Oregon Public Broadcasting

Wednesday is one of the biggest days of the year for Northwest college football programs. It’s National Letter of Intent Day.

That’s the first day high school players can officially declare where they’ll go to college and play ball. Correspondent Doug Nadvornick reports many fans live for this day.

On Internet message boards like CougZone, BlueTurf and Beaver Blitz, fans are following which players their coaches are recruiting.

They discuss the merits of the players. They post game video. And they closely follow the players’ college choices.

CougZone Editorial Director Tony Duarte says the Internet has given fans much better access to recruiting. He thinks that’s good, but he says it has changed the process.

Tony Duarte: “Parents obviously want to see how the people are talking about their kids and then coaches want to see, you know, who people are talking about.”

By the time Wednesday rolls around, there won’t be much surprise about which players will be attending which colleges.

Colleges have picked up on the fans’ interest in signing day. They hold public events. For example, WSU Coach Paul Wulff will host a signing day party Wednesday evening at the Northern Quest Casino near Spokane.