10-hours of Continuous Coverage on ESPNU and ESPN3 will include ESPN Reporters at 13 College Campuses and Four Players No.1 at their Position Announcing Commitment Live

ESPNU will televise the most comprehensive coverage of National Signing Day to date on Wednesday, Feb. 1 beginning at 9 a.m. ET with 10-hours of live multiplatform coverage. The seventh annual ESPNU National Signing Day Special will once again originate from the ESPNU Charlotte, N.C. studios, be simulcast on ESPN3 and include live look-ins on SportsCenter throughout the day.  

Hosted by Rece Davis and Dari Nowkhah the ESPNU National Signing Day Special will feature comprehensive ESPN analysis from an assembled team of experienced and knowledgeable experts in scouting, recruiting, playing and coaching college football. Senior national recruiting analyst Tom Luginbill and recruiting analyst Craig Haubert will be joined in-studio by former head coaches Mike Bellotti, Randy Shannon and Butch Davis, college football analysts Rod Gilmore and David Pollack, regional coordinators Corey Long, Jamie Newberg and ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit and Lou Holtz will also provide commentary throughout the day in addition to the unique perspective of ESPN NFL analyst Trent Dilfer.

2012 ESPNU National Signing Day Special highlights:

• Around the nation coverage from ESPN reporters at 13 college campuses – eight of which are in Schlabach’s Top 10 early rankings on ESPN.com – including 2012 BCS National Champions Alabama and BCS participants LSU, Michigan and Clemson, as well as Florida State, Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, USC, Oregon and Notre Dame.
• 10 different players are expected to make their college commitment decision on the show, four of which are ranked No. 1 at their position on the ESPNU 150:
  • No. 3 Dorial Green-Beckham (Springfield, Mo.; No. 1 wide receiver)        
  • No. 9 Andrus Peat (Tempe, Ariz.)
  • No. 10  Eddie Goldman (Washington, DC; No.1 defensive tackle)      
  • No. 17 Josh Harvey-Clemons (Valdosta, Ga.; No. 1 outside linebacker)                            
  • No. 18 Tracy Howard (Miramar, Fla.; No. 1 cornerback)    
  • No. 29 Kwon Alexander (Oxford, Ala.)
  • No. 33 Thomas Johnson (Dallas)
  • No. 47 Nelson Agholor  (Tampa, Fla.)                 
  • No. 61 Avery Young (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.)               
  • Trea Elston (Oxford, Ala.)
• Additional appearances by  No. 1 Mario Edwards (Denton, Texas; No. 1 defensive end), No. 25 Noor Davis (Leesburg, Fla.), No. 51 Ifeadi Odenigbo (Centerville, Ohio) and No. 14 Jameis Winston (Hueytown, Ala.; No.1 quarterback) discussing the role being a MLB prospect plays in his college plans.
• 2012 Indiana University commit Kevin Davis will report from Super Bowl media day on behalf of ESPNU, interviewing NY Giants and New England Patriots players on their own signing day.
• In conjunction to live player announcements, ESPNU will report on the 24 players currently uncommitted in the ESPNU 150 and conduct interviews with more than 30 coaches from the country’s top teams throughout the day
• Several features will air throughout the day including Outside The Lines’ look at southern states’ ability to attract top recruits and a dissection of high-profile family ties such as Ken Griffey Jr, Deion Sanders and P.Diddy’s sons, all members of the 2012 class.
•  Interact with @ESPNU on twitter via #signingday, join the conversation on ESPNU’s Facebook page or ESPN.com’s day-long chat.

In anticipation of February 1, ESPNU will televise a preview special on Tuesday, Jan. 31 from 4-6:30 p.m. in addition to the following Nation Signing Day coverage from ESPN.com, ESPNHS.com, ESPNW, ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Radio:

• ESPN.com:
  • RecruitingNation will provide coverage of more than 20 player announcements across the country, including six of the nation’s top 20 players.  It will also host a 10-hour live chat featuring guests and analysts nationwide. 
  • Throughout National Signing Day, RecruitingNation will have updated class rankings every hour and in-depth team grades for the top programs in the nation.  The first player rankings for the Class of 2013 will be unveiled, as well as a look at some of the top players set to star in the Class of 2014.
  • In addition to national focus, RecruitingNation’s eight school sites – DawgNationESPN.com, GatorNationESPN.com, GeauxTigerNationESPN.com, HornsNationESPN.com, SoonerNationESPN.com, TideNationESPN.com, WeAreSC.com and WolverineNationESPN.com – will provide in-depth analysis and up-to-the-minute news from Signing Day.
• ESPNHS.com: Takes an in-depth look at St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Woodland Hills (Pittsburgh) – high schools with the most players in the NFL – and the reasons why some schools are able to produce so many players and recruits. The high school-centric site will also profile three top underclassmen in conjunction with the first 2013 rankings and 2014 players to watch release.
• espnW: Contributor Adena Andrews writes about Landon Collins, the nation’s top-rated safety, and his mother’s desire for him to attend LSU instead of Alabama, in “Momma Knows Best.”
• ESPN The Magazine: The annual “Recruiting Issue” hits newsstands Friday, Jan. 27 and includes a full color look at some of this year’s top recruits, a recruiting map of where the best players come from and which schools really win the recruiting battles, plus a feature on Rushel Shell and the story of recruitment as a soon-to-be teenage father.   
• ESPN Radio: Colin Cowherd of ESPN Radio’s The Herd (10 a.m.-1 p.m. M-F), noted college football enthusiast and a self-confessed “recruiting geek,” will discuss the nation’s top prospects and their possible destinations during his traditional Recruiting Day visit with Luginbill.

ESPNU
The 24-hour college sports television network airs more than 650 live events annually and offers over 600 original studio shows. ESPNU has seen a steady increase since its inception on March 4, 2005 and is now in over 73 million households. The brand is also available in high definition on ESPNUHD, now in over 20 million homes. The network has long-term carriage agreements with all 10 of the top multichannel TV providers – Cablevision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV (Channel 208), DISH Network (Channel 141), Mediacom, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS TV and AT&T U-verse.

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Media Contact: Gracie Blackburn, ESPN PR 860/766-5069 or [email protected]