It used to be the first Wednesday in February was the one and only national letter of intent signing day in college athletics. It was the day high school and junior college athletes across all sports signed on the dotted line, committing to the college or University of their choice. Then a couple years back football added an early signing period in December. This past December the signing day actually occurred while Boise State coaches were in Las Vegas preparing for the Vegas Bowl against Washington.

The distraction of signing and recruiting may have well been part of the Broncos issue as they struggled against the Huskies. To be honest, as I was interviewing players leading up to the Vegas Bowl it seemed their focus wasn't what you you'd expect a week before kickoff and at the time I found it curious. Now I think it was because their coaches were preoccupied by early signing day and the pressure to get big time recruits to commit.

Tomorrow there are no distractions of a bowl game or any other game to worry about, just the business of getting the ink to dry on national letters of intent.

The big difference tomorrow is we aren't just talking football letters of intent. We are talking all sports and by some counts, that means nearly 200 athletes right here in the Treasure Valley in baseball, soccer, golf, tennis, track and field etc.

Signing day is an exciting time for those gifted athletes worthy of scholarships but signing day can be deceiving.

I always take a look three years down the road to see how many of those athletes who signed are still playing, still at the same college of university or even still in school.

Many times in football a recruiting class of say 20, in four years has maybe 5 or 6 still in uniform. Don't get me wrong, signing day is huge, that's why tomorrow most schools will hold signing day events and at many high schools around the valley part of the day will be dedicated to showcasing athletes signing their letters.

But the real measure of success comes in the years to follow...those who prevail to enjoy a collegiate career of athletics topped by a degree. Now that's what they're really signing on for!

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