SIGNING DAY THOUGHTS:
Times have changed over the last decade. The first Wednesday in February used to be like Christmas Day for football fans across America; now it is a little less thrilling as most players have already signed by now – many of whom are already attending classes at their respective universities.
Oregon had 30 players attend new athlete orientation in early January which was a fascinating scene. While there may not be a ton of intrigue, the Ducks are involved with two of those elite players who have yet to make a decision and were involved with a third.
There is not much that can be said that has not already been said, but we will at least review where things stand with the two players Oregon is hoping announce later this morning.
HARBOR
Nyckoles Harbor is slated to announce his decision around 10:00 this morning. One thing you can be sure of is that there will not be any strange hat ceremony with Nyckoles picking up different hats before announcing his real choice. The plan is to just talk about everything with those in attendance; there will be family and coaches who talk about the journey Harbor has taken and then he will get a chance to share his thoughts.
Do I think it will be Oregon? This one is one of the more difficult ones to make a call on because no one is giving a lot of clues as this winds down. I know that Oregon did everything possible to get Harbor to become a Duck, but it feels a little like the post visit glow might have worn off a little and Harbor started to consider the relationships he had already built with South Carolina. If I were a betting person, I would probably go with South Carolina (as I write this Tuesday night).
I don’t think this will be a distance thing when the decision is made. While you don’t necessarily have to fly to get to a South Carolina Game, it would be a 500 mile drive to get there. Is that easier than getting on a plane and crossing three time zones? Sure, but it is not exactly next door like Maryland.
The Harbor family is well educated and have help with the business side of this decision – and given Harbor’s elite track work, there are legitimate NIL opportunities to consider. The decision is well-informed. I am told that the decision was made and that the family all discussed it Tuesday night. But I also know that this will not be a situation where the family makes the decision – whatever decision Nyckoles has made, it will be his and his alone – and it will be supported by the family.
The Tuesday night Twitter hashtag campaign sort of felt like a hail mary from Oregon; but South Carolina also got involved with similar tweets throughout the day Tuesday. The one thing that seemed to get most Oregon fans hope was the Hayward magic and the lure of running in a track mecca. The dilemma, of course, is that elite track stars will run there irrespective of what college they attend. Oregon did everything in their power over the weekend to get Harbor to make that choice; it could still be the Ducks, but I think this one goes the way of South Carolina.
PLEASANT
This one has Oregon fans feeling more hopeful. Pleasant is an elite track athlete as well and lives close enough that the distance factor would be similar to Harbor choosing South Carolina.
There are a lot of things stacked against Oregon here, though. Pleasant’s older brother Dominic Davis played for USC from 2015-2019 as a running back. Davis started as a safety and moved to running back. Though nowhere near as fast as Pleasant, Davis also ran for the USC track team – which means he already has a really strong relationship with USC track coach and former Trojan sprinter Qunicy Watts.
I know he really likes Curtis Tayler and that Jerry Schumacher did a really good job talking about all of the benefits of coming to Oregon – especially the access to world class facilities for training and preparation, but I am just not sure that was enough.
From a football perspective, if this were just a football thing, I might like Oregon more here. He has a really good relationship with Tosh Lupoi and Demetrice Martin and he sees where he could be of great value.
A lot has been made by fans of both USC and Oregon about the trip last weekend. To be clear, there was never a trip scheduled. There was a quick call to see if it was possible (mainly because the idea of having both he and Harbor on campus at the same time would have created a unique synergy to the recruiting weekend). But Pleasant was on a pre-arranged trip with his school to Big Bear and it was not something he was willing to consider giving up. After all, he had already taken an official visit and there really was not much more for him to see.
Pleasant took his official visit to USC just before heading to Honolulu for the Polynesian Bowl. From what I heard, that trip really helped shape the decision for Pleasant. While he had been to the USC campus many times before, there is just something different about an official visit and the visit seemed to cement things for him at that time.
Nothing I have heard over the last two weeks changes my opinion of where he will land. This could be a really quiet day for Oregon. I guess the good news is that It will be over fairly early in the day.
The Oregon staff are well aware of all the little things that were on Pleasant’s mind and where he was leaning. I know that the staff made a really hard push to see if they could get him to pick Oregon. Often, another school has been able to swoop in at the last minute and snag a prized Duck recruit, in this case, if there is any swooping in at the last minute it will be Oregon swooping in and snapping up the prized recruit. Late in the night Tuesday that is still a possibility.
ROBINSON
Duce was pretty clear he was hoping to get an official visit in to Oregon. If he decides not to sign today and instead pushes his commitment back and Oregon does not land Harbor, keep an eye out to see if the two-sport star looks to get that official visit scheduled. I still think he winds up at Georgia, but it could get interesting if he postpones a decision.
