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National Signing Day 2013: Syracuse Orange Running Diary

National Signing Day is here, and because he has nothing else to do TNIAAM contributor Jared Smith has decided to put together a running diary of the one and only day of the year when it is socially acceptable that grown men get excited over teenage boys.

By Jared E. Smith
Mark Konezny-US PRESSWIRE

Note: This post is being updated from the most recent post to the least-recent post. Time stamps should help you follow along. Make sure to comment below!

1:05 p.m. ET: Well gang. That's pretty much it for the running diary. It doesn't seem there will be anymore breaking news until head coach Scott Shafer takes the podium at 3:45 p.m. ET. You can watch his press conference here.

Syracuse is expect one more LOI from 3-star safety Brisly Estime, which should come before he announces his commitment at 1:45 p.m at Atlantic High School.

As of right now, Syracuse is expected to land 19 commitments for the Class of 2013. Here's the list if you need a refresher.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with this awesome story of 5-star RB Alex Collins, who was expected to announce his commitment to Arkansas Wednesday but couldn't because his mother has ran off with his LOI!

Happy Signing Day all.

-- Jared (@JaredSmithCNY)

12:25 p.m. ET: If there's a time to quote head coach Scott Shafer it would be this moment.

Weeks after Syracuse's new headman said anything can happen during National Signing Day and if a recruit isn't 100-percent committed to Syracuse he doesn't want them, 3-star defensive end Malik Brown flipped from SU to Tennesee Wednesday afternoon.

The 6'3, 250-pound pass rusher announced his commitment at his high school at around 12:15 p.m. ET. Brown chose the 'Vols over Syracuse and USF.

Brown is one of, if not, the biggest disappointments of this recruiting class, especially since he was considered a solid verbal commit before Doug Marrone and company left for Buffalo and was excited about the hire of Shafer.

However, despite his positive vibes towards the Orange Brown went onto re-open his recruitment and took a visit to Knoxville. He loved it and the rest is history.

It seems the biggest reason Brown may have flipped was the loss of John Anselmo and Steve Morrison, who was his main recruiter.

Since the departure of those coaches, Shafer and the new staff were in red-alert mode and tried seemingly everything - which involved putting together a Power Point presentation -- to get him to stay committed.

Brown's decision was made late Tuesday night after using a checklist system that compared and contrasted both Tennessee and Syracuse, according to Michael Cohen of Syracuse.com.

All throughout the recruiting process he had interviewed coaches rather than the other way around. He knew the questions he wanted to ask, and he ran the show during home visits.

So when the resumes were compared and the schools analyzed side-by-side, Tennessee proved to be the most attractive. Tennessee's Butch Jones succeeded in wooing Brown, proving that he and his staff built the strongest relationships.

The good news, Syracuse has reeled in a bunch of new commits since the hiring of Shafer and the new coaches and has plenty of depth and talent on the defensive side of the ball.

The news is disappointing, but not the end of the world.

Share your thoughts about Brown's flip below.

11:28 a.m. ET: It is now official, 4-star JUCO safety Duron Singelton has picked Missouri over Syracuse.

This was expected, especially after last night's report that he had already committed to Missouri.

11:26 a.m. ET: ESPN's No. 2-ranked cornerback recruit Mackensie Alexander just committed to 2013 ACC opponent Clemson.

The pick up could help the Tigers' recruiting class move into the Top 10.

While that was happening, Kendall Moore's LOI arrived at SU. Scorecard: LOI 18, Verbal Commitments 20.

11:18 a.m. ET: 4-star wide receiver Stacy Coley's decision is in.

Every Syracuse fan was wishing the Orange were in the running for the Sunshine State recruit, but that was really never the case.

It is a surprise Coley picked Miami over Florida State, which seemed to be the front-runner.

11:04 a.m. ET: If you're curious, Syracuse is still waiting on LOI from DB Brisly Estime, DE Malik Brown and OL Kendall Moore.

Brown is expected to choose between Syracuse, Tennessee and USF at noon. Estime's announcement has been pushed back to 1:45 p.m. (via @SUonRivals). Moore is just waiting for the fax machine to cooperate. He made his verbal commitment last night and confirmed it earlier this morning.

In the breaking news category, 3-star safety Simeon Thomas pulled a fast one committing to Louisiana-Lafayette. SU was in the running for Thomas a few weeks ago, but over the past week or so he was silent about the Orange.

10:47 a.m. ET: Looks like dual-threat quarterback prospect Akeem Jones, who choosing between a bunch of teams, will not make his decision today.

Jones hasn't been one of Syracuse's biggest targets, but he has been on the Orange's radar.

10:41 a.m. ET: It is official, Tyler Provo's LOI is in as is 3-star JUCO DT Wayne Williams'

Scorecard: LOI - 17; Verbal Commitments - 20.

10:34 a.m. ET: The prospect of Syracuse stealing 3-star running back Da'Wan Hunte from Purdue was short lived.

