Prospects not often swayed by realignment

ThetopiccomesupoftenwhenRivals250tightendChristianMorganwalksthehallsofPlano(Texas)PrestonwoodChristianAcademy.

Afterall,realignment'saprettyhardsubjecttoavoidforanyrecruit,letaloneoneinMorgan'sposition.

Morgan'safour-starprospectwhohasFloridaStatehighonhislistofpotentialschools.HealsolivesintheheartofBig12country.SotherumorslinkingFloridaStatetotheBig12naturallyhavecausedMorgan'sfriendsandclassmatestoimaginethepossibilities.

"Definitely,Ihearaboutitallthetime,"Morgansaid."Everybody'srealexcitedabouthowifIdidgooverthere,aBaylorfanoraTexasfancouldcomeouttoseemeplayinTexasandalsocouldseemeplayinFlorida,too.''

EventhoughMorgansaidamovetotheBig12definitelywouldrepresentamajorplusforFloridaState,hedidn'tnecessarilythinkitwouldinfluencehisdecision.Otherprospectsseemtofeelthesamewayaboutrealignment.

Theydefinitelypayattentiontotherumors,butconferenceaffiliationisn'tnecessarilyforemostontheirmindswhenthey'remakingtheircollegechoices.

"Idon'tknowifitmakesadifferenceinmydecision,"Morgansaid."Forme,it'saboutfitwiththeplayers,coachingstaffandsystem."

Evenprospectswhowouldseemadverselyaffectedbyrealignmentdon'tseembotheredbyalltheseconferenceswitches.

Forinstance,JerseyCity(N.J.)St.Peter'sPrepall-purposeathleteBrandonNapoleoncommittedtoWestVirginiainthesummerof2011.Atthetime,Napoleonfiguredhe'dgetplentyofopportunitiestoplayrelativelyclosetohomewhenWestVirginiawentontheroadtofaceBigEastrivalsSyracuseandRutgers.

Sincethen,Syracusehasannouncedit'sonitswaytotheACCandWestVirginiahasleftfortheBig12.InsteadofplayingroadgamesintheNortheast,WestVirginiawillbeheadingwesttoplaythousandsofmilesfromNapoleon'shome.

Thatdidn'tstopNapoleonfromsigningwithWestVirginiaanyway.

"Ijustthinkfootball'sfootball,"Napoleonsaid."WestVirginiahasatraditionofplayinggreatcompetitionandalwaysdoingwell.SoIfigureditdidn'tmattertome-Big12,BigTenorstayingintheBigEast."

Thesamegoesfor2012FloridaStatesigneeRonaldDarbyofOxonHill(Md.)Potomacand2013FloridaStaterecruitE.J.LevenberryJr.ofWoodbridge(Va.)C.D.Hylton.EventhoughbothliveintheheartofACCcountry,neithersaidhewouldmindiftheSeminolesjoinedtheBig12.

"Itdoesn'treallymatter,"Darbysaid."IhavenoproblemswiththeBig12."

Levenberrysaidhewaspickingaschoolandnotaconferencewhenhemadehischoice.

"IloveFloridaState,"Levenberrysaid."WherevertheyplayiswhereI'mgoingtoplay."

Ifanything,LevenberryseemedtoprefertheideaofplayingintheBig12.HenotedthatheinitiallyconsideredOklahomainpartbecauseofhisappreciationofthatconference.HealsothinkshisgamesuitstheBig12'spass-firstmentality.

"Ihavetheabilitytocoverrunningbacksandreceivers,"Levenberrysaid."PlayingintheBig12-that'sapassingleague-I'dbeabletoshowmyskills."

AmovetotheBig12wouldn'tnecessarilychangeFloridaState'srecruitingapproach.Overthelastfiveyears,FloridaStatehassignedmoreplayersfromTexas(five)thanfromthestatesofMaryland,NorthCarolina,SouthCarolinaandVirginiacombined.

FloridaStatedoesrecruitGeorgiaveryheavily,butitsproximitytotheGeorgiaborderassuresthattheSeminoleswillcontinuedrawingplayersfromthePeachStatewhetherornotthey'reinthesameconferenceasGeorgiaTech.

OnlytimewilltellwhetheramovetotheBig12affectsWestVirginia'srecruiting,thoughtheMountaineershavemademuchmoreofanarecentefforttopursueTexasprospects.TheMountaineers'recruitingbaseremainsFloridaaswellasthestatesthatborderWestVirginia.HowmanyofthoseFloridaprospectswillcarethatWestVirginiaandUSFaren'tleaguerivalsanymore?

ThefactthatWestVirginia'sintheBig12andFloridaStatemaybeconsideringasimilarmovesuggeststhatgeographyisn'tmuchofafactorinconferencerealignment.Andapparentlywhenitcomestorecruiting,thegeographicfalloutofrealignmentisn'tmuchofanissueeither.

ClickHeretoviewthisLink.ConsiderthecaseofKlein(Texas)OaklinebackerA.J.HilliardClickHeretoviewthisLink..AsaTexasresident,hewasquitehappywhenTCUClickHeretoviewthisLink.abandonedplanstojointheBigEastandmovedtotheBig12instead.Butthatdidn'tplayaroleinhisdecisiontosignwithTCU.

"Itactuallydidn'thaveanyeffect,"Hilliardsaid."Ithoughtthatwasgreat,thatTCUendedupintheBig12becauseit'sagreatconferencewithgreatcompetition.Itwasgreattheyhadtheopportunitytogothere....Forafewyears,IwantedTCUtoofferme.IreallywantedtogotoTCU.AndthatwasbeforetheBig12waseveninquestion."

Nowanotherteam'spotentialmovetotheBig12mayormaynotinfluenceonemoreTexasprospect'sdecision.

Morgansaysheplanstomakeaverbalcommitmentsometimebeforehissenioryear.HisinterestinFloridaStatearoselongbeforetheinitialreportslinkingtheSeminolestotheBig12.Andhisdecisionwon'tdependonwhetherthoserumorsturntoreality.

"FloridaState'saprogramIlikenomatterwhatconferencethey'rein,"Morgansaid."Butit'sdefinitelyexcitingthinkingaboutbeingabletogofartherawayandyetstillbeingabletocomebackandplayaroundheretoo."

SteveMegargeeisthenationalcollegecolumnistforRivals.com.Hecanbereachedatsmegargee@rivals.com,andyoucanclickheretofollowhimonTwitter.

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