ASU expects quiet early signing period
In the last few years Arizona State has announced its high school football signing class to considerable fanfare. Head coach Herm Edwards addresses the media, with the school also making both coordinators and recruiting director Antonio Pierce readily available.
When the early signing period kicks off on Wednesday there will be none of that. At least it isn’t planned at the moment. There just probably won’t be a lot to announce.
The school heads into the first day of the December early signing period with just six commitments, five of those from high school players and the other from a community college transfer.
All of those players might not sign Wednesday and even if they do, they must clear compliance before the school will formally announce them. Therefore, no major announcement is expected. ASU’s small signing class currently ranks 11th in the Pac-12, ahead of only USC, whose class took a hit in the wake of a coaching change and numbers just four athletes.
Early in the spring it looked promising for the Sun Devils with more major commitments than it ever had at that point. In the wake of the June announcement of an NCAA investigation into alleged recruiting violations, the Sun Devils lost their momentum on the prospect trail.
There were four decommitments — three of those from four-star prospects — meaning the Sun Devils will rely heavily on the NCAA transfer portal, which Edwards has alluded to on many occasions. “We’ve been locked in that room, eight or nine hours, early in the morning to the evening looking at portal guys and mid transfers and we’ve collected come good players,” Edwards said after his team’s first day of practice leading up to it’s Las Vegas Bowl date opposite Wisconsin. “It will be interesting when they all get here.”
The top prospect in the high school signing class is four-star running back Tevin White out of North Stafford High School in Virginia, who has been vocal in his support of ASU despite the investigation and said he plans to enroll in January. His addition is key with ASU already losing Rachaad White to the NFL draft and sophomore DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum entering the transfer portal.
Other high schoolers still in the ASU fold are safety Tristan Dunn out of Sumner, Washington, tight end Jacob Newell out of Springfield, Oregon, defensive lineman Robby Harrison out of Greenwood, South Carolina and kicker Carter Brown out of Pearland, Texas.
Brown, the top-rated kicker in the country, also reaffirmed his commitment to ASU on social media Tuesday.
Like White, Brown will fill a huge void. ASU is set to graduate kickoff specialist Logan Tyler. Tyler and Cristian Zendejas were just a combined 6-for-11 on field goal tries with a long of 40 yards
Edwards said he isn’t concerned about having a small crop of high school players coming in since he can add reinforcements from elsewhere.
“Signing day is always big in college football because of how many five-star and it always sends a buzz,” he said. “But when you look at where we’re at right now, we understand our team. We’re going to sign high school players but there are positions where we need veteran guys and we know that. We need to go out and get guys that can play right away. It’s no different than NFL free agency.”
Edwards has conceded that perusing the transfer portal occupies a lot of his time and he expects to land anywhere from 10 to 15 players from there, most of whom can step in and play right away.
ASU currently has commitments from three Division I transfers — safety Derrick Smith (Illinois), tight end Messiah Swinson (Missouri) and linebacker Rodney Groce Jr. (Mississippi State).
The community college addition will be tight end Bryce Pierre out of Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Those players don’t sign and Edwards said their addition is only confirmed when they enroll.
“I think it’s changed now. The portal has hurt high school football because when you think about it, if a school goes into the portal and gets five guys, that’s five scholarships that could go to a high school player,” Edwards said. “That’s no longer the case. We’re going to do more than five because we’ve lost a lot of seniors. We need some players at certain positions that have experience and leadership. Everyone looks at the portal a little bit different.”