COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS

Signing day kicks off with five-star DE to Stanford

The Sports Xchange

February 05, 2014 at 10:42 am.

National signing day for college football players started with a bit of whimsy.

Solomon Thomas, a five-star defensive end from Coppell, Texas, signed his letter of intent to attend Stanford on Wednesday seated at a table displaying a tree that symbolized the Cardinal’s mascot and wearing nerd glasses with tape in the center to signify the school’s academic reputation.

The 6-foot-2, 258-pound Thomas, ranked as one of the top players at his position in the country and No. 25 overall by 247Sports, chose Stanford over Arkansas and UCLA.

His commitment helped Stanford’s class to a No. 12 national ranking by 247Sports.com.

Alabama sat atop the 247Sports national rankings, followed by Ohio State of the Big Ten and BCS national champion Florida State of the ACC.

The Southeastern Conference dominated the early rankings on Wednesday with seven schools in 247Sports’s top 10. In addition Alabama, LSU was at No. 4, followed by Texas A&M at No. 5, Tennessee at No. 6, Auburn at No. 7, Georgia at No. 8 and Florida at No. 10.

The other non-SEC school in the top 10 was Notre Dame at No. 9.

Florida received a boost when dual-threat, four-star quarterback Treon Harris of Miami flipped from Florida State to the Gators.

Georgia picked up an early surprise commitment from four-star wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie, who was expected to choose among Florida, Ole Miss and Virginia Tech. McKenzie decided to follow running back Sony Michel, his high school teammate in Plantation, Fla., to Georgia after the Bulldogs extended an offer on Monday.

Georgia also flipped three-star tight end Hunter Atkinson with a late recruitment. Atkinson had committed to Cincinnati last month.

Ohio State lost out on a potential flip when five-star defensive end Malik McDowell of Southfield, Mich., committed to Big Ten champion Michigan State over the Buckeyes, Florida State and Michigan. McDowell made a late visit to Ohio State and his parents lobbied against him signing with a school in his home state of Michigan.

“He showed me a lot today, he stood firm and didn’t back down from anything,” McDowell’s father, Greg, said, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Among the top uncommitted recruits early Wednesday were athletes Adoree’ Jackson of Gardena, Calif., and John “Juju” Smith of Long Beach, Calif.

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