I hate National Signing Day, and this year’s version is so lame that is even showed up to annoy me three weeks later. Here’s what went down Monday according to Lost Lettermen:
The No. 8 recruit in the country according to ESPNU called a press conference at Kyrene de la Esperenza Elementary School (his old stomping grounds) in Scottsdale, AZ, in which 600 kids were brought into the cafeteria to watch the announcement mirroring LeBron James’ “Decision” from 2010. There was a 35-minute program that included Neal’s highlight reel (and you thought “The Decision” was drawn out) and a cryptic FedEx package that reportedly contained his national Letter of Intent.
The only thing missing? Davonte Neal.
He never showed up to his own press conference and it was cancelled nearly an hour later after turning into a circus with children playing xylophones on stage and getting interviewed by the scrambling media.
On Tuesday, Neal became the last member of the ESPNU 150 to commit; choosing Notre Dame. He’s listed in that ANNOYING “athlete” category, which is actually sometimes racist, sometimes not given the situation of the coaching staff and players. One thing the ATH almost always equals is WR/DB/RB/RS and Neal caught 62 passes for 1,113 yards and 14 touchdowns last season while rushing 100 times for 1,317 yards and 16 touchdowns.
He’s a lot better at playing football than he is at coordinating public appearances.
“Deciding on a college is one of the toughest decisions a young player makes in his life, so we are very pleased with Davonte’s decision to attend Notre Dame,” ND Coach Brian Kelly said. “Davonte was an electric playmaker in high school and was capable of making the big play any time he had the ball in his hands. He excelled as a receiver, as a running back and as a returner for Coach (Charlie) Ragle at Chaparral High School. I imagine we’ll use him in a similar fashion here.”
Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports
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