I love Feb. 4th because Illinois gets to restock and Ron Zook always seems to bring in some exciting players. As fans, we never truly know what we are going to get but we sure like seeing stars next to each players name that is coming to the school that we love.

I love the drama of the day more than anything because you learn who you can count on and who you can’t. If I am recruiting a kid that has stuck with his commitment from day 1 then I have some extra respect for him as opposed to the kid who leads schools on only to sign elsewhere on signing day. I know they are 18 years old and have the right to change their mind and I’ve heard that one thousand times, but in reality I also have seen kids stick by their word and do what they say they will do and it says volumes about them as people.

These kids today signed LOI”S saying they will attend certain universities and that’s all great but very soon they will go from celebrities to just 1 person on an 85 man team. 1 person out of 85 who was also one of the best players in their high school. 1 person out of 85 who wants to play just as bad as they do and will do just as much to get that time. What kind of kid do I want to recruit? I want the kid who knows all this and doesn’t care about it. I want the kid who comes in and practices tough from day 1 to earn his playing time instead of getting his playing time because he picked a certain hat one day. I want the kid who will just be coached and realize he is part of something bigger. I want the kids who sent their faxes in 1st this morning because it meant keeping their word because those kids are the ones you can count on when the game is tight.

I love Feb. 4th.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 4th, 2009 at 8:22 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.