Sorry folks. Looks like we will need to target a top RB prospect in 2014.

10:27 a.m. ET: Reportedly LB Marqez Hodge has sent in his LOI, as expected.

10:17 a.m. ET: 3-star running back Laray Smith has reportedly texted-in his decisions, and he's going to be an Indiana Hooser.

Smith was a recruit that was looked at because of his blazing speed. He was a track star in high school and wanted to do both in college. He visited Indiana this past weekend, and that seemed to be what tipped the scale. Smith also had UConn on his radar.

Before the breaking news of Smith's decisions, I caught a tweet from Rivals' Ryan Murray.

Murray was re-tweeting GoldandBlack.com.

Could the 'Cuse steal another prospect from another school and make up for the loss of Smith? I guess, we will find out soon.

9:54 a.m. ET: Another 2013 ACC opponent, Clemson, missed out on a top recruit, as ESPN's No. 2-ranked DT Montravius Adams announced his commitment to Auburn.

Clemson was in the running for Adams along with Alabama and Florida.

9:49 a.m. ET: For those keeping score at home, Syracuse has officially received 14 LOI. According to CuseConfidential.com there were 20 verbal commitments heading into the day.

Soon, expect to see LOI from FB Tyler Provo, who was making his announcement at 9 a.m., and LB Marqez Hodge, who was making his commitment official at 9:30 a.m.

9:27 a.m. ET: A bit of an upset just happened as ESPN's No. 12-ranked OT Denver Kirkland, high school teammate of Matthew Thomas, announced his commitment to Arkansas.

Kirkland was expected to pick either Florida State or Miami. This is one of the fun things about signing day. You just never know sometimes.

9:18 a.m. ET: Syracuse's newest ACC foe, Florida State, just landed a commitment from the No. 1-ranked OLB Matthew Thomas.

Thomas is the seventh Top 20 recruit for the Seminoles, who are putting together another outstanding class.

9:08 a.m. ET: Offensive Coordinator George McDonald welcomes Syracuse' latest 3-star tight end recruit.

Batten (6'4, 218 pounds) is a native of South Florida who was ready to make a commitment to Duke, however, a few weeks ago Syracuse offered him a scholarship and he gladly accepted.

8:50 a.m. ET: CuseNation.com is reporting Rochester native Chauncy Scissum is ready to send in his LOI.

Scissum's commitment means Syracuse has officially 14 LOI for the Class of 2013.

8:48 a.m. ET: Offensive Coordinator and recruiting guru, George McDonald, is welcoming a lot of Syracuse signees via Twitter. Here's the latest.

Winfield is a three-star WR prospect that last night was offered a scholarship to play for Missouri. Winfield said he was honored about the Tigers' offer and he was going to consider it, but in the end he picked Syracuse.

8:45 a.m. ET: Via Twitter OL Kendall Moore reassured his commitment to Syracuse.

Last night, Moore announced his desire to play at SU after visiting campus this past weekend. The Chicago native was offered a scholarship just two weeks ago.

8:30 p.m. ET: Already this morning, Syracuse has been faxed - yes, they still use fax machines for this - a handful of LOI.

Orange nation welcome: DT Isaiah Johnson, OL Alex Hayes, QB Austin Wilson, WR Corey Cooper, QB Mitch Kimble, LB Luke Arciniega (JUCO), OL Jon Burton, DB Darius Kelly (JUCO), LB Josh Kirkland (JUCO), OL John Miller (JUCO) and DE Trevon Trejo (JUCO).

Profiles for these recruits can be found here.

8:15 a.m. ET: Former Syracuse commit, RB Augustus Edwards, is taking his talents to South Beach, as he announced his commitment to Miami. (If you click on his profile link he is still wearing SU gear in his photo.)

Edwards was one of the few recruits that re-opened his recruiting when Doug Marrone and company bolted to Buffalo. The Staten Island, N.Y. native chose The U over Florida State.

8:06 a.m. ET: Much like NASCAR, National Signing Day kicked off with its biggest commitment of the day as the nation's No. 1 prospect, DE Robert Nkemdiche, pledged his loyalty to Ole Miss.

This isn't a huge surprise, as Nkemdiche will play in Oxford with his brother Denzel, who led the team in tackles last season and was named Second Team SEC.

Earlier in the week, Nkemdiche's mother said should would like to see her two sons play together; and whatever mother says you do.

7:45 a.m. ET: Ohhhh what a glorious day!

Hello, everyone. Welcome to this special Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician running diary of National Signing Day.

I decided to devote my day - many because I have no life - to #NSD. I will not only be commenting on the Syracuse Orange's incoming recruits, but I will be posting tweets, Twitter photos and keeping you updated about what is going on nationally - the biggest focus will be the ACC.

If you'd like player profiles of the new Scott Shafer commits visit this TNIAAM StoryStream, which was helped put together by Dan Lyons.

This should be fun, so stick around and make sure to comment below.

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