Blog: 2016 NCAA Signing Day

Hundreds of NCAA football recruits made their final decisions on Wednesday on where they want to receive an education and spend their collegiate athletic careers.

National Signing Day is the first day high school seniors can sign binding letters of intent to football programs.

See where all the Canadians ended up, as well as other top recruits, here on TSN.ca's blog.
 

1:40 PM: Surrey, B.C. product and the top junior-college player in the U.S., Jonathan Kongbo commits to Tenneessee.
 

10:50 AM: 6-foot-5, 203-pound Abbottsford, B.C. native Chase Claypool signs with Notre Dame.
 

10:06 AM: Calgary OT Shane Richards signs with Oklahoma State. Born in Jamaica, the 6-foot-7, 335-pounder was recruited out of Calgary.
 

9:24 AM: Montreal K JJ Molsen makes it official with UCLA.
 

9:18 AM: No. 5 on Canada Football Chat's top 100 prospects in 2016, LB Amen Ogbongbemiga, signs with Oklahoma State. 
 

9:04 AM: No. 3 on Canada Football Chat's top 100 prospects in 2016, DL Daniel Joseph signs with Penn State.
 

8:20 AM: Toronto-native OL Jesse Meyler officially signs with Northwestern. "Northwestern is a team that is on the come up," he said. "I'm excited to be a part of a team that is about to be great." The 6-foot-5, 285 lbs. lineman was No. 4 on Canada Football Chat's top 100 prospect in 2016.
 

8:17 AM: No. 1 on Canada Football Chat's top 100 prospects of 2016, DB Patrice Rene, made it official with North Carolina this morning. The CFC reports the defensive back for Ottawa received a total of 28 offers because choosing the Tar Heels.

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Other developments on college football signing day (all times EST):

1:12 PM: Rashan Gary, the nation's No. 1 recruit, picks Michigan. The defensive tackle from Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey made his announcement on ESPN.

Michigan was the presumptive front-runner. His old high school coach works for the Wolverines, Michigan's star defensive back Jabrill Peppers also went to Paramus Catholic and there are several other New Jersey players heading to Michigan in this recruiting class.

Clemson was in the running, as well as a few Southeastern Conference schools.

12:39 PM: Offensive tackle Landon Dickerson picks Florida State over Alabama and Tennessee, adding to a great day for Jimbo Fisher and the Seminoles. A little earlier, Florida State flipped defensive tackle Shavar Manuel, who had been expected to sign with the rival Gators.

Florida State and Texas were in the running for strongest performances signing days.

After losing out to Ole Miss on highly touted receiver A.J. Brown, a Starkville native, Mississippi State got a big win on signing day by landing defensive tackle Jeffrey Simmons, who was considered the top prospect in the Magnolia state.

12:11 PM: The sleepover worked. Quinn Nordin, the nation's No. 1 kicker, signed with Michigan. Nordin, you might recall, was previously committed to Penn State but Jim Harbaugh lured him away with a sleepover.

During the Wolverines' signing day extravaganza in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh said his bed at the Nordin's home was one of the most comfortable he has ever slept in.

NOON: Always nice to take a player from a conference rival.
Running back Vavae Malepeai from Hawaii flipped from his Oregon commitment to go to Southern California.

The Trojans also lured Jamel Cook, an athlete who could wind up in the secondary, away from his Florida State commitment on signing day and beat Michigan for defensive end Connor Murphy.

11:45 AM: Rashan Gary, the top-rated recruit in the country from Paramus Catholic High School in New Jersey, was scheduled to announce where he will attend school around 1 PM ET. He was headed to Bristol, Connecticut, by limousine, from his high school.

Gary will choose from Michigan, Clemson or an SEC school.

Tennessee added former Miami interim head coach Larry Scott to its staff last month, and the move apparently is already paying dividends. Tennessee signed two Florida residents who previously had been committed to Miami. The two players to make the switch were athlete Tyler Byrd of Naples and wide receiver Latrell Williams of Lake City.

Scott, who served as Miami's interim head coach for the final six games of the 2015 season after Al Golden was fired, is Tennessee's new tight ends coach. -- Steve Megargee reporting.

11:30 AM: The scores keep on coming for Texas. Linebacker Jeffrey McCulloch picked the Longhorns over Notre Dame and Stanford.

11:26 AM: Receiver Drake Davis is heading to LSU. He picked the Tigers over Alabama.

11:20 AM: Receiver Nate Craig-Myers from Tampa, Florida, pulled out a mini-statue of Aubie, Auburn's costumed Tiger mascot, to choose Auburn over North Carolina.

