The early NCAA signing period or "Fall Signing Period" is upon us and scheduled for November 13th and will run until November 20th. While the state of Arizona has not been known for having a large number of fall signees annually, this year numerous members of the state's 2020 Class have given early pledges to college programs - setting up a busy Fall Signing Period for the state.
Arizona's 2020 Class is a very talented group of prospects, but several elite members of the group decided not to play their final year of high school, and instead elected to go directly to college. This is a fact that has not happened often in the state, as previous Perry High School star guard Markus Howard left Findlay Prep in his junior season for Marquette, and now is the most electric scorer in the NCAA. Former Arizona product Matt Carlino left high school early for college, but struggled at UCLA in his first season, before moving on to have a strong career for BYU.
Arizona's 2020 Class has set a new precedent for the state, which began with the early graduation and class change by Pinnacle High School superstar guard Nico Mannion. Mannion's decision to graduate early from high school, and move on to the University of Arizona and play for the Wildcats this season was a major decision for Mannion. His decision to play for the U of A early, set off a series of events that has led to numerous other Arizona prospects making the same decision.
Former Bella Vista Prep standout 6-foot-7 senior Addison Patterson decided to end his high school career, and play for the University of Oregon this season. Eduprize High School 6-foot-10 senior forward Shon Robinson elected to skip his senior season, and also graduate early and play this season for Ole Miss. Former Bella Vista Prep 6-foot-4 senior Jeron Artest also reclassified at the end of last season to the 2019 Class, and signed a division-I scholarship with a hard-working UC-Irvine staff, where he will play for this season as well.
It is still unclear as to what Hillcrest Prep senior superstar guard Kyree Walker will do for college, and he still remains as part of the 2020 Class, although it is unclear as to whether he will play this season.
Thus far, many members of Arizona's 2020 Class have given early commitments, and will look to sign division-I scholarships this fall. Recently Salpointe Catholic High School's senior guard Evan Nelson (pictured) gave a big commitment to Harvard University, a very nice commitment from a Tucson prospect. Dream City Christian Prep senior guard Jalin Anderson also gave a recent commitment to UC-Riverside, while Rancho Solano Prep 6-foot-9 senior post Hunter Ruck recently gave a big verbal commitment to UC-Irvine.
With other top-rated 2020 prospects already committed to college programs such as Dalen Terry (University of Arizona), Osasere Iguadaro (Marquette), Jhaylon Martinez (UNLV), Xavier Dusell (Northern Colorado), DeAndre Henry (Nevada), Alem Huseinovic (Nevada) and Kiimani Holt (Portland State), the fall signing period will definitely be busy with each of these prospects scheduled to sign official national letters of intent in November.
Even with numerous members of the 2020 Class already deciding to move on to college programs for this up-and-coming college season, there are still many Arizona prospects that will sign with division-I college programs this fall - the most that we have seen in years.
There are also still many top-rated members of Arizona's 2020 Class that have yet to make their college decisions, and while many of them should elect to decide on college programs this spring during the late signing period, many will have the option to sign with college programs this fall. Such prospects as AZ Compass Prep's 6-foot-11 senior Fallou Diagne, 6-foot-7 senior Ariel Bland, 6-foot-3 senior Sincere Parker and 6-foot-8 senior Jabari Walker, Bella Vista Prep's 6-foot-7 senior Jalen Johnson, Dream City Christian's 6-foot-8 senior forward Maj Dusanic and 6-foot-4 senior Brandyn Talbot, PHHoenix Prep's 6-foot-7 senior Joseph Garza, Shadow Mountain's Shemar Morrow, Paradise Honors' Jerry Iliya, Moon Valley's Trent Hudgens, Buckeye's Tay Bootheman, Carl Hayden's T.J. Green and Gilbert's Griffin Lamb, are just some of the names that are very worthy of division-I interest this fall, and could make early decisions on college programs.
Other top-rated members of the class include Dream City Christian 6-foot-7 do-it-all senior wing Marjon Beauchamp, who has elected to focus on a professional career after this season, rather than go to college. Higley HS gifted 6-foot-8 senior forward Jason Harris should decide on a college football program for his future soon, while Pinnacle's 6-foot-10 senior post Tosh Baker has already given a verbal commitment to Notre Dame for football as well.
It will be a busy fall signing period for sure, setting up an equally busy late signing period in the spring.
