Long: New early signing period a hit with local recruits

Signing day comes early for the class of 2018. The early signing period for football was moved up two months, it used to begin in February.

That means before they play in any all-star games, before the second semester of senior year begins and before prom, recruits can officially bind themselves to a university. The signing period began on Wednesday and ends on Saturday.

Many of the areas top athletes have decided to sign.

Solorio’s standout quarterback Quincy Patterson will sign with Virginia Tech.

“I’m signing early because of the thought of getting the playbook early,” Patterson said. “The coaches get to publicize you which is pretty cool, also I think it shows how much commitment you really have toward a program and its people.”

The four-star prospect committed to the Hokies nearly a year ago. His recruitment took off after that. Patterson was selected for the Elite 11, a quarterback competition that brings eleven of the top prospects in the country together to compete. That exposure led to double-digit scholarship offers.

“The best part of recruiting was finding a school that fit all of my needs,” Patterson said. “When you think of Virginia Tech you probably think of the distance from Chicago or how it’s nothing like Chicago. But Virginia Tech was the best fit for me.”

Warren receiver Micah Jones is signing with Notre Dame.

“I’m very excited to get to officially be Irish so early,” Jones said. “It allows me to get it out of the way and focus on nothing but working out and being prepared.”

Jones committed to the Irish just after signing day last February. The 6-4, 205-pound athlete is also a four-star recruit on Rivals and held double-digit offers, but he had no reservations about signing early.

“I’m going to officially be a part of the family,” Jones said. “This is a big step. Notre Dame has a huge network around the world and almost everyone seems to love ND.”

Crystal Lake central three-star offensive lineman Wyatt Blake agrees with Jones. He’s signing with Northwestern.

“I’m really going to just be happy to make everything official and just be done with everything recruiting,” Blake said. “The hardest part was navigating who was being truthful with you and who was genuine.”

The 6-4, 270-pound lineman is part of a standout class signing with the Wildcats, including Lincoln-Way East defensive lineman Devin O’Rourke, New Trier tight end Brian Kaiser and Libertyville offensive lineman Charlie Schmidt. All are highly-rated prospects and they’ve bonded throughout the recruiting process.

O’Rourke will join Homewood-Flossmoor running back Justin Hall at the prestigious Under Armour All-American game in late December.

Hall is committed to Northern Illinois and was going to wait to sign in February, but changed his mind and decided to sign on Wednesday.

“I went back and forth between signing and not signing,” Hall said. “I still have the Under Armour All-American game to play in, and thought I could use that game as an opportunity to get one last chance of exposure. But ultimately I decided to stick with Northern Illinois and sign because they have been by my side from day one.

“We have an amazing class and I can’t wait to see the coaches have in store for us. It’s exciting.”

That’s the dilemma for prospects, do they show their loyalty and sign or wait to see what happens and how things shakes out after the early signing period?

“I value loyalty and decided to show my loyalty by signing early and ensuring my commitment,” Hall said.