It would be understandable if Hayfield basketball forward Mike Freeman were a little concerned about the future. The early signing period is supposed to streamline the recruiting process and allow recruits to make their decision and no longer be bothered by college coaches trying to woo them.
Freeman took advantage of the period last month. Though he had planned to wait until after the season to make a decision, Freeman instead seized the opportunity to sign a letter-of-intent with Southern California, accepting a scholarship to play for a team that can offer the possibility of immediate playing time (six seniors will complete their eligibility this season) and a new arena (expected to open for the 2006-07 season).
|  Football
Northwest quarterback Ike Whitaker completed 157 of 262 passes for a school-record 2,586 yards, with 28 TDs and only 10 INTs in leading the Jaguars to the Maryland 3A championship. He is The Post's Offensive Player of the Year.
North Stafford defensive lineman Cordarrow Thompson had 102 tackles, including 43 for a loss, and nine sacks in 13 games to lead the Wolverines' smothering defense. He is The Post's Defensive Player of the Year.
• All-League Teams
• Fall 2004 All-Mets
• All-Mets Since 1990
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Less than one month after Freeman signed, however, on Dec. 6, the Trojans fired then-coach Henry Bibby and named assistant Jim Saia interim coach for the remainder of the season.
"I think his concern was, 'Is this going to be a three-ring circus? The start of something that is going to go on for ever?' " Hayfield Coach Charlie Thompson said.
Under similar circumstances, most players would want to get out of their letter-of-intent, worried about a new coach. Freeman, however, said he signed his letter knowing there was the possibility that Bibby would be fired. And almost as quickly as that change took place, Southern Cal had a new coach, on Tuesday introducing Rick Majerus as its new leader, though Saia will finish this season and Majerus will return to the sideline in October 2005.
After such a whirlwind, and the hiring of a new coach he has never met and only seen on television, Freeman said he still is looking for to playing for the Trojans.
"I think I kind of rushed in, but it was a good situation," Freeman said, adding that he expects to hear from Majerus in the next few days. "Obviously, I've got to make sure Coach Majerus wants me."
The letter-of-intent is binding on both the player and the school, but it would be less than optimal to play for a coach who does not want you. On the other hand, while players are still bound to a school by their signed letter, they generally can gain a release without penalty from a school that changes coaches -- though Virginia fans might remember Pete Gillen not doing this when he was hired.
Majerus coached at Utah for 15 seasons before taking a leave of absence for health reasons last season and then resigning. In 20 years of coaching, he has a career record of 422-147 with no losing seasons.
"Majerus is a pretty good name to come to your school," Thompson said.
Finding Their Way
The campus tour is a routine segment of a college visit. Check out the library and a dorm room. Maybe poke your head inside a classroom and the student union. Pretty uneventful, uninteresting stuff.
Unless your campus tour is also the new coach's first time seeing part of his new school, as was the case last weekend when Friendly linebacker Rodney Pittman was among the group of players taking an official visit to Illinois just a few days after Ron Zook was hired as the Fighting Illini's coach.
"He told us before we went on the tour that most of the places we were going to see, he hadn't seen yet so he was going to be looking at them for the first time with us," Pittman said.
"He was on tour with us. He was still getting to know some of the alumni and people around. He was meeting people as we were meeting people."
