Lennon Creer

Volunteer_Kirby · 12-25-2006, 07:22 PM

He knows where he is headed.

Here's an article from Austin Newspaper.

Monday, December 25, 2006

Lennon Creer knows. At least that's what he says.

He knew when he wasn't ready to decide on a college, like back in June when the University of Texas gave him a strict deadline.

And he knew when he was ready, like when he finally decided on a school.

If he has, that is.

Creer, the No. 7-ranked recruit in the state on the Austin American-Statesman's Fabulous 55 and the top-rated running back in Texas according to Rivals.com, swears he has decided where he will play in college.

But he's not telling everybody.

"I'm waiting," Creer said. "I think I'm going to announce it in January. But I don't know. All I know is I want to announce it with my teammate, Darnius Moore."

Creer is taking the opposite approach that most of the top recruits in Texas take: He's waiting.

While recruits are verbally committing earlier and earlier every year, a select few still decide to wait.

"It seems to me that fewer and fewer people are waiting every year," said Rivals.com Texas recruiting expert John Talman. "I think the story of this year was how quickly Texas got all its recruits to verbally commit and how many kids are committing earlier. We might only have a couple of kids in our top 100 uncommitted by the time signing day rolls around."

All but 10 members of the Fab 55 have announced where they plan on attending college.

Despite telling everybody he knows where he's going, Creer still plans on visiting a few more colleges.

"I have a couple more trips planned," he said. "I'm still going to keep my options open.

"Even if Texas wanted to talk, I'd be interested. They gave me a June 4 deadline earlier this year, and I wasn't ready to commit. But if they were interested, I'd still listen."

That's exactly what most of the uncommitted members of the Fab 55 are doing. They're still listening to schools' pitches.

"Some of the top guys, it's not easy for them," Talman said. "They've got so many offers and so many schools to choose from that they have no choice but to take their time. Others have different issues. It's different for every single prospect."

Like Cedar Hill's William Cole.

The senior who led the Longhorns to the state championship game was barely known before this summer. Now he's jumped up everybody's rankings — including to No. 26 on the Fab 55 — and has offers from Arizona, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma State.

"Now he can basically choose which Big 12 school he wants to go to," Talman said. "So it makes sense that he's taking his time."

As for the top member of the Fab 55 — Hempstead receiver Terrance Toliver — he's not planning on announcing his decision until signing day.

"Ever since this started, I knew I was going to take my time because that's what my coach thought was the best idea," Toliver said. "And I think that was the best decision. We were thinking about announcing everything in January, but we're going to wait until signing day."

Also, the closer it gets to signing day, the more attention the media gives to recruits' decisions.

Lufkin receiver Dez Bryant, No. 8 on the Fab 55, has a letter from ESPN asking him to call the network so he can announce his decision on television.

"That's cool, and the attention is nice. But that's not why I'm waiting," Bryant said. "I'm not worried about the attention now. It's all about what you're going to do in college and how you handle yourself once you get there.

"Any recruit can have the spotlight, but that has nothing to do with what you're going to do in college."

Bryant, who went through some academic issues, might have waited to get through those before getting close to making his decision.

He also had other things to deal with, like a long football season. His Lufkin Panthers were ranked No. 2 in the country and expected to contend for a state championship. It didn't happen, but 12 other teams still were finishing up their state championship games Saturday.

During the high school season, most recruits put deciding where to go to college on hold.

"Once September came around, I tried to focus on football and school," Toliver said. "That's when recruiting gets annoying. You've got all these coaches calling you and text messaging you, and you don't have any time to deal with everything.

"That's when you get annoyed and just wish it all would end."

Then there are players such as Rusk running back Justin Sturns, who doesn't even worry about the timing. It's all about the feeling.

"You're not talking about a little decision here. It's a life-changing decision," said Sturns, who is ranked No. 37 on the Fab 55 and has offers from Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State, Nebraska, TCU and Tennessee.

"The reason I'm taking my time is I want to make sure that the school I choose is a right fit for me," he said. "The school is going to tell you anything to get you to come there. It's important to make sure."

That's what the guys who wait do.

"I don't know how those guys decide so early," Toliver said. "There are so many schools to choose from and so many schools calling. It's not easy."

And if you think it's hard in Texas, imagine what it's like in the South, where both SEC and ACC teams recruit heavily.

"A lot of it is a matter of where you're located in the country," Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Jeremy Crabtree said. "In the South, kids tend to wait because there are so many schools. Right now in Texas, kids are deciding earlier because of Texas and what they're doing."

But some recruits still take their time, because of the attention, because they're not ready or because there are too many choices.

"There's a lot of pressure to make a decision. Everybody in the media, the community and everywhere else wants you to," said Billy Chavis, ranked No. 29 on the Fab 55 out of Beaumont Westbrook. "But the more time you spend in the recruiting process, the more you learn — what questions to ask, what to look for.

"That's why I'm glad I'm taking my time. Plus, it's my decision. Nobody else's."

When it comes down to it, that's the truth for every recruit.

No matter when, where or how they plan to announce.

**hvwarrior58** · 12-25-2006, 07:32 PM

My guess is OU or UT, but it won't matter if Texas offers, which I don't think will happen.

Volunteer_Kirby · 12-25-2006, 07:33 PM

It doesn't look to good to me. Although, his teamate who he plans to announce with has his top 3 as AK, OU, TN. It's goin' to come to UT/OU for Creer. I have a bad feelin' he is OU bound. Creer & Moore were both recruited by the same guys. Trooper & Gundy from OU.

**hvwarrior58** · 12-25-2006, 08:09 PM

The only thing that I think keeps Creer from OU is the fact that one of, if not, the top RB in 2008 is likely OU bound.

BigOrangeNation1 · 12-25-2006, 08:25 PM

I heard that Texas isnt recruiting Creer very hard and the frontrunner is most likely OU.

ssims6 · 12-25-2006, 09:08 PM

well moore committed to UT today and i didn't hear of any commit by Creer

**hvwarrior58** · 12-25-2006, 09:25 PM

Yep, that definitely swings the mo in our favor.

**hatvol96** · 12-25-2006, 10:45 PM

OU brought in a class of three big time RBs last year. I would think his chances of playing right away are better at UT, since all of our backs have health issues.

**hvwarrior58** · 12-25-2006, 11:17 PM

Yeah, people have said since the beginning that depth would be an issue with him, but he strongly suggests otherwise. He says it doesn't matter because he will be able to play whereever he goes.

I believe the kid from the 08 class that is high on OU and highly rated is Justin Johnson out of Gilmer, Texas.