Wednesday was National Signing Day, the first day high school students can sign a binding National Letter of Intent to play college sports. Here is quick run down of how some of the Texas and Big 12 schools fared.
UT - See Recruiting Class
Mack Brown and the Texas Longhorns scored big with Plano West's Jackson Jeffcoat. Jeffcoat is a true blue chip recruit out of Plano West. He is ranked No. 1 for strongside defensive ends in the country and No. 12 nationally, according to Rivals.com. He is also a skilled basketball player who uses his agility incredibly well on the football field. Jeffcoat is expected to make an immediate impact at Texas and play as a freshman. Jeffcoat, who took his time deciding between Texas and Oklahoma, announced his decision last week. Jeffcoat was also reported to be visiting Houston, where his father, former Dallas Cowboy Jim Jeffcoat, is a coach. "I felt the most comfortable at Texas. All these schools are great schools, I just felt right with Texas," said Jeffcoat. "I believe my dad is the best coach in the country, but some things didn't work out. I feel like this is the right place for me."
Joining Jeffcoat on Brown's defense is LB Jordan Hicks out of West Chester, Ohio. Hicks is the No. 4 player in the country according to ESPN Scouts Inc., and the No. 16 player on the Rivals100. He chose Texas over both Ohio State and Florida.Brown's recruiting class was ranked 3rd behind only Florida and USC, according to Rivals.com. Texas also signed a quarterback with a pretty familiar name. Case McCoy, younger brother to graduating Colt, also signed a letter of intent.
Taking advantage of another Top 10-finish and its first Bowl Championship Series appearance, TCU has signed a class of 18 players that includes two highly touted recruits from outside Texas.Tailback Ethan Grant from Coconut Creek, Fla., and tailback-receiver Curtis Carter of Stonewall, La., were the only out-of-state signees with the Horned Frogs on Wednesday. Rivals.com ranked both as four-star recruits. "Obviously, we're excited," Patterson said. "Really, most of our recruiting class was done before the end of the season. ... I think the season we had will probably have a little bit more to do with the next recruiting class, but we did finish very strong." With both TCU starting cornerbacks last season being seniors, and with a senior corner and five senior safeties next fall, TCU added three safeties and three cornerbacks.Among that group was cornerback Travaras Battle-Smith from John Jay High in San Antonio, who's already enrolled and will take part in spring practice.Gary Patterson's recruiting class was ranked 45th by Rivals.com.
SMU - See Recruiting Class
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SMU head football coach June Jones signed 26 recruits on National Signing Day, but only one of them was from North Texas.Randall Joyner will join the Mustangs as an athlete. In 2009, Joyner rushed for 1,462 yards on 198 attempts. He caught 12 passes for 134 yards and made 60 tackles on defense and caught six interceptions, according to Rivals.com. Jones' recruiting class was ranked 75th by Rivals.com.
UNT - See Recruiting Class
Todd Dodge and the Mean Green had a rough year in 2009, finishing 2-10. That doesn't make for easy recruiting. Dodge was able to grab a few good local players, including kicker Zach Olen out of Berkner High School and Everman defensive end Aaron Bellazin. Dodge's recruiting class was ranked 98th by Rivals.com.
Texas Tech - See Recruiting Class
Tommy Tuberville vowed to continue the pass-heavy offense when he was named as Texas Tech's next coach. He also said he'd focus on improving the Red Raiders defense. On Wednesday, Tuberville tended to both statements, signing six offensive players -- including Denton Ryan standout quarterback Scotty Young (8,962 yards, 129 TDs in two seasons) -- and 17 defensive players.Tech's recruiting class was ranked 41st by Rivals.com. Texas Tech had hoped to land Kadron Boone, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound wide receiver from Ocala, Fla., ranked in the top 150 recruits by ESPN.com and Rivals.com. He'd given the Red Raiders an oral commitment in August, four months before the university fired Mike Leach. Instead, Boone signed with LSU.
Art Briles' Baylor Bears took three student-athletes from North Texas during National Signing Day. Baylor's local standout is Lancaster cornerback Tyler Stephenson. Stephenson tallied 55 tackles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions in 2008, according to Rivals.com. Rivals ranks Stephenson No. 18 in the country among cornerbacks. Briles also secured two other four-star DBs in Ahmad Dixon (Waco Midway HS) and Prince Kent (Chatham, Va.). He also signed four-start OL Robert Griffin out of Navarro J.C. Briles' recruiting class was ranked 39th by Rivals.com
Texas A&M - See Recruiting Class
A&M locked in one of the best-ranked recruiting classes in recent memory, and that's after losing a couple of top recruits to other schools. Dallas Skyline linebacker Corey Nelson (ranked No. 12 among all linebackers nationally) and Louisiana receiver Jarrett Fobbs (ranked No. 28 among athletes nationally) broke verbal committments with the school and headed to Oklahoma and LSU, respectively. The wins were plenty for the Aggies though. Head coach Mike Sherman announced 23 recruits including three quarterbacks, three running backs and 10 linemen. Sherman picked up no five-star players, but did secure nine four-star players and 13 three-star players. Sherman's recruiting class was ranked 15th by Rivals.com
The Associated Press' Betsy Blaney, Stephen Hawkins and Jim Vertuno contributed to this report.
