College signing days have never meant less.
They’ve also never been bigger or felt better.
It’s no longer much of a contract for the nation’s top high school athletes. Instead, it’s a way to honor every athlete who plans to play at any level in college.
“I love the celebration part of it,” Jefferson boys basketball coach L.C. Robinson said when parents, students and coaches overflowed Jefferson’s “triangle” lobby for the school’s fourth signing day of the 2024-25 school year.
“When I was in high school, it didn’t look like this,” Robinson added. “That’s one of the things I like about their generation — they celebrate even the small wins. They make it a big deal. And I think it is a big deal. I love to see kids taking the next step in their careers.”
For decades, signing day was restricted to athletes who inked a letter-of-intent to play sports in college in return for a scholarship. NCAA Division III athletes and their parents felt left out, so the NCAA eventually came out with a "non-binding celebratory signing form” for them. Now signing days are for everybody. Jefferson’s most recent signing day had a basketball player going to a Division III school in Minnesota and two soccer players staying in town to play at the junior college level for Rock Valley College.
And even the biggest recruits aren’t signing much of a commitment. In the old days, Division I basketball and football players were basically tied to their school for four years unless the college agreed to a waiver to let them transfer. Now no one is committed to anything for longer than one year. The NCAA dumped its letter-of-intent policy 18 months ago in favor of students signing one-year financial agreements, which include Name, Image and Likeness contracts.
So signing day should be dying. Instead, it’s bigger than ever.
Jefferson’s triangle was packed on April 4, with far more people seeing Jordan Reed and Sareth Marquez sign their non-binding piece of paper than had ever seen them play boys and girls soccer for Jefferson.
“I am so excited,” Oliver Reed, Jordan’s dad, said. “As people began filling up, I started looking around and was so excited for Jordan. It shows that all his hard work really paid off and that people are supporting him. He’s not by himself. He’s going on his journey with a group of people who have supported him all the way.”
