The late signing period began Wednesday with little fanfare, as only five of the top 150 players on Rivals were listed as still available. Top names such as Patrick Patterson and Jai Lucas are still unsigned, with Florida, Kentucky and others in the mix for their services. It got us at RTC wondering, why are there two signing periods in college basketball? The early signing period in November is typically when most players sign, but there is no analagous “early” period in college football.
College football has only one signing period in early February, scheduled after the prospects’ seasons are finished. “National Signing Day” is the first day college football seniors can sign, and ESPN and the sports world in general makes a fairly large deal out of it. Analysts chatter away for most of that day about which programs got themselves into good shape for the years to come; and who will be the hot players to watch for as freshmen next fall. Colllege basketball seems to be doing itself a bit of disservice, from a public relations and media standpoint, by splitting its recruiting into early/late signing periods. It seems that by having one signing period it puts you in a better position to maximize media attention during the offseason. We’d love to hear reasons that justify the split process from anyone.