Early National Signing Day 2020: CFB Recruit Announcement Schedule, Predictions

One of the most important dates on the calendar for college football recruiting has arrived. And it may have become the most important in recent years.

Wednesday marks the beginning of the three-day early signing period. During this time, high school recruits can send their national letters of intent to colleges, making their decisions official.

Not only will players who have already committed to a program send in their NLIs, but there will also be some recruits who use the time to announce their college decisions.

While the traditional national signing day still takes place in February, many of the top recruits will take advantage of the early signing period, taking away some of the suspense and anticipation for the later date. Instead, that will happen over the next three days, particularly Wednesday.

Here's the list of uncommitted recruits who will be announcing their decisions on Wednesday, followed by predictions for several top players.

9:45 a.m. ET: 3-star OT Cameron Ball, Tri-Cities High School, Atlanta

10 a.m. ET: 3-star DT Anthony Hundley, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.

10:50 a.m. ET: 4-star OT Savion Byrd, Duncanville High School, Duncanville, Texas

11 a.m. ET: 3-star DE Arden Walker, Cherry Creek High School, Englewood, Colo.

11 a.m. ET: 3-star WR Jimmy Horn Jr., Seminole High School, Sanford, Fla.

11:11 a.m. ET: 3-star DE George Wilson, Green Run High School, Virginia Beach, Va.

12:15 p.m. ET: 4-star QB Jaxson Dart, Corner Canyon High School, Draper, Utah

12:30 p.m. ET: 3-star OT Marcus Mbow, Wauwatosa East High School, Milwaukee

12:45 p.m. ET: 4-star CB Damarius McGhee, Pensacola Catholic High School, Pensacola, Fla.

1 p.m. ET: 3-star DE Barryn Sorrell, Holy Cross School, New Orleans

1:30 p.m. ET: 4-star RB Donovan Edwards, West Bloomfield High School, West Bloomfield, Mich.

1:45 p.m. ET: 5-star LB Xavian Sorey, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.

3 p.m. ET: 4-star CB Markevious Brown, IMG Academy, Bradenton, Fla.

4:30 p.m. ET: 5-star DT Maason Smith, Terrebonne High School, Houma, La.

5 p.m. ET: 4-star LB Yanni Karlaftis, West Lafayette High School, West Lafayette, Ind.

6 p.m. ET: 4-star ATH Devin Kirkwood, Junipero Serra High School, Gardena, Calif.

6 p.m. ET: 3-star WR DJ Sims, Christchurch School, Church View, Va.

6:30 p.m. ET: 4-star QB Jake Garcia, Grayson High School, Loganville, Ga.

7 p.m. ET: 4-star RB Armoni Goodwin, Hewitt-Trussville High School, Trussville, Ala.

7:30 p.m. ET: 3-star DT Ian Mathews, Pacelli High School, Columbus, Ga.

8:30 p.m. ET: 4-star DE Tunmise Adeleye, Tompkins High School, Katy, Texas

Announcement info via 247Sports.

LSU already has the No. 4-ranked 2021 class in the country, per the 247Sports team rankings, and it looks poised to add another top recruit on Wednesday.

5-star defensive tackle Maason Smith, who attends Terrebonne High School in Houma, La., could be staying in state to play for the Tigers, who currently have one 5-star recruit in their class (safety Sage Ryan from Lafayette Christian Academy).

It's not a sure thing that Smith will commit to LSU (although the 247Sports Crystal Ball puts it at 100 percent), as he's also considering offers from other top programs, such as Alabama and Georgia.

Still, it's likely appealing to stay close to home to play for a program that just won a national championship last season (even though the Tigers have struggled to a 4-5 record this term).

"Obviously, we've built relationships," LSU head coach Ed Orgeron told reporters. "Again, these guys saw last year one of the best teams to ever play in college football history, and they remember that."

Smith, the No. 2 defensive tackle and No. 18 overall recruit in the 2021 class, per the 247Sports composite rankings, will be a huge gain for whichever school lands him.

Expect that to be LSU, as it has put emphasis on recruiting linemen on both sides of the football in recent years and should be an attractive option for one of the top-ranked defensive linemen in the country.

Xavian Sorey has continued to keep his recruitment interesting. While the 5-star linebacker out of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., has narrowed his list to three schools (Alabama, Florida and Georgia), it's possible he could pick any of the trio on Wednesday.

"I'm hearing from all the staff members, and all of them have turned it up," Sorey told Hank South of 247Sports earlier this month. "It's crazy because everybody is even right now."

But Sorey, the No. 1 outside linebacker and No. 20 overall recruit in the 2021 class per the 247Sports Composite rankings, will have to pick one of the three.

And while things have appeared to be trending in Georgia's favor of late (with the 247Sports Crystal Ball giving the Bulldogs a 78.6 percent chance to land him), Florida was the first school to give Sorey an offer. Plus, the Gators have only one 5-star recruit in their 2021 class (less than their two SEC rivals), so it's possible they've been pushing hard to get Sorey.

While Florida may not beat Alabama in the SEC Championship Game on Saturday, it will notch a huge recruiting win by beating out its two rivals to earn Sorey's commitment.

Sorey previously told South that the Gators were his early favorite, and that history during the recruiting process will pay dividends on Wednesday.

On Tuesday night, 4-star defensive end Tunmise Adeleye confirmed on Twitter that he'd be making his college decision and signing on Wednesday. And that could mean that good things are coming for Texas A&M.

The Aggies are the 247Sports Crystal Ball favorite to land Adeleye, who is the No. 6 strong-side defensive end and No. 37 overall recruit in the 2021 class, per the 247Sports composite rankings. He's also considering Florida (which he visited last weekend) and Alabama (which he visited on Nov. 28). But he won't be heading to Ohio State after he decommit from the Buckeyes in August.

One advantage that Texas A&M could have over its two SEC rivals is the appeal of staying in state for college. Plus, the Aggies already have one 5-star defensive end (Shemar Turner) and two 4-star defensive ends (Marcus Burris and Jahzion Harris) in their 2021 class, so they could be building a dominant defensive front for the future.

Adeleye has several strong choices, but the prediction here is that he'll head to Texas A&M and give the Aggies their best commitment of the early signing period.