaux, Phillip Deas and Jay Johnson missed badly. Ron Powlus was supposed to be a four-time Heisman Trophy winnerwhen he was signed by Notre Dame after a brilliant high school career. Hecame up four trophies short.

On the other hand, Herb Tyler was a little known recruit by LSU who became a four-year starter at quarterback for the Tigers. Do you think Tulane wasexpecting anything close to the performance Shaun King gave them in his final two years when the Green Wave signed him out of Miami? Or Virginia Tech when they received a commitment from Michael Vick? Marshall Faulk went from being a defensive back his sophomore year at Carver to the team MVP of a Super Bowl champion.

Even judging a school’s overall signing class can be a shot in the dark.

Alabama’s 1992 National Championship team is the one that is often brought up as a class that was not highly touted but went on to great things. Tulanewent 12-0 in 1998 with a signing class that wasn’t anywhere close to being in the Top 20 in the country four years prior. LSU’s 1992 class is rememberedas the one that included five stellar running backs that didn’t pan out but it was also one that included Ben Bordelon, Tory James, Eddie Kennison, David LaFleur, Gabe Northern and Shedrick Wilson, all of whom made it to the NFL.

Notre Dame consistently has Top 5 signing classes but was home for the bowl season in 1999.

According to the gurus, there was no clear cut “national champion” as regards to the top recruiting class this season. Florida has been named No. 1by some after signing a class that includes Evangel’s Brock Berlin and East St. John’s Thomas Pittman, perhaps the day’s biggest surprise. But othersrank Tennessee, Alabama and Texas in the top spot.

Louisiana teams also did quite well. LSU recovered from a late start becauseof the coaching change to sign 26 players, including West St. John’s DonrielLouis, the top two running backs in the state and one of the top defensive backs in Texas. Tulane signed three blue chippers, including East St. John’sRoydell Williams.

Southern had what I consider an exceptional signing class, including Lutcher’s Thomas Ricks, St. James’ Damon Oubre and Amite’s C.J. Batiste. Everybody Italked to Wednesday said Nicholls State got a steal in Riverside’s Joe Trosclair. Georgia Tech is getting a solid and underrated receiver in West St.John’s Brian Lumar.

The real winners right now are the players, whose hard work has paid off in them getting to realize their dreams. Of course, it’s not fair to considerwhich teams were the real winners this soon. That will come over the nextfour or five years when those players prove whether they are the next Kevin Faulk or Peyton Manning or the next Cecil Collins.

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