When a commitment may not be a commitment
By Chuck King
The final week of the recruiting season can be confusing for all involved, but especially for the kids.
I'm hearing a couple of the more recent commitments may have considered themselves to be committed a little prematurely.
It turns out Jacksonville-Raines defensive back Charles Henry and Rancho Verde (Calif.) linebacker Blair Brown may not be signing with the Owls after all, for the simple reason that FAU hasn't officially offered them – not in writing anyway.
With Henry, it sounds like he might have jumped the gun, similar to the way Fort Myers running back Dalvin Battle did after his visit a few weeks ago. Upon further review, Henry may still get an offer provided the Owls had space for another defensive back – most likely a safety. There is a feeling that he may ultimately grow into that role.
As for Brown, our story mentioned that he still had some work to do on his SAT score. His current score is close enough to qualifying that it's reasonable to believe he'll achieve the needed score after taking the test this weekend.
However, Brown and FAU won't know for sure until after Signing Day. I don't believe he will sign a Letter of Intent on Wednesday, but I do think FAU will have at least one or two scholarships available for late qualifiers. If Brown gets the expected test score, look for him to be in Boca Raton in the fall.
Since many of these recruiting stories become judgment calls – college coaches aren't allowed to talk about high school players until they sign – we are going to exercise our best judgment. We've taken Henry and Brown off out commitment list for now. I wouldn't be too surprised if they were back on there real soon. Our Recruiting Board is always a work in progress with frequent additions and deletions as we get the latest information.
A couple other notes about players FAU had been interested in:
- Seffner-Armwood defensive end Allen Covington thought highly of the Owls, but he chose to commit to Toledo.
- Island Coast lineman E.K. Binns also came close to selecting FAU, but instead chose Navy.
- Sarasota-Booker wide receiver Ricky Jones had FAU in his final two, but committed to Indiana.
- Battle never did get that offer from FAU. He committed to Bethune-Cookman.
That's the bad new for FAU fans. There is plenty of good news.
FAU appears to still be in the running for some pretty big names, including Miami-Norland's Feddie Davey, who sounds like his final decision between Washington St. (where he is committed) and the Owls might not be made until Signing Day. Davey also picked up offers from Illinois and Toldeo in the past couple days, but said he doesn't intend to visit either school.
A couple other names we'll be watching for after this weekend: Royal Palm Beach running back Tremane McCullough and St. Petersburg-Gibbs defensive lineman Albert McCoy.
There has been plenty of buzz around FAU these past couple of weeks. Expect some of these players to choose to play near home.
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