National Signing Days (plural) 2018 may have run its course, but the Herbie Hancocking of National Letters of Intent hasn’t quite ended yet for some.
Entering Wednesday, four of 247Sports.com‘s 29 five-star 2018 recruits were unsigned; suffice to say, all four of those exited having signed with various Power Five programs. That same recruiting service listed a whopping 347 prospects as four-star recruits. With the second signing day in the books, just two of those didn’t sign with FBS teams -- Denton (TX) wide receiver Gabriel Douglas and Detroit (MI) center Tyrone Sampson Jr.
Douglas, rated as the No. 51 receiver and No. 312 player overall on 247Sports.com‘s composite board, had been committed to Texas Tech since October of 2016. However, the day before Signing Day, Gabriel decided against signing with the Red Raiders and instead plans to attend a Mississippi junior college.
The No. 7 center in the country and No. 346 recruit overall, Sampson had reportedly zeroed in on Arizona State, Mississippi State and Nebraska as likely destinations. Sampson’s high school coach, however, told the Detroit News that a couple of new schools, including Illinois, Missouri and West Virginia, had entered the picture recently and prompted the player to hold off on signing.
“It’s a case where he had a couple of schools come in real late so he won’t be able to visit until after the dead period, maybe next week,” East English Coach Rod Oden told the News.
In addition to Sampson and Douglas, six other recruits, all three-star prospects, listed in the Top 600 of 247Sports.com‘s composite board went unsigned by FBS programs for various reasons as well.
- No. 415: Salt Lake City (Utah) outside linebacker Salua Masina -- No. 25 at his position, No. 7 in his state
- No. 521: Ramsey (NJ) strongside defensive end Marcellus Earlington -- No. 23 at his position, No. 11 in his state
- No. 533: Harrisburg (PA) athlete Shaquon Anderson-Butts -- No. 39 at his position, No. 16 in his state
- No. 547: Tampa (FL) athlete Jermaine Eskridge -- No. 40 at his position, No. 85 in his state
- No. 568: Murfreesboro (TN) defensive tackle D’Andre Litaker -- No. 43 at his position, No. 17 in his state
- No. 580: Philadelphia (PA) safety Isheem Young -- No. 38 at his position, No. 19 in his state
Of that group, Eskridge, who had Ohio State and Oregon among others chasing him, and Anderson-Butts, a one-time Penn State commit, opted for the JUCO route and are expected to sign with an FBS program during the 2019 cycle. Litaker, meanwhile, decommitted from Tennessee in the days leading up to signing day and will now consider such schools as Miami and Oklahoma as well as a couple of SEC programs. The defensive lineman, whose mother passed away in 2016, is also recovering from a second torn ACL he suffered last September.
And Young? In early December, he was arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a Wawa convenience store in South Philadelphia this past summer. At the time of his arrest, Young, who was a Penn State commit, was rated as the No. 12 safety in the country; the No. 5 player at any position in the state of Pennsylvania; and the No. 151 player overall. He went from a four-star to three-star recruit because of the off-field issues.