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Christmas in February LSU, Florida nab top classes; No. 1 recruit Sims to FSUPosted: Wednesday February 05, 2003 10:39 AMUpdated: Monday February 17, 2003 1:30 PM
By Stewart Mandel, SI.com Following a national signing day full of its usual twists and turns, LSU narrowly edged Florida and USC for the title of 2003's top recruiting class while for the second straight year Florida State landed the nation's top prospect. The day began with 20 of TheInsiders.com's top 100 recruits yet to announce their intentions, but that quickly changed. The nation's consensus No. 1 prospect, Tallahassee, Fla., running back/linebacker Ernie Sims, surprised no one with his morning announcement he's signing with hometown Florida State. For one, both his father and brother played for the Seminoles, plus FSU, unlike fellow finalists Georgia and Auburn, is willing to take Sims' preferred jersey number, No. 34, out of retirement. It was the second straight year FSU nabbed the nation's top prospect in a signing day announcement. Last year, running back Lorenzo Booker shunned Notre Dame for the 'Noles in a nationally televised news conference.
The nation's No. 2 prospect, receiver Whitney Lewis (Ventura, Calif.), is a former high school teammate of Booker's who had said he wanted to join him in Tallahassee. But in a classic bit of signing day drama, TheInsiders.com reported that Lewis' mother was pushing him to stay closer to home, and late in the afternoon he officially signed with USC. Among other previously undecided top prospects, No. 5 Lamarr Woodley, a linebacker from Saginaw, Mich., signed with Michigan; No. 6 Demetris Summers (RB, Lexington, S.C.) with South Carolina; No. 11 Michael Bush, a multi-position standout from Louisville, with the hometown Cardinals; No. 16 Ofa Mohetau (OL, Euless, Texas) with BYU; and No. 20 Eric Young (OL, Union, S.C.) with Tennessee.
Based on public commitments made before signing day, Florida entered Wednesday with TheInsiders.com's top-ranked class, a collection of 27 recruits that ended up including 10 Top 100 recruits, among them vaunted QB Chris Leak. Florida put the finishing touches on its class when No. 12 overall prospect Andre Caldwell (WR, Tampa) declared for the Gators in a nationally televised announcement early Wednesday evening. TheInsiders.com recruiting expert Jamie Newberg said Leak's nationally televised commitment during the Jan. 5 U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio served as a spark for coach Ron Zook's Gators. "Suddenly guys wanted to play together [at Florida], be a part of something special." That said, LSU was able to surpass the Gators with a phenomenal finish. The Tigers on Wednesday landed four previously undecided top 100 players, QB JaMarcus Russell (No. 8) of Mobile, Ala., Louisiana defensive linemen Kirston Pittman (No. 57) and Carnell Stewart (No. 60) and Miami receiver Dwayne Bowe (No. 65). LSU coach Nick Saban also landed one of the nation's top two classes in 2001. He did it again this year despite losing top five quarterback Robert Lane (Monroe, La.), who had been committed to the Tigers since August but instead signed with Ole Miss. "I'm always of the belief if it's a big year in Louisiana, it should be a big year for LSU," said Newberg. "They pretty much got everyone they wanted [in-state, then they went to Florida and got a couple guys out of Miami." USC dominated West Coast recruiting this season, landing 10 top 100 players, none more touted than last-minute addition Lewis. "If you take QB out of the equation, between USC, Florida and LSU, the balance is amazing," said Newberg. "I look at it in terms of need, speed and balance. With USC you've got to give them an 'A.'"Other teams that made waves on signing day: "Tennesse's run today has been extremely impressive," said Newberg. "They did this all out-of-state. That is impressive when you consider who they were fighting. I don't know how [head coach Phil Fulmer] did it." On the flip side, two of the nation's most dominant teams on the field recently did not close quite as strong as expected. Defending national runner-up Miami will likely still finish high among the top 10 classes but lost several previously committed players to other schools in the past week. Oklahoma, which TheInsiders.com had ranked No. 1 for much of recruiting season, will likely finish several spots lower after losing out on Meachem to Tennessee and top three defensive tackle Xavier Lawson-Kennedy (Duncanville, Texas) to Oklahoma State "Maybe the kids see there's too much talent there [at Miami and Oklahoma] and think they won't be able to play [early]," said Newberg. "A lot of them want to play yesterday."
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Ernie Sims announces his intent to sign with the Florida State Seminoles. 
