In recent years, more and more college football recruits have been announcing their destinations right before their senior seasons.

Now they can’t seem to make it to the Fourth of July.

A staggering 43 members of Rivals.com’s top 100 prospects for the 2009 class already have announced their university of choice. These and the numerous other early commitments are nonbinding until national signing day, which is a not-so-scant 228 days away.

“It is pretty amazing to see all these kids making such early, early decisions,” Rivals.com national editor Jeremy Crabtree said. “Offers have gone out earlier, and kids have found their dream schools and jumped all over it. I thought we would have more kids each year make their minds up earlier, but not like this. This is something unprecedented.”

The early rush has not bypassed the Chattanooga area, with McCallie defensive back Jay Fullam committing to Vanderbilt in May and Rhea County offensive tackle Kevin Revis pledging to Tennessee 10 days ago.

Three of the nation’s top four players have committed, with Southern Cal landing quarterback Matt Barkley of Santa Ana, Calif.; Notre Dame getting running back Cierre Wood of Oxnard, Calif.; and LSU getting quarterback Russell Shepard of Houston. Shepard is among nine top-100 players who have committed to Southeastern Conference schools and is among the SEC’s 95 commitments overall.

Georgia has three commitments from top-100 players (quarterback Aaron Murray, offensive lineman Chris Burnette and running back Washaun Ealey), while Alabama has two (running back Trent Richardson and defensive tackle D.J. Fluker). The Crimson Tide’s class this past February was rated No. 1 nationally.

Auburn has amassed 16 commitments sooner than any SEC school ever, though not by much. Georgia had 16 by late June a year ago.

“Auburn does a great job of getting kids on their campus, where they can eyeball them up close,” Crabtree said. “That’s one thing that staff has consistently done maybe better than any other school in the SEC. They get guys that they were interested in early on their campus, and I think it’s been a winning formula for them. Plus, they do such a good job of evaluating.

“Tommy Tuberville and his staff have to be either one, two or three in the SEC when it comes to finding kids that fit with what they want. They have a certain need that they go after, and it seems to really work out well for them, even if some of the kids they get have smaller offers.”

Former North Jackson High School coach Phillip Lolley coached cornerbacks at Auburn in 2000-03 and coordinates Auburn’s biggest camp each spring. He isn’t overly surprised at the large number of commitments, because he said this was a class Tuberville and his assistants targeted a year ago that had a heightened interest in the Tigers.

“Our philosophy offensively now, I think, has been attractive to some of these guys,” Lolley said, “and change sometimes can be very good. Look at Bama last year. Change kind of triggers things for whatever reason.

“With a lot of these kids, we showed them attention a year or two ago when nobody else did, and we’ve got some who’ve just always wanted to come to Auburn.”

Lolley doesn’t believe Auburn’s slew of commitments is a response to Alabama’s ability to dominate the state this past year. Nick Saban’s Tide landed the state’s top five prospects and blanked Auburn 9-0 among the top 12.

Auburn has two in-state commitments so far, defensive tackles Terrence Coleman and Jamontay Pilson, who have early offers from Alabama as well.

“I think some of the kids that have committed may have seen some of the players who committed to Bama last year and figured they had those positions filled and that Auburn is going to be losing some after this next season and may be a better place to play at this point,” Lolley said. “It’s all about playing time with most of these kids.”

When it comes to projecting the SEC’s top classes for ’09, Crabtree expects the same old faces. He believes Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee are all on pace to finish among the top 15 nationally.

“There are reasons why those schools traditionally have done so well year in and year out,” he said. “They have the tradition and the facilities and natural recruiting bases, so you always have to start with those guys.”

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