Afternoon LOI Update

Let's take a look at what ASU has done on National Signing Day so far, as were now 3 hours from the official ASU press conference.

-Regardless of what ESPNU might be ticking by...they still had him going to USC as of about an hour ago...Vontaze Burfict has signed. Now the legwork to get him eligible probably begins.

-As we talked about in the live blog last night, Burfict's teammate, DT William Sutton, also sent in his letter of intent. You can't do much about his height (6'1") but his size (265 lbs.) as a high school senior and still growing adds bulk to what's shaping up to be a dominating defensive line.

-Other teammates sending in their official LOI's are Saguaro's DT Corey Adams and OL Kody Koebensky (pictured, courtesy of AZCentral.com).

-After a whole lot of waffling over the past few weeks, Walnut Creek WR Diante Jackson shunned Arizona State and a previous verbal commitment to Colorado to sign with Oregon. His speed and athleticism will certainly fit in well with Mike Bellotti's offense.

-There's word floating out there that outside of the 20 LOI's the Sun Devils have received, there's still one player that they're waiting on a decision from. It's a feeling eerily reminiscent of the one we had while waiting for Omar Bolden to commit. Methinks this has to do with WR Randall Carroll, who still as of this second has not signed on the dotted line to his verbal commitment, USC.

-Out of all the commitments received today, Dean DeLeone, LeQuan Lewis, Brock Osweiler and Matt Tucker are all eligible for Spring Practice.

And It's Finally Official

Short and sweet:

Vontaze Burfict is a Sun Devil.

Jeff Metcalfe of the Arizona Republic says he has signed.

Te'o Shuns USC

In what is apparently coming as a major surprise to many national recruiting insiders (but didn't to us here at PFN, because we pretty much called it in last night's Live Chat), Hawai'i linebacker Manti Te'o just signed a LOI with Charlie Weis and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Te'o is considered the top outside linebacker available in this year's recruiting class. Vontaze Burfict is the considered the top inside linebacker.

It's easily the biggest defensive recruit that Weis has landed in South Bend in his tenure there. And it's also something we always love to see at PFN: a giant stiffarm to the face of Troy.

It might be a blessing in disguise for USC though, as we mentioned last night, Te'o is on record saying that he wants to go on his 2-year Mormon mission once he turns 19, which will certainly take him away from Notre Dame pretty much right after his freshman season.

It Has Arrived

From my family to yours, I wish you a happy and healthy National Signing Day.

Remember to celebrate responsibly and never drink and drive.

Either way, I'm working all day today, so I'll try to keep up as much as possible with today's exploits, but I'll certainly come through with an update on ASU's class tonight after Dennis Erickson has his press conference at 4:30 PM.

The kids were obviously keeping an eye on today are Burfict, NorCal stud receiver Dionte Jackson (who has ASU in his final three after giving a soft verbal to Colorado) and WR Randall Carroll out of Los Angeles.

Until this afternoon, I'll tide you over here at PFN with some highlights of five-star linebacker Vontaze Burfict out of Corona, CA. We reported last night that he has committed to ASU after telling USC to buzz off.

PFN Live Chat #1

And away we go. At 6:00, the floodgates open. If you've got a question, submit it in the box below. I'll make my best effort to answer any questions you've got. If all you've got is a pithy comment, send it too and I'll post it up.

BREAKING NEWS: Burfict to ASU

The worst kept secret in West Coast recruiting finally is apparently official.

Michael Becker of the Riverside Press-Enterprise just reported that All-American linebacker Vontaze Burfict has chosen to play at Arizona State. He'll make the official announcement tomorrow.

According to Becker, a representative of Burfict called USC earlier today and informed the football office of his decision.

A lot of this decision will end up being due to academics, as Burfict's eligibility will without a doubt be called into question in the coming months.

Let's talk more about it. Live chat in 50 minutes. Be there.

Condi says No Thanks

In a random sidebar to today's ASU news (and tonight's LIVE BLOG/CHAT at 6:00 PM), we bring you the latest in Condoleezza Rice's post-cabinet career search.

GWB's Secretary of State, who has been linked to jobs in college football and even as a possible commissioner of the National Football League, was apparently a candidate to be outgoing Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen's successor.

Now, the Seattle Times says that it's not going to happen. Instead, Rice will become a teacher at Stanford University.

Hansen will retire on July 1 after 26 years (drunk) at the wheel of the Pacific-10 Conference, and it's going to take a strong willed commish to succeed Tom and fix some of the inane decisions he's made while at the helm.