5 surprises from National Signing Day
National Signing Day is always good for a few surprises, and this year was no exception. Though there were no real head-scratchers this time around, a few particular recruits and classes caught our attention.
Frost era off to good start at UCF
The hire of Scott Frost is paying immediate dividends at UCF.
The Knights signed 20 prospects on Wednesday, finishing with the second-best class in the American Athletic Conference. Yes, you read that correctly. UCF, the team that just went 0-12, had the second-best class in its conference. Only Peach Bowl champions Houston brought in a better class than the Knights.
Frost, the former Oregon offensive coordinator, has been on the job for only a few months, but he’s having success selling the vision in playing in a high-powered offense. UCF has added eight recruits this week alone, including two four-star prospects: offensive lineman Aaron Dowdell and wide receiver Dredrick Snelson. UCF also has nine three-star recruits and landed 12 players from in-state.
That’s good work in a short period of time.
Houston lands a 5-star
Speaking of the American Athletic Conference, Houston brought in a class that landed at No. 44 overall – the highest of all Group of Five schools. The crown jewel of that class is one of 31 five-star recruits in the 2016 class – defensive tackle Ed Oliver.
The 6-foot-2, 290-pound Oliver is the 19th-best recruit in the entire class and chose to stay home in Houston over offers from pretty much every school you could imagine. All of the top Texas schools – Texas A&M, Texas, TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech – extended offers, but Oliver stuck with his hometown program.
He committed to the Cougars early on in the process, too – on May 21 – and never wavered. At UH, Oliver will play alongside his older brother Marcus, a sophomore offensive lineman.
And for good measure, he was welcomed to the class by none other than Houston rapper Slim Thug.
Simmons to Starkville
Fresh off a visit to Ole Miss, all signs pointed toward five-star defensive end Jeffery Simmons, the top player in the state of Mississippi, signing with the Rebels.
It didn’t turn out that way.
The Macon, Miss., product spurned Hugh Freeze and the Rebs to sign with Dan Mullen and Mississippi State. Alabama and Tennessee were his other finalists among dozens and dozens of offers from schools across the country. Now Simmons, the top-ranked defensive end in the country, has a chance to head to Starksville and make an immediate impact for the Bulldogs.
According to The Clarion-Ledger, the 6-foot-4, 275-pound Simmons racked up 105 tackles and 20.5 tackles for loss as a senior to help Noxubee County win a Class 4A state title in Mississippi.
Oh, and he also wore this suit when he announced his commitment.
Well done, young man.
Bisharat lands in Boulder
When you think of schools that land top prospects, Colorado usually doesn’t come to mind. On Wednesday, four-star athlete Beau Bisharat bucked that trend by signing with the Buffs.
Bisharat is a 6-foot-3, 203-pounder from Carmichael, California, who plays both running back and linebacker. He originally gave a verbal commitment to Stanford, but ended up signing with the Buffs on Wednesday. Bisharat also had offers from the likes of Arizona, Arizona State, Cal, Michigan, Michigan State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah, Washington and West Virginia. That’s a pretty good list, and quite the accomplishment for Mike MacIntyre and his staff.
According to BuffStampede.com, Bisharat is the highest ranked prospect to sign with Colorado in four years.
UAB’s rebuild continues
Slowly, but surely, UAB is building up a roster in anticipation for its return to action in 2017. Wednesday was a big part of that.
The Blazers signed 18 more players to go along with the sizable group brought in in December as mid-year enrollees.
“It goes without saying that this is an exciting day for us,” head coach Bill Clark said per the AP. “This is the day everybody kind of looks forward to in the recruiting world. For us it is beyond just a big day. It’s another signal to where our program is headed.”
Head coach Bill Clark told reporters that he wants to mix some upperclassmen into the roster, so 11 of the 18 signees came from the junior college ranks. He also dipped into the pool of transfers, headlined by Greg Bryant, a running back coming over from Notre Dame.
Bryant was a five-star recruit when he signed with Notre Dame, but left after being declared academically ineligible. Overall, Bryant rushed for 303 yards and three touchdowns during his time with the Irish and played last season at ASA College
He’ll be a cornerstone for the rebuilding Blazers.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
