After almost getting burned on signing day, Roquan Smith has decided against signing a national letter of intent (NLI, or commonly called LOI) when he finalizes his college decision, according to his high school coach.
Smith is the 4-star linebacker from Macon County who committed to UCLA over UCLA in front of ESPN cameras last Wednesday. Smith didn’t turn in his LOI after reports surfaced later that day that UCLA’s defensive coordinator had accepted a job with the Atlanta Falcons.
ILB Roquan Smith (AJC)
The original plan was for Smith to take around a week to choose again among his four finalists, which also included Michigan and Texas A&M.
Macon County coach Larry Harold told the AJC on Monday that Smith now has “no timetable” on selecting a school, but that he “doesn’t expect it to drag out too much longer” with his star player.
Perhaps most significant, Smith’s coach also revealed that the linebacker won’t be signing a letter of intent after finalizing his college plans. Smith will commit, and then officially be a signee on his first day of summer classes.
“He’s not going to sign a letter of intent,” Harold said. “The reason why is because what he went through last week. This just gives us flexibility in case something else unexpectedly happens again.”
How do the colleges feel about that? Harold said he gave the news to all four finalists. “Of course, they all said that’s fine. But they were like ‘What does this mean?’ They all said this has never been done before to the best of their knowledge. It could set a precedent. They had to do some research, but they said it could be done and that they’re fine with it.
“I guess you’ll really be able to tell if a coach or college really wants a kid if they’ll agree to do this – letting a kid come to their campus this summer without signing an LOI.”
“We’re doing it this way after what happened last week. I don’t know where this is all going to go. I guess God put Roquan in this position for a reason. We just want to help educate other kids about these types of situations.”
Smith is one of several ugly recruiting stories that have dominated the headlines since last Wednesday’s signing day – all involving college coaches who lured kids into signing with their school, only to leave for other jobs shortly after the ink was dry on the letter of intent.
Smith was lucky because he didn’t submit his LOI (officially called an NLI by the NCAA), but others weren’t as fortunate.
Ohio State's Urban Meyer was called out by a Detroit high school coach for recruiting "under false pretenses" after the Buckeyes running backs coach left for the NFL the day after signing day. Meanwhile, a Texas recruit tweeted "Guess I was lied to in my face" after a Longhorns assistant was hired away by Florida on Friday.
It has been a hot topic in national blogs, with Sports Illustrated's Andy Staples writing on Monday that the LOI was "the worst contract in American sports."
"Why is the (LOI) the worst contract in American sports? It requires players to sign away their right to be recruited by other schools. If they don't enroll at the school with which they signed, they forfeit a year of eligibility. Not a redshirt year, but one of their four years to play. In return, the (LOI) guarantees the player nothing.
"Sure, the (LOI) claims to guarantee a scholarship, but that simply isn't true. That is contingent on the player being admitted to the school and on the football program staying below the 85-scholarship limit. A school can dump the player at any point between Signing Day and preseason camp, and he would have no recourse. This guarantee is no different than the one on a conference-approved financial aid form, but it costs the player something the financial aid agreement does not."
If Smith sticks to his plan of not signing a letter of intent, it would make a strong statement in recruiting circles – but it wouldn't be a precedent. It happens in basketball recruiting among elite prospects, and nobody ever handled it better than former Kentucky basketball star Brendan Knight, as documented in THIS STORY.
Knight was always weary that Kentucky coach John Calipari would take the next NBA job, so he only signed scholarship papers (binding Kentucky to Knight, and not vice versa) and skipped the LOI. He remained committed to Kentucky, and was officially a recruit on his first day of summer classes.
How did Knight know how to play it so well? “My husband and I are very informed,” his mother told the Lexington Herald. “I don’t understand how any parent would not be aware. As a parent, that’s your job.”
Georgia Tech fans will remember in 1995 when the nation's best point guard (Stephon Marbury of New York) signed a letter of intent with the Yellow Jackets but forgot to turn it in. He became an official Tech recruit on his first day of classes.
There’s also countless examples of other basketball standouts from Georgia getting to the same exact situation, but in a backwards sort of way. For example, Rockdale County’s Kevin Ware signed an LOI with Tennessee in 2011’s early period, but asked for his release after Bruce Pearl was hired. He later committed to Louisville but couldn’t sign another LOI because NCAA rules only permit a student-athlete to sign one LOI each calendar year. Ware was technically a free agent until his first day of classes at Louisville that summer.
Three of the state’s top 10 basketball prospects from last year were all involved in the same type of situation as Ware’s – Ahmed Hill of Aquinas (signed with Marquette early, released, committed and enrolled at to Virginia Tech), Whitewater’s Phil Cofer (Tennessee to FSU), and Morgan County’s CJ Turman (Tennessee to Florida Atlantic).
Back to Roquan Smith: He’s going to sign the scholarship papers with his chosen school, just not the LOI. Does he think this will start a trend among elite football prospects?
“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Harold said. “I do hope after what happened with the kids from Ohio State and Texas, that the 2016 class of recruits and beyond will take precautions.
“They will learn from these situations, and they will ask questions to the coaches like ‘Be straight forward and honest with me, are you leaving? Do you plan on leaving anytime soon?’ You want the best for these kids. They are like your sons. When they hurt, you hurt.”
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