With national signing day just five days, away Chris Thomsen and his staff are making one final push to land early recruits for the 2011 season.
The recruiting process begins each December on every level of college football, from Division I National Champion Auburn all the way down to Division III powerhouse Mount Union. At the Div. II level, teams are allowed just 36 full scholarships for their entire team per season, which results in many of the scholarships being split between two or three players.
This year, one exception to that rule will be senior Jon Parker from Carson High in Carson City, Nev., according to the Nevada Appeal. Parker is a nationally rated player who has received offers from at least two Div. I-A schools in Nevada and from The University of Nevada at Las Vegas. Parker has verbally committed to ACU and is reported to be receiving an elusive Div. II full scholarship.
According to the Nevada Appeal Parker made his recruiting visit to ACU last weekend and gave his verbal commitment shortly thereafter.
“It feels right,” said Parker according to an article in the Nevada Appeal. “I feel good about my decision. I prayed a lot about it, and I felt like that’s where God wanted me to be”
With Parker already verbally committed, coaches will spend time bringing in around 20 recruits for visits this weekend. Two key positions Coach Thomsen and his staff will be concentrating on filling are linebacker and wide receiver, which suffers from the void left by the departure of five seniors, including Edmund Gates, Kendrick Johnson, and Raymond Radway. But Thomsen stresses that it is not just about finding those two or three key positions.
“We are always looking for every position that we could bring in,” Thomsen said. “We want quality guys at every position on the field.”
National signing day for all NCAA programs is Feb. 2, but that does not mean schools stop recruiting. Spring recruiting and summer recruiting is key for Div. II programs, because it is the time of year when many junior college and transfer players decide where to continue their football careers.
A quick look at ACU history provides an excellent example of late recruiting: In August of 2010, a player whom the Wildcats had recruited out of college was looking for a place to play after failing to qualify academically to attend Louisiana Tech University. It was just a few weeks before the season was scheduled to begin when Charcandrick West signed his letter of intent with the Wildcats.
West went on to contribute to an 11-0 record during the regular season as a true freshman with 356 yards rushing and 130 yards receiving totaling 4 touchdowns.
Coach Thomsen and the rest of his staff will anticipate adding to an already impressive signing class five days from now on National Signing Day.
