Pick him, choose him, love him

The GIST: December both college football’s bowl season and peak roster realignment time. Coaching carousels and the transfer portal-palooza are popping off this week, but the biggest shake-ups have come in anticipation of today’s National Signing Day, when most high school seniors in the 2024 recruiting class commit to their future homes. Huge.

• It’s impossible to overstate how important recruiting is to a team’s success, not just for the next season but well into the future. College football’s equivalent of the rose ceremony starts…now!

How it works: The early signing period is the first window in which prospective players can formally sign National Letters of Intent (NLI) with their future teams, and its time frame is today through Friday. Most top recruits swipe right during this narrow window instead of waiting for the spring’s regular signing period.

• Why commit early? Those who finish high school after the fall semester can enroll in their new college’s spring semester, making them eligible for spring practices — a huge leg-up for individual players and their teams.

• Prior to the early signing period, non-binding verbal commitments are made left and right…but luring a recruit away from his first commit (aka flipping) is as common as holiday family drama. Once players sign that NLI, though, they’re locked in for at least a year.

The latest: Nebraska shook the world Monday when they flipped the 2024 recruiting class’s top quarterback (QB), Dylan Raiola, from reigning national champ Georgia. It’s a massive get for the Cornhuskers, who haven’t been good since the ’90s, when Raiola’s father played there.

Raiola declared his choice via video, only an hour after current Georgia QB Carson Beck announced he’d forego the NFL Draft and remain with the Bulldogs. If Raiola’s decision entices other top recruits to join Nebraska, the ’90s could be back before you know it.

The GIST: Just one week after Clemson hoisted the national championship trophy, the NCAA’s stars set their sights on an even bigger stage — yesterday’s MLS SuperDraft. Of the 400 eligible players, only 87 received a call-up from the pros.

• The SuperDraft isn’t as crucial to MLS as other leagues’ drafts, as pro teams typically bolster their rosters with talent developed through their youth academies, not the collegiate circuit. But for NCAA stars who earn a pick? It’s a BFD.

How it works: MLS structures their three-round draft just like other major pro leagues: Each team makes one pick per round in an order determined by last season’s performance (from worst to best unless there are trades).

• Selected players can head straight to the big leagues, be sent to develop in the MLS NEXT Pro league, or remain in college to sharpen their skills. Players who choose to return to college never reenter the draft, but hope to sign later with the team that picked ’em.

• In the past, only seniors and college grads were draft-eligible — but this year, eligibility expanded to include sophomores and juniors too. There are only two exceptions: freshmen Generation adidas class members, who are just too good to keep from the league.

The picks: With the No. 1 overall pick, Toronto FC selected Lipscomb redshirt junior forward Tyrese Spicer, a first-team All-American and semifinalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy (soccer’s MVP award). Georgetown led all schools with six picks (including two sophomores), an accomplishment that could make it difficult for next season’s Hoyas to replicate this year’s success.

Reigning NCAA champ Clemson lost only three players to the draft, but those losses leave huge cleats to fill: The Houston Dynamo FC picked senior midfielder Ousmane Sylla, a MAC Hermann finalist with a laundry list of accomplishments, in the second round.

Hiring? The GIST’s job board is your one-stop shop for sharing your open roles with women and nonbinary folks in the game.

Recruiting diverse candidates into the industry is one of the best ways to level the playing field. When you post your roles on the job board, you reach our unique GIST community that’s committed to changing the game.

Share your opportunities with GISTers today.

🏀 Women’s basketball: No. 23 Washington Huskies (11-0) vs. No. 19 Louisville Cardinals (10-2) — Tonight at 7 p.m. ET — ACC Network

• An undefeated record launched Washington to their first Top 25 appearance since 2017, but they’ve played only one ranked squad so far this year. They’ll try to prove they’re the real deal with a road win over the Cards, who are searching for their identity post–Hailey Van Lith.

🏀 Men’s basketball: No. 7 Oklahoma Sooners (10-0) vs. No. 11 UNC Tar Heels (7-3) — Tonight at 9 p.m. ET — ESPN

• This is Oklahoma’s first true challenge and UNC’s fifth ranked opponent in their last six games. Has the Tar Heels’ brutal non-conference schedule made them stronger, or will they limp into the holiday break? Truth and time tell all.

🏈 Football: Roofclaim.com Boca Raton Bowl — Tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET — ESPN

• One head coach firing later, Syracuse squeaked into bowl eligibility — so it was shocking when elite Ohio State QB Kyle McCord announced he’d transfer there on Sunday. McCord will watch his new squad face USF from the sidelines. Hope he likes what he sees…