11:09 AM: Receiver A.J. Brown is one of the best prospects in the state of Mississippi and he grew up in Starkville, home of Mississippi State. But he's going to Ole Miss. 

Brown told the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi: "I was going to stay (home), but I felt like they didn't do a good job of recruiting. I didn't feel wanted."

10:50 AM: Linebacker Dontavious Jackson from Texas is heading to Florida State. Charlie Strong and the Texas made a later push to get Jackson, but the Seminoles closed the deal on him.

It's the third big signing day commitment for the 'Noles who also landed defensive end Brian Burns and cornerback Carlos Becker, who was considering Ohio State.

10:45 AM: Deontay Anderson won the day as far as spectacular commitments go. The four-star safety released a video on Bleacher Report of him skydiving, landing and opening up his jump suit to reveal and Ole Miss T-shirt.

10:23 AM: Houston lost one of its prize commitments when wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland switched his college choice to Florida. The receiver from Houston was rated as the nation's No. 33 prospect in a composite ranking of recruiting websites compiled by 247Sports.

The Cougars did get a signed letter of intent from defensive tackle Ed Oliver, the nation's No. 6 overall recruit according to the 247Sports Composite. The Oliver signing was expected but it's still quite a coup for a program outside the Power 5.

- Steve Megargee reporting

10:11 AM: Linebacker Ben Davis from Alabama was the first five-star commitment of the day for the Crimson Tide. No surprise. Davis came into the day undecided but seemed to be leaning toward the Tide. Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Notre Dame were in the mix.

The national champs are also adding two highly-rated players for its secondary.

Nigel Knott and Shyheim Carter both announced at their respective high schools that they would play for the Crimson Tide. Knott was a star cornerback at Germantown High School in Madison, Mississippi, and picked the Tide over Mississippi State.

Carter, a cornerback from Kentwood, Louisiana, picked the Tide over Mississippi.

- David Brandt reporting

9:55 AM: Georgia has signed the son of former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield. Running back Elijah Holyfield announced Wednesday he'll play for the Bulldogs. The 5-foot-11, 209-pounder starred at Woodward Academy in suburban Atlanta.

Now, he's looking to make a name for himself at Georgia, which adds some much-needed running back depth following a season-ending injury sustained by Nick Chubb.

- Paul Newberry reporting

9:48 AM: Parrish Cobb, a 5-foot-11, 178-pound cornerback from Waco's La Vega High School, is staying home to play at Baylor. Cobb had verbally committed to Oklahoma before his senior season last fall, but this week changed his mind. He made it official early Wednesday morning when he signed a letter of intent with his hometown Big 12 team.

Cobb had 56 tackles and four interceptions for La Vega, which went 16-0 and won a Texas Class 4A state championship. He was also a receiver with seven touchdown catches, plus returned kicks.

- Stephen Hawkins reporting

9:33 AM: Ring up another one for Charlie Strong and Texas: S/LB Brandon Jones, the Lone Star state's defensive player of the year, picked the Longhorns over Texas A&M and Baylor.

9:15 AM: Trayvon Mullen, a cornerback from Florida, picks Clemson over LSU and Florida State. The Tigers had three starting defensive backs, including star cornerback Mackensie Alexander, enter the NFL draft early. Mullen could step right in.

9:06 AM: Say this about Texas coach Charlie Strong: He is a closer. The Longhorns may end up with the highest-rated class in the Big 12. The Longhorns scooped up defensive linemen Chris Daniel and Marcel Southall early Wednesday and D'Andre Christmas-Giles late Tuesday night.

The bad news: That surge might not be good enough for Texas to crack the top-10 nationally.

It's not just Texas feeling the squeeze with more competition (i.e. the SEC) in-state for top talent. The entire Big 12 is fighting to keep the Lone Star state from being poached.

9 AM: Florida and Florida State typically butt heads for top in-state recruits. Defensive end Brian Burns picked the Seminoles over the Gators.

8:48 AM: Mecole Hardman Jr., who gets compared to USC star cornerback Adoree Jackson, committed to Georgia over Tennessee and Alabama. The first good news of the day for new Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart.

Hardman used cakes instead of baseball caps to make his pick, but then jumped through a Georgia banner to commit to the Bulldogs.

8:15 AM: The first uncommitted blue-chipper of the day is following in his father's footsteps. Safety Nigel Warrior, the son of former Tennessee star Dale Carter, chose the Volunteers.