Feb 10, 2012

  • Mitch ShermanESPN Staff Writer

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    • Nebraska/Large Ten/Recruiting reporter.
    • Joined ESPN in 2011.
    • Graduated from the Academy of Nebraska.

As more and more programs begin hosting their annual junior days, here'southward a look at what these events are, what happens and the futurity of them.

What is a junior mean solar day?
Think of it as a group unofficial visit. Junior days take skyrocketed in popularity in the past decade. Most major programs utilize them as something of an introduction to the superlative members of the adjacent recruiting class -- a year or longer before signing day. This week effectually the state, things get started en masse, with juniors paying their way to visit campuses nationwide. Near, simply non all, are by invite only.

What's the significance to recruiting?
Depends on the school. At Texas, which hosts a junior day Sunday, they can hateful everything. The Longhorns routinely collect commitments from junior days; they snagged 10 pledges from a unmarried event 2 years ago. Elsewhere, the importance is similar, though with less dramatic results. A common thread between Texas and other programs: Junior days unofficially kick off a yearlong recruiting procedure. Coaches at many major programs spend more time on recruiting now than in the months before signing day.

What happens at a inferior day?
Prospects, often encouraged to bring parents or high school coaches, meet with the head coach -- pregnant because he'south not allowed to visit recruits off campus in the leap evaluation period or talk to them during school visits in December and January of their junior years. Additionally, junior days typically include meetings with position coaches, coordinators, force coaches, nutrition staff and academic directorate. The visitors accept campus tours and/or attend a basketball game -- and might fifty-fifty participate in some serious football word. "Nosotros do similar to sit down and talk football to run into if this is a guy who can pay attention and understand what we're going to teach," Arkansas recruiting coordinator Tim Horton said.

How exercise junior days benefit the player?
For the prospects fortunate enough to earn an invitation to a junior day, it's a golden opportunity to get a jump on the recruiting procedure. Other early periods on the recruiting agenda cater to the colleges, assuasive coaches to gather information virtually prospects. Recruiting is a word feel, and junior days provide a chance for the players to notice a program from the within.

How are inferior days changing?
Many schools are getting more selective. Used to exist, coaching staffs would cast a broad internet for inferior days, taking all visitors and turning the event into more of a showcase than a recruiting experience. No longer. Coaches now target smaller numbers. "Players who we want to offer [scholarships] and are really close to offering," Oklahoma recruiting coordinator Cale Gundy said. The right number at Oklahoma is about 25 for each inferior twenty-four hour period.

Has the wide-open junior solar day vanished?
Not entirely. Frequently, schools open junior days to all loftier schoolhouse players afterwards in the recruiting flavor, possibly in conjunction with their spring games. The bigger events, of course, grant less personal attention but appeal to a wide range of prospects and permit more than marginal players to become comfy with aspects of recruiting.

Where are they headed from here?
Coaches agree that junior days will keep to grow more than specialized and accept on an increased role in recruiting. Just ultimately, the value remains. At Oklahoma, for case, Gundy said, the coaches simply want recruits to become a experience for the identify. "We're pretty laid-back people," he said. "That's what we prove them -- and that nosotros're going to win games on Saturday." Strategy is the aforementioned at other schools. Then even if the numbers continue to compress and the activities change, the message likely won't.

Is the growth of junior days a forerunner to an early signing period?
Depends whom you lot enquire. "People talk about an early signing period all the time," USC motorcoach Lane Kiffin said, "and it's never happened, and so I don't actually know where to get there." Others say it's inevitable, what with these events continuing to advance recruiting. An important note: Many schools remain against an early signing catamenia, in particular those colleges located in areas of lower population, which are less likely to concenter top prospects to campus for junior days. Coaches concord that further growth of junior days alone won't pb to an early signing menstruation. Other changes must be instituted -- such as a date before than Sept. 1 to start official visits, a proposal under review past the NCAA.

Mitch Sherman is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can exist reached at mshermanespn@gmail.com.
Follow Mitch Sherman on Twitter: @mitchsherman.