Al.com
Today marks the start of college basketball’s early signing period and already Syracuse appears to be getting good news with the commitment of Trevor Cooney.
But remember this time last year? One of the biggest decisions was from our good ol’ frenemy Tobias Harris. Would he be wearing Syracuse Orange or Tennessee Orange? On the night SU played North Carolina at Madison Square Garden, Harris picked the wrong shade in front of an ESPN Zone jammed with ‘Cuse fans. Oops.
It didn’t hurt just because Harris picked UT, but because of his incessant drama show which culminated on ESPNU. Not cool, Tobias.
Early signing period ends November 17th, and let’s hope this year’s commits suppress the need for attention. Sign letter, fax letter, go back to class. At my high school, they would clear out the career center, have the player speak, have their coach speak, and then everyone got cake. You can guess why I was at all of the signings.
Harrison Barnes, who committed to UNC last year, didn’t do it in a flashy way Рbut did commit with style. TV? Phone call? Both. Barnes gave his word to Roy Williams via Skype. Generally Skype is reserved on college campuses for girls who are too lazy to walk across campus and actually see each other.
What about hats? Check out the style of Florida recruit Trent Richardson (pictured). Now that’s juice. The classic team logo baseball cap? It‚Äôs clich√©, but then again lets us all know the big moment has finally arrived. I think the real question there is, what happens to the hats of the colleges that don‚Äôt get picked? Do they just get tossed in the trash?
Attire can’t be overlooked either. Wes Johnson obviously led by example at the most recent NBA draft, but that’s a much higher profile event. Maybe your high school’s sweatsuit will do. A shirt and tie? It screams vanilla, but who’s really watching anyway. Well, besides the entire country. Please just be tasteful and as advice to Mr. Cooney: we expect you to be dressed as if you’re on the cover of a fall series catalogue.
After the negative feedback recruits got last year for their blatant self promotion, let’s hope this year is more tame. As long as all of the players who said they‚Äôre coming to ‚ÄòCuse end up signing their letters, they can wear whatever they want.
Posted: Mike Couzens
