Miami Nice ... Thrice

The Miami Herald reports that Shawn Abuhoff, a defensive back/wide receiver from Dade Christian has committed to play at Dartmouth. He is the third player in a week from the Miami area to be commit to continue his education and play in Hanover.

Abuhoff, listed at 5-10, 166 with a 4.5 time in the 40 by Scout.com, had 51 tackles and three interceptions last fall as a defensive back. As a receiver, he caught 15 balls for 369 yards (24.6 yards per catch) with four touchdowns. Find his full statistics here. He was a Class 1A all-state first team pick for Dade Christian, which advanced to the Region 4-1A final last fall.

Abuhoff is just the latest player to publicly commit to Dartmouth. The practice of oral commitments is the subject of a USA Today story looking into the possibility of an early signing period in football, perhaps in mid-December. From the story:

Says Terry Smith of Gateway High in Monroeville, Pa., who this season coached Shayne Hale, an All-USA linebacker who has committed to Pittsburgh: "It is a good thing. There are a lot of kids who are ready to make their decisions early on and want to get it over with. Once they make that decision, coaches will leave them alone."

According to the story, Georgia already has three oral commitments from the high school class of 2009.

The official "signing day," for this year is one week from Wednesday, and for fans of big-time college football, it's almost becoming a holiday. Consider that at Kansas State, they are selling tickets to their signing day festivities. I kid you not. Check out this link. It's $10 in advance ($5 for students with an ID) and $17 at the door if any of the 400 tickets are still available. Hey, you even get tailgating favorites with the price of admission. From the K-State site:

The event for K-State fans will be hosted by coach Prince, who will provide commentary on the Wildcats’ 2008 recruiting class and answer questions regarding the class. Recruiting coordinator and linebackers coach Matt Wallerstedt will also conduct a player-by-player review of the class, which will feature video clips of each of the new Wildcats.

Bill Hutchinson was never an official coach at Dartmouth, but the 1940 graduate who died at age 91 in Connecticut was a familiar site on the practice field working with punters and sometimes kickers into the early '80s. Find a story about his life at the Westport.now site. From the story:

Called Poppa by his family, Bill was a tremendous athlete, and credited his football coach at James Monroe High School in the Bronx, N.Y., for keeping him from becoming a “street bum,” and enabling him to attend Dartmouth College.

Details are sketchy but today's Daily Pennsylvanian has a story about the Franklin Field Pavilion slated for the northern concourse of the historic football stadium in Philadelphia. The area is slated to be converted into a state-of-the-art weight training center. Now, you didn't really think the athletic facilities arms race would stop now that the weight training center at Floren Varsity House has come online, did you?