February 1, 2011

Carla Swank
Assistant Editor

When Minooka (Ill.) High defensive end Zach Colvin pictured his time in the spotlight on National Signing Day, this probably isn't what he had in mind.

He'd envisioned his teammates and coaches surrounding him as his classmates and the media looked on, while he signed his Letter of Intent and faxed it off to Bowling Green.

Instead? Colvin will sign his Letter of Intent quietly Wednesday morning at home, sans the pomp and circumstance.

All because of a poorly timed snow day.

A massive storm packing a punch of both ice and snow has crippled a wide portion of the nation's midsection. While whiteouts shut down Oklahoma City and Tulsa Tuesday morning and afternoon, Chicago was was hit with 17 inches of snow overnight, with more still on the way.

Colvin, though, is taking the snow day and all its corresponding changes in stride.

"I'm a little disappointed," he said. "But it's still a neat day. I was definitely looking forward to going to school (Wednesday) morning for sure because of Signing Day."

Colvin isn't alone, especially in the Chicagoland area, where schools canceled both classes and National Signing Day ceremonies for Wednesday due to the blizzard-like conditions.

Media reports said that the snow day for Chicago schools was the first in more than a decade.

The storm, which is being called a winter weather colossus, stretched more than 2,000 miles across a third of the country. In Missouri, more than 18 inches of snow fell; Indianapolis was anticipating an inch of ice.

And it continued into the Northeast, where New York City was expected to get up to three-quarters of an inch of ice by midday Wednesday.

Reports of major interstates shutting down due to icy conditions, thousands of flights being canceled and states of emergencies being declared were quickly followed by school closings and delays.

Meteorologists in the region said the storm would likely make transportation impossible in the Midwest for at least a couple of days.

That's leaving high schools, colleges and even some media outlets to come up with creative solutions to what is shaping up to be a Signing Day snow day.

While Colvin described his originally planned ceremony as a "small thing," there isn't going to be anything small about the event scheduled at Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha.

Not when the No. 4 prospect in the nation, five-star offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio, is expected to make his decision, in addition to a host of his three-star teammates.

And, at least for now, that ceremony will still happen, albeit a bit later than originally planned.

"Hopefully the ice won't be too bad," DeMatha athletic director Ed King said. "We're moving the ceremony from 8 a.m. (ET) to noon, but it should still go on as planned."

Dan Sharp, the head coach and athletic director at Joliet (Ill.) Catholic Academy, told EdgyTim.com that he had been planning a 2 p.m. CT ceremony tomorrow that would have featured seven players signing to different levels. That ceremony, however, won't happen.

"We will have a mock signing ceremony a week from tomorrow for the media and families," Sharp said. "We've canceled school (Wednesday) and it's just a shame for the kids."

Sharp said that running back Josh Ferguson, a three-star prospect who will sign with Illinois, has a fax machine at home and will handle his paperwork from there.

But not everyone has that luxury.

So that's why at least one Big Ten school has come up with another solution. It sent out online maps indicating the location of several available fax machines within a 20 mile radius of each player's home, just in case the schools are closed and players don't have access to a school fax machine.

Tulsa (Okla.) Union tight end Blake Jones had an in-home visit late last week with a coach from Colorado State to discuss finalizing paperwork.

"Even if school gets canceled, I'll sign and fax my papers in on Wednesday," Jones told GoldandGreenNews.com. "We'll just have the ceremony whenever school gets back in."

Victor Simmons, a three-star safety at Olathe (Kan.) North, said he still plans to sign his Letter of Intent to Kansas tomorrow. He's just not exactly sure how it's getting there yet. School is already canceled and signing ceremonies have been scheduled for Thursday.

"There is a chance I might still go into the school and sign," he told JayhawkSlant.com. "If not, I will sign my letter and give it to my dad. He will fax it from his work."

Also now scheduled for Thursday is the Big Ten Network's "Signing Day Special." Originally scheduled to air Wednesday evening, the network issued a press release Tuesday afternoon it had moved the telecast to 11 p.m. ET Thursday night due to the "travel difficulties associated with the blizzard."

Fans of Michigan and Colorado will have to wait until Thursday to learn of four-star OLB Leilon Willingham's commitment.

According to TheWolverine.com, the Denver (Colo.) Mullen star postponed his Wednesday morning press conference and has rescheduled his announcement for Thursday. There is still a chance, according to the site, that he could fax in his paperwork earlier.

And the storm affected schools as far south as Texas and Arkansas.

Officials confirmed to RivalsHigh that planned signing ceremonies at two schools in northwest Arkansas - Springdale (Ark.) Har-Ber and Springdale (Ark.) Shiloh Christian - were moved from Wednesday to Friday.

Euless (Texas) Trinity didn't cancel its ceremony Wednesday morning, but it did postpone it from 8 a.m. CT to 10 a.m. CT.

"It will be a nuts and bolts signing by the fax machine to get these players signed and delivered to colleges," coach Steve Lineweaver told TheOldCoach.com. "We won't have the pomp and circumstance we normally do for the all the family but the kids are right by the school."

The storm even affected signing classes in ... New Mexico.

The storm has closed 85 percent of the public and private high schools in the state, from Albuquerque to Las Cruces - a span of 300 miles.

That means the state's eight D-I signees - the largest recruiting class ever from the state - will now sign their Letter of Intents on Friday.

"We have had to reschedule our National Signing Day party for Friday instead of (Wednesday) due to inclement weather," Albuquerque (N.M.) West Mesa coach James Palcious said.

It's not just high schools that are dealing with the weather either.

Late Tuesday, both Bowling Green and Toledo moved their National Signing Day ceremonies to Thursday.

One prospect who doesn't have to worry about the weather, though, is Naperville (Ill.) Naperville North linebacker Nick Lifka.

While his school back in Chicagoland is canceled for Wednesday, Lifka, who has committed to Boston College, is in Texas and will send his paperwork from there.

"Nick is playing in the Team USA versus the World game in Texas," Naperville North coach Sean Drendel told EdgyTim.com. "So he is in Texas this week."

EdgyTim.com publisher Tim O'Halloran, MDHigh.com publisher Dave Lomonico, NMPreps.com publisher Kyle Henderson, Rivals.com deputy editor Greg Ladky and the Associated Press contributed to this report.