Randy Smith
In college football, one of the biggest things for scholarship players is their signing party. The day when they announce where they will be playing at the next level and continuing their education. Some are pretty basic and simple, while others border on the unbelievable. Here are some examples.
Prep star Derik Evans signed his national letter of intent with Tennessee while sipping wine in a hot tub. Not long after that, he went to jail for seven years.
Running back Alex Collins had finally decided to go to Arkansas, but before he could send in his documents, his mother stole his paperwork.
T.Y.
Hilton had narrowed his choices to FIU and Louisville. He eventually chose FIU after his son chose an FIU cap eight times in a row.
Four star cornerback Floyd Raven had gone against his mother's wishes and decided upon Texas A&M over Ole Miss. So, Mom forged his signature on a national letter of intent and faxed it to Ole Miss.When Ole Miss received the letter, they couldn't read it, so they asked for another one. Floyd caught on to mother's "wicked" ways and sent the real one to Texas A&M.
In 2012, DeVonte Neal set up his signing party at a local elementary school for the entire student body to witness. Neal however, never showed at the school, leaving school officials wondering how to keep hundreds of children entertained. He later showed up to apologize just after announcing he was signing with Notre Dame.
Then there was Bryce Brown. He originally committed to Miami, but never sent in his papers and the offer expired. The recruitment of Brown continued and he eventually signed with Tennessee and Lane Kiffen. He was a part of the Vols' program for one year before transferring to Kansas State, then entering the NFL draft early. During his original recruitment, Brown seriously mentioned he would like to conduct a seminar on college recruiting.
There have more than just a few players who just couldn't make up their minds, and chose their college by flipping a coin. The very best story however comes from Kevin Hart from Fernley NV. Hart announced he had narrowed his choices to Cal and Oregon. He set up a huge signing party in his high school gymnasium, and invited members of the media as well. In the signing ceremony, he chose a Cal cap over the Oregon one, and announced he was going to be a Golden Bear. The only problem was......he had received no offers from Cal, nor Oregon. In fact, he had no D-I offers at all. After Cal dispelled the story about Ward's non-recruitment, Ward apologized and all was forgiven. But, Kevin Ward had his fifteen minutes of fame. In front of a microphone and the cameras, as well as his teammates, friends and family, he was the center of attention, even if it really meant nothing at all.
All that to say this......Coaches go through the misery of recruiting, can after can of Red Bull, and very few hours of sleep, so we can make it to the actual start of the season. By the way, we're just a week away!
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. He is currently teaching Broadcasting at Coahulla Creek High School near Dalton, Ga.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have four grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, DellaMae and CoraLee.