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Under the NCAA's "sliding scale," the GPA a player needs to attain depends on his score on the SAT or ACT. Devine re-took the SAT last Saturday and will have several more opportunities between now and the summer. "[Devine's] grades aren't nearly as bad as people say they are," said Farrell, who has remained in close contact with Iandoli. "The progress he's making with his tests, he's getting closer and closer."

If that happens, some lucky college could be getting the kind of difference-maker who can instantly put an already-talented team over the top, much like Florida's Percy Harvin did this past season. But whether he makes the grade is hardly the only question hovering over Devine. As Farrell says, "Everything with Noel is followed with an 'if.'"

Devine took his first-ever campus visit last weekend to Alabama and, according to Iandoli, "enjoyed it very much." (Devine's first visit last week was supposed to be to Tallahassee but he missed the flight.) However, in a brief interview with SuperPrep on Wednesday night -- the first documented case in months of a reporter successfully reaching the player by phone -- Devine made no mention of Alabama, focusing instead on FSU and West Virginia, where he is visiting this weekend. (Iandoli confirmed Friday that Devine "is up at West Virginia right now.") "I think the [spread] offense at West Virginia could really be good for me," he told SuperPrep. "With their style of offense, I have a good chance at getting into the secondary and making some big plays."

On Friday, however, Iandoli disputed SuperPrep's account, which said he'd "narrowed down" his choices to the Mountaineers and Seminoles.

"At no point in any conversation has he ever said he'd narrowed anything down," said Iandoli. "He's just now learning what's out there. He's trying to find a home. We're not trying to be vague, not trying to keep everyone in the dark. He's in the process of visiting schools. If he sees one he likes before Signing Day, he might commit. [We] don't know."

At least one thing Devine said in the SuperPrep article -- that Bobby Bowden was paying him a visit momentarily -- could not have been true, as Bowden was in Washington D.C. that night visiting five-star defensive tackle Marvin Austin. Iandoli said Friday that Bowden and assistant Odell Haggins previously visited Devine at his high school. Meanwhile, a report Friday on Warchant.com, a Rivals.com site devoted to Florida State, said "The plan for his FSU visit right now is for Devine to come up [to Tallahassee] next weekend [Feb. 9]. That means he will likely not sign a letter for intent on national signing day."

Dizzy yet?

Of course, all the speculation becomes moot if Devine either does not qualify, or if, as his background might indicate, he struggles to acclimate to college life. According to Farrell, who guesses Devine will wind up at West Virginia, "[Devine] can feel uncomfortable at a place within the first 15 to 30 minutes," which is what happened when he visited remote Milford Academy. "It's going to come down to who he trusts and who's stuck with him since day one. Of course, he could land in Morgantown and just hate it."

Beyond the off-field concerns, there's also that issue that Devine, while incredibly talented, stands a diminutive 5-foot-7, 165-pounds. That, as much as the academic issue, has turned off some recruiters.

"You could make the arguments he's the No. 1 running-back prospect in the country, but I think he's too small," said SuperPrep's Wallace. " He's electric, and lightning in a bottle and one of the quickest kids I've ever seen out there, but he's going to take some hits at the college level."

Farrell counters that, "he doesn't have to be a 25-carry guy. You give him the ball 10 times, he'll do some amazing things."

That is, if he gets the chance.

The allure of Signing Day for college football fans has always been the mystery and suspense that accompanies the decisions of some of the nation's most coveted prospects. The mystery surrounding Noel Devine's potential signature is as complicated and unique as any elite recruit in recent memory -- and it's likely to continue long past Signing Day.