As usual, the biggest day in the transition from high school to college football was filled with a little bit of everything.
It started with a Florida floodgate to Auburn.
Kyler Murray, Allen
Photo by Neil Fonville
There was reported trepidation from 5-star defensive end
Byron Cowart and for some reason two-time MaxPreps National Player of the Year
Kyler Murray showed up late to his own signing day celebration at Allen (Texas).
Murray eventually showed and signed to Texas A&M, to the relief of the Aggies' coaching staff and A&M fans everywhere.
"It ends the madness," Murray said.
Check out the MaxPreps National Signing Day page for video and information on all top recruits
Florida (+46), Michigan (+36) and UCLA (+12) made mad dashes toward the top of the
247Sports team rankings on National Signing Day, and Alabama with six 5-star recruits and 311.08 points held off hard-charging USC, with four 5-star recruits and 310.44 for the top spot.
USC, in fact, nabbed the last 5-star standout, Long Beach Poly cornerback
Iman Marshall. He announced his decision via a music video that he and Bleacher Report produced, about 20 minutes before he met with live ESPN cameras to make what was supposed to be an exclusive announcement.
"There are a lot of great programs throughout the nation," Marshall said. "Part of the decision was to stay close to home and another big part was to bring us home a naty (national championship)."
USC couldn't secure 4-star receiver
Cordell Broadus, who picked crosstown rival UCLA to the dismay of his dad Snoop Dogg, a longtime Trojan backer. In the end, dad showed the ultimate commitment to his son and the Bruins.
Iman Marshall, Long Beach Poly
Photo by David Hood
"I'm backing him up 1,000 percent so I'm going to throw away all my USC drawers," he told ESPN cameras. "I'm going to UCLA 100,000 percent."
Needless to say, 2015 National Signing Day had a little bit of everything, including flips, drama and new trends.
The biggest change the 2015 recruiting game showed was a propensity for programs to gladly nab players from across state lines. Michigan State grabbed 16 of its 21 recruits from out of state, including as far away as California, Arizona, Texas and Florida.
UCLA made its big Wednesday move by going outside California, securing 5-star running back
Soso Jamabo from Plano West (Texas), 4-star tight end
Chris Clark from Avon Old Farms (Conn.) and 4-star linebacker
Roquan Smith from Macon County (Montezuma, Ga), along with Broadus.
Speaking of Smith, he only committed to the Bruins. He has not turned in a National Letter of Intent, and he is reportedly reopening his recruitment.
Auburn moved into the ninth spot largely because of three Florida recruits who were probably wooed by its recent hire of former Florida coach Will Muschamp.
Most of the day's drama came down to the uncommitted 4- and 5-star athletes who made hard choices on Wednesday. Among those were 5-star tackle
Martez Ivey, and 5-star defensive end
Cece Jefferson, to Florida and 5-star defensive lineman
Terry Beckner Jr. to Missouri.
