Recruits’ big day less than meets eye

Three hats sat on the table, and unbeknown to the audience, a telltale T-shirt was hidden under the zippered sweatshirt.

Morgan Moses, 6-7 and 330 pounds, sat in the front of the room with his parents. The Meadowbrook Monarchs drum line, complete with a cymbals player, was stationed in the back of the room.

Moses' football teammates and friends filled the chairs in the lecture room at MeadowbrookHigh School.

Moses began talking about the hats. And one by one, he removed them from the table.

The University of North Carolina cap disappeared first.

The University of Tennessee hat was up next. Moses said he loved Tennessee. Loved Neyland Stadium and its 107,000 seats. Loved the players.

"A real brotherhood," he said. "Lovely place," he said.

But the Volunteers have changed coaches. That gave Moses pause.

Finally, he picked up the University of Virginia cap. He stood, put on the cap and unzipped his sweat shirt to reveal a "Virginia" T-shirt.

The drum line pounded out a beat for several seconds.

"A lot of good players leave Virginia," Moses said. "I felt I should represent my state."

Heads nodded in agreement.

"Good answer," someone from the audience said.

That scene -- well, not everyone was clever enough to go hat by hat and not everyone had the drum line -- was repeated throughout the region and across the country yesterday.

It was national signing day. Thousands of high school football stars signed college letters of intent.

It's a great day for the young men. For everyone else, it is a day filled with hopeful words and drum lines, signifying little.

No one can predict with complete confidence how a teen-age star will adjust to college. No one even can say for certain that all of yesterday's signees will appear on campus when practice begins in August.

Moses still must clear academic hurdles before he's eligible to enroll at Virginia. Other recruits for other schools are in similar situations.

Moses is massive. In high school, he shoved opponents off the line on offense and pushed them into the backfield when he was on defense.

But he never faced anyone as big, strong or powerful as he is.

The running backs, receivers and defensive backs who signed with Florida, Ohio State, Southern California and Virginia Tech yesterday rarely faced anyone as talented as they are.

In college, these stars will face players who match them in size, power, speed and quickness every day.

College coaches can see the potential in high school players. They can't determine how they will adjust to the competition -- from teammates and opponents -- the more intense coaching and motivational methods, and the physical and mental strain that comes at the college level.

Yet, recruiting services will declare winners and losers from yesterday's signings.

Alumni will celebrate recruiting successes or grumble that their coach has lost his recruiting touch and no longer can close the deal.

The hoopla of national signing day is far out of proportion to its ultimate impact on college football.

ESPNU devoted nine hours to the events of the day.

Web sites posted video and blogs and conducted chat sessions (Yes, we did it, too: http://www.TimesDispatch.com. Enjoy. And you can comment on this column at our Web site. Keyword: Sports Columnists).

What really happened yesterday is this: College coaches got the 20-25 bodies they needed to fill their rosters.

But those prospects are suspect until they prove their worth, no matter what the "experts" said or how loudly the drum line played.

Contact Paul Woody at (804) 649-6444