11th Annual ESPNU Signing Day Coverage Visits Every Team in the Top 10 Class Rankings; No. 1 Recruit Set to Announce Commitment Live

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11th Annual ESPNU Signing Day Coverage Visits Every Team in the Top 10 Class Rankings; No. 1 Recruit Set to Announce Commitment Live

  • ESPNU on-site of every ESPN Recruiting Nation Top 10 ranked school; Visits 15 Campuses in total
  • First ever four-hour ESPN2 special on Signing Day; Includes live recruit commitments
  • No. 1 Recruit Rashan Gary set to make live commitment on SportsCenter
  • Hourly Class Ranking updates on ESPN.com; Final Top 75 Class Rankings release
  • At least 20 school specific shows on ESPN3 & SEC Network + streaming live on WatchESPN & the ESPN App

ESPNU continues its tradition of expanding National Signing Day coverage with its most comprehensive plans to date. The 11th annual event features exclusive programming across five television networks, on-site reporting at 15 college campuses – including every Top 10 recruiting team – at least 20 streaming options on ESPN3 and WatchESPN, hourly updates to ESPN.com’s Recruiting Nation Class Rankings and 13 live on-air recruiting commitments.

ESPNU remains the home of National Signing Day, kicking off the day at 8 a.m. ET, Wednesday, Feb. 3, with five-hours of recruiting and coaching analysis, whip-around reporting and live announcements. Beginning at 1 p.m., ESPN2 takes the reins for four hours before tossing it back to ESPNU to recap the final results of the day from 5-7 p.m.

Highlights of National Signing Day coverage across ESPN platforms:

  • Coast-to-Coast reporting: Fifteen ESPN television reporters are dispatched across the country, reporting from every school in Recruiting Nation’s Top 10 ranked teams. Live updates and coaching interviews will appear in a whip-around fashion on ESPNU and ESPN2 shows, as well as throughout the day on SportsCenter on ESPN and ESPNEWS.
School
(RN Ranking)
Reporter
No. 1 LSU Marty Smith
No. 2 Ohio State Quint Kessenich
No. 3 Ole Miss  Dawn Davenport
No. 4 Florida State Ryan McGee
No. 5 Michigan  Allison Williams
No. 6 Florida Andrea Adelson
No. 7 Georgia  Laura Rutledge
No. 8 Clemson Jeannine Edwards
No. 9 Auburn Tony Barnhart
No. 10 Alabama  Kaylee Hartung
No. 12 Notre Dame Paul Carcaterra
No. 16 Stanford  Shelly Smith
No. 17 Texas A&M Kayce Smith
No. 28 South Carolina Peter  Burns
No. 31 Texas  Jane Slater

 

  • Live Commitments: For the fourth-consecutive year the No. 1 recruit will announce his college commitment live on the ESPNU National Signing Day special. In addition to ESPN2, SportsCenter will also cover the No. 1 Rashan Gary’s 1 p.m. announcement. Gary is one of 13 ESPN 300 recruits with commitments airing live on ESPNU or ESPN2. A full list will be released prior to Signing Day.
  • Pre-game Warmup: On Tuesday, Feb. 2 ESPNU will air Signing Day Featured (3 p.m.) and a two-hour ESPNU Signing Day Preview Special (4 p.m.). SEC Network’s coverage begins on Tuesday as well, with SEC Now (11 p.m.) reviewing recent SEC Signing Day history. 
  • ESPNU Studio Home: ESPNU National Signing Day Special is live with comprehensive coverage from the Charlotte, N.C. studios for 11-hours, headlined by ESPN’s lead recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill providing day-long insight across platforms. Luginbill oversees the ESPN high school player rankings, which includes the evaluation of 1,500 players who are underclassman. A leading voice in recruiting, he has been a Signing Day staple on ESPNU for 11-years.

  Throughout the day he will be joined by a rotating panel of coaching and former-player analysts that includes Mike Bellotti, Mack Brown, Joey Galloway and David Pollack, as well as recruiting analyst Craig Haubert. The show will be hosted by Joe Tessitore and Matt Schick.

  • ESPN2 Special Debut: For the first time, the afternoon portion of National Signing Day is carried on ESPN2, from 1 to 4 p.m. The show originates from the ESPNU studios and includes live commitments, interviews and instant-analysis of teams and recruits. Both ESPNU and ESPN2’s coverage will include an on-screen graphic side-panel and additional bottomline with up to the minute rankings, alerts and real-time team statistics.
  • SEC Network: SEC Network’s day-of coverage includes live interviews and updates from all 14 Southeastern Conference teams beginning at 10 a.m. The SEC Now: Signing Day Special is hosted by Dari Nowkhah alongside college football analyst Greg McElroy and recruiting analyst Craig Haubert. Former Missouri head coach Gary Pinkel also joins the set to provide a coaching perspective. Developing stories and updates on class signings will continue throughout The Paul Finebaum show, from 3 to 7 p.m. Full details
  • Longhorn Network: LHN’s Texas Football Signing Day expanded this year to five hours, beginning at 8 a.m. (7 a.m. CT). Jane Slater reports live from campus, with Lowell Galindo hosting alongside analysts David Thomas and Ahmad Brooks from a set inside the Moncrief-Neuhaus Athletic Center. Alex Loeb and Max Olsen will provide additional coverage from the LHN studio. The network will also air Charlie Strong’s Press Conference live and do a one-hour recap show, Longhorn Extra: Signing Day Special at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. CT)
  • Streaming Live: In addition to simulcasts of ESPNU, ESPN2, SEC Network, LHN shows available for streaming on WatchESPN, ESPN3 will stream 11 different school-produced Signing Day shows.
    • The ESPN3 digital schedule currently includes: Georgia Tech (8:30 a.m.), Bowling Green (9 a.m.), Duke (9 a.m.), Miami (Fla.) (9 a.m.), Monmouth (noon), Northern Illinois (3 p.m.), Miami (Ohio) (3 p.m.), Appalachian State (6:15 p.m.) Florida State (6:30 p.m.) and Eastern Michigan (TBD).
    • SEC Network + will carry school produced shows from Auburn (7 a.m.), Kentucky (8 a.m.), Alabama (9 a.m.), Georgia (9 a.m.), Arkansas (11 a.m.), and Mississippi State (TBD) in addition to school press conferences.
  • ESPN.com: Recruiting Nation, ESPN.com’s year-round destination for recruiting news and rankings, is set to provide continuous coverage with “National Signing Day Live” a live blog with news, rankings, video and analysis throughout the day. The website’s coverage is highlighted with live reporting from 18 campuses. Recruiting Nation’s class rankings, which rank college football team’s recruiting classes, will be updated hourly beginning at 9 a.m. and culminate with a top 75 class ranking list.

 

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Gracie Blackburn

Gracie is the Communications Manager for ESPN’s College Networks. She handles all media requests and questions concerning SEC Network and Longhorn Network. Gracie also supports on college sports airing across ESPN networks.
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