All for now.
Times have changed over the last decade. The first Wednesday in February used to be like Christmas Day for football fans across America; now it is a little less thrilling as most players have already signed by now – many of whom are already attending classes at their respective universities.
Oregon had 30 players attend new athlete orientation in early January which was a fascinating scene. While there may not be a ton of intrigue, the Ducks are involved with two of those elite players who have yet to make a decision and were involved with a third.
There is not much that can be said that has not already been said, but we will at least review where things stand with the two players Oregon is hoping announce later this morning.
HARBOR
Nyckoles Harbor is slated to announce his decision around 10:00 this morning. One thing you can be sure of is that there will not be any strange hat ceremony with Nyckoles picking up different hats before announcing his real choice. The plan is to just talk about everything with those in attendance; there will be family and coaches who talk about the journey Harbor has taken and then he will get a chance to share his thoughts.
Do I think it will be Oregon? This one is one of the more difficult ones to make a call on because no one is giving a lot of clues as this winds down. I know that Oregon did everything possible to get Harbor to become a Duck, but it feels a little like the post visit glow might have worn off a little and Harbor started to consider the relationships he had already built with South Carolina. If I were a betting person, I would probably go with South Carolina (as I write this Tuesday night).
I don’t think this will be a distance thing when the decision is made. While you don’t necessarily have to fly to get to a South Carolina Game, it would be a 500 mile drive to get there. Is that easier than getting on a plane and crossing three time zones? Sure, but it is not exactly next door like Maryland.
The Harbor family is well educated and have help with the business side of this decision – and given Harbor’s elite track work, there are legitimate NIL opportunities to consider. The decision is well-informed. I am told that the decision was made and that the family all discussed it Tuesday night. But I also know that this will not be a situation where the family makes the decision – whatever decision Nyckoles has made, it will be his and his alone – and it will be supported by the family.
The Tuesday night Twitter hashtag campaign sort of felt like a hail mary from Oregon; but South Carolina also got involved with similar tweets throughout the day Tuesday. The one thing that seemed to get most Oregon fans hope was the Hayward magic and the lure of running in a track mecca. The dilemma, of course, is that elite track stars will run there irrespective of what college they attend. Oregon did everything in their power over the weekend to get Harbor to make that choice; it could still be the Ducks, but I think this one goes the way of South Carolina.
PLEASANT
This one has Oregon fans feeling more hopeful. Pleasant is an elite track athlete as well and lives close enough that the distance factor would be similar to Harbor choosing South Carolina.
There are a lot of things stacked against Oregon here, though. Pleasant’s older brother Dominic Davis played for USC from 2015-2019 as a running back. Davis started as a safety and moved to running back. Though nowhere near as fast as Pleasant, Davis also ran for the USC track team – which means he already has a really strong relationship with USC track coach and former Trojan sprinter Qunicy Watts.
I know he really likes Curtis Tayler and that Jerry Schumacher did a really good job talking about all of the benefits of coming to Oregon – especially the access to world class facilities for training and preparation, but I am just not sure that was enough.
From a football perspective, if this were just a football thing, I might like Oregon more here. He has a really good relationship with Tosh Lupoi and Demetrice Martin and he sees where he could be of great value.
A lot has been made by fans of both USC and Oregon about the trip last weekend. To be clear, there was never a trip scheduled. There was a quick call to see if it was possible (mainly because the idea of having both he and Harbor on campus at the same time would have created a unique synergy to the recruiting weekend). But Pleasant was on a pre-arranged trip with his school to Big Bear and it was not something he was willing to consider giving up. After all, he had already taken an official visit and there really was not much more for him to see.
Pleasant took his official visit to USC just before heading to Honolulu for the Polynesian Bowl. From what I heard, that trip really helped shape the decision for Pleasant. While he had been to the USC campus many times before, there is just something different about an official visit and the visit seemed to cement things for him at that time.
Nothing I have heard over the last two weeks changes my opinion of where he will land. This could be a really quiet day for Oregon. I guess the good news is that It will be over fairly early in the day.
The Oregon staff are well aware of all the little things that were on Pleasant’s mind and where he was leaning. I know that the staff made a really hard push to see if they could get him to pick Oregon. Often, another school has been able to swoop in at the last minute and snag a prized Duck recruit, in this case, if there is any swooping in at the last minute it will be Oregon swooping in and snapping up the prized recruit. Late in the night Tuesday that is still a possibility.
ROBINSON
Duce was pretty clear he was hoping to get an official visit in to Oregon. If he decides not to sign today and instead pushes his commitment back and Oregon does not land Harbor, keep an eye out to see if the two-sport star looks to get that official visit scheduled. I still think he winds up at Georgia, but it could get interesting if he postpones a decision.
All for now.
