Athletes state their ‘intent’ on Signing Day

They’ve got it all backward.

Today is called National Letter of Intent Day, when high school athletes who “committed” to colleges sign their way into exclusivity — or not.

It really should be called Letter of Commitment Day. That’s because until the prospects sign the letter, all they have are intentions.

Maybe you think it’s just semantics. If so, here are dictionary definitions of the word “commitment” that go against the idea of it being something you just forget about because you get a better offer:

1. the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.

“the company’s commitment to quality”

synonyms: dedication, devotion, allegiance, loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity

“her commitment to her students”

2. an engagement or obligation that restricts freedom of action.

“business commitments”

synonyms: responsibility, obligation, duty, tie, liability

See? The way it is now doesn’t make sense. Then again, a lot about college football recruiting defies logic.

There’s the timetable, for one thing. Football is one of the few major sports that doesn’t have an early signing period. Signing early can be helpful for a student-athlete who wants to get the process over with.

Sure, some enjoy the attention. And some don’t have enough time to gather the information needed to make a good decision about what college would be best. That’s a two-way street, of course, and coaches are often rushed into choices about prospects.

With that in mind, the Star-Advertiser’s University of Hawaii football beat writer, Stephen Tsai, looks at it the other way. He says a later signing date would make sense. After hearing his reasoning, I agree.

“In February, everyone’s cramming,” Tsai said. “I think if you go later, like April, you have a clearer idea if a player is even going to be eligible. It gives everyone more time to separate it out. You can make smarter choices if you have more time.”

Hawaii might have benefited from an early signing date in the case of Kahuku’s Kesi Ah-Hoy, since his stated intention was to become a Rainbow Warrior. That was until the Polynesian Bowl, when the All-State defensive back announced Oregon State was back in the picture.

We’ll probably find out today if it’s Corvallis or Manoa for Ah-Hoy. Then again, maybe not — people often forget that LOI day is just the first opportunity to make binding commitments.

UH is among the many schools that for various reasons often find themselves in wait-and-see mode for several players after the first day. Technically, almost everyone is in limbo since no one is eligible until high school graduation.

Hawaii traditionally has scored some good late pickups. All-WAC linebacker Adam Leonard was one and so was last season’s starting quarterback, Dru Brown.

People were already freaking out because going into today with Ah-Hoy’s pullout UH had zero oral pledges from the state’s top 15 prospects.

While it’s frustrating for UH fans to see the big-time schools announce their classes full of big-time recruits, it’s good to remember that other than the very obvious top-notch prospects, the star system recruiting services use is at best a guessing game that panders to the elite programs. And trust me: It means nothing if your conference foes have more three-stars than your team.

Remember that trick play Nick Rolovich designed when he was offensive coordinator at UH a few years ago? It was called “Bumbye You Learn.”

The loose translation is “Eventually, you will figure it out.”

Rolovich, now the head coach, and his roster could benefit from local prospects who go away later realizing they want to be home. Some fans like to talk tough and say don’t let ’em back because of the previous rejection out of high school.

If that were policy, players like Wayne Hunter, Tafiti Uso and Kealoha Pilares would’ve been iced out. More recently, Kory Rasmussen, Fred Ulu-Perry and Larry Tuileta have transferred to the hometown school from Pac-12 colleges.

Hey, you never know. If Tua Tagovailoa does get stuck behind Jalen Hurts — a quarterback just one year ahead of him who took Alabama to the national championship game last fall as a true freshman — he might consider transferring to Hawaii.

Then the Crimson Tide and Rainbow Warriors would finally be even. Peter Kim left for Tuscaloosa after his freshman season at Manoa and kicked the final points of Bear Bryant’s coaching career. Junior college transfer Jesse Williams played on a national championship team at Alabama instead of going to UH, to which he’d originally committed to go to after high school.

Sorry, make that originally intended.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.