Kevin Hart is my new hero.

The Nevada high school lineman was the talk of the recruiting season this week when he made up a commitment to Cal. Just like his more talented peers, Hart gathered the school in the gym, set up two hats on a table (Cal, Oregon) and in a dramatic flourish picked the Bears.

One problem. Cal hadn't recruited Hart. Neither had Oregon, for that matter. He admitted Wednesday he had made the whole thing up.

Bravo.

No one got hurt and Hart poked holes in the over-the-top recruiting process. That everyone from the principal to the media was taken in by it is a joke. We're now conditioned to these ostentatious recruiting announcements. We assume that if these kids are recruited at all that they're actually good.

Hart, a lowly two-star prospect, just wanted some love. Hart furthered the white lie by saying he had been dumped by a middle man named "Kevin Riley."

Classic. There was no such person. Riley was the name of the infamous brain-locked Cal quarterback who let time run out in a loss to Oregon State.

Police are looking into charges of filing a false police report regarding "Riley," but I don't care. This story was too good and too much of a message.

Hart might have some self esteem issues, but what he did amounts to nothing more than an elaborate prank. The kid was trying to grab his 15 minutes. If you're going to blame him, then also blame the recruiting climate created by recruiting services and television that anoints these kids as gods sometimes before they can grow a beard.

The question is not "How did this happen?" It's: "Why doesn't it happen more often?"

• Hart just gave me an idea. Why not a recruiting Fantasy camp? Dorks, dweebs and losers can go on recruiting trips, party with the fellas, hook up with recruiting hostesses, call their own press conference and build the suspense before picking State U.

The Over-The-Top-Hype Section

• Colorado landed the nation's No. 1-rated running back, Darrell Scott in one of the bigger upsets of the recruiting season. Scott, a Californian, was being wooed heavily by superpowers but chose Colorado, in part because his uncle Josh Smith plays there.

Now a word of caution:

Try Googling the name Marcus Houston. At the beginning of this decade, Houston was a top running back out of Denver who signed with CU.

The kid was not only a great player, but his accomplishments could fill up a page of the media guide. He had his own foundation. He was the keynote speaker at a European Amnesty International conference. Marcus Houston wanted to be president one day.

In his first three games he ran for 332 yards, including 150 against USC.

"Houston is remarkable," former USC coach Paul Hackett said. "Imagine what he's going to be like in a couple of years."

By the end of his career, it took some imagination. Houston was nicked up by injuries. An assistant coach questioned his toughness. Houston eventually transferred to Colorado State, where he ended his career rushing for 206 yards and two touchdowns as a senior.

• That being said, Dan Hawkins just might be turning this thing around in Boulder. • The nation's No. 1 receiver prospect, Julio Jones (Alabama), has been compared to Michael Irvin. Let's hope they're talking just football.

• Florida's Urban Meyer on signee Caleb Sturgis, a kicker from St. Augustine, Fla.:

"I understand he went out and kicked a 45-yard field goal and then turned around and kicked one the other way. For you math majors, that's a 65-yard field goal. So, I don't believe it, I need to see it, but that's what the boys are telling me."

Actually, for you math majors, it's 75 yards, but you've got to believe in any kicker who has his own website.

End of Over-The-Top-Hype Section

• Nice job by Mark Richt recruiting his home. His son Jon, a quarterback at Prince Avenue Christian in Bogart, Ga., signed with Clemson. In fact, it wasn't even close. Jon committed a year ago.

"It's been in my heart that God, this is where he wanted me to go," Jon told the Athens Banner Herald.

• Judge for yourself whether Kansas is taking a chance with star junior college running back Jocques Crawford:

As a 17-year-old Crawford was charged with felony aggravated rape involving a 15-year-old girl. The charge was reduced to misdemeanor assault. After high school, Crawford signed with Texas Tech but never made it to the field because of academic issues.

At Cisco (Texas) Junior College, he became the juco player of the year in 2007 rushing for almost 2,000 yards. It's interesting how legal and academic problems can be forgotten when a guy can play.

"We know that since that incident, Jacques has conducted himself in an exemplary manner and has done what needed to do to put the incident behind him," KU coach Mark Mangino said.

• Watch this new Nebraska staff. They're so Rat Packy that they've been nicknamed "Ocean's 11." Young, energetic and determined, Bo Pelini's staff isn't going to take down Vegas. The Big 12 North, though, seems doable.

Linebackers coach Mike Ekeler went to unusual lengths to land Bonne Terre, Mo., linebacker Will Compton. Ekeler showed up for a recruiting visit sporting a Blackshirts arm tattoo with the word "Compton" in old style English lettering above it.

"When he did that, it put a big smile on my face," Compton told the Omaha World-Herald.

Not sure if Compton knew the tattoo was temporary.

• A final note on my trip to Jeannette, Pa. this week to chronicle Terrelle Pryor.. Several people have asked me if the kid was milking the hype or really made the move by delaying his signing.

No question the kid did the right thing. He wasn't ready to commit, especially with Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Oregon having done such a good job recruiting him.

Pryor truly is conflicted. At Michigan, he could start right away. At Ohio State, he could wait a year behind Todd Boeckman and start as a sophomore (and beat Michigan). JoePa has said he would change his offense much as he did for Michael Robinson. Oregon offers perhaps the best spread option attack in the country. Dennis Dixon was on track to win the Heisman before he got hurt. Pryor seems like a mature, level-headed kid who is going to take the advice of his advisers (parents, coach, Steelers backup quarterback/mentor Charlie Batch).

Special mention should go to Oregon offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley. By all accounts, those two have recruited Pryor harder than anyone.

• A final, final note: Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins might want to look into copyright issues at Jeannette. The team's nickname is the Jayhawks and, yes, the school uses the same struttin', smilin' Jayhawk logo as Kansas.

The basketball floor, in fact, looks like Allen Fieldhouse East.

• A final, final, final note. Where was Adam Lock's press conference? Pryor's teammate deserves mention for his signing day. Three hours before Pryor's non-event in a packed gym, Lock quietly announced before family and friends in that same gym that he was going to Colgate.

Good luck, Adam.

JEANNETTE, Pa. -- This just in: Nothing happened.

No. 1 national recruit Terrelle Pryor announced that he has not made a decision. A process that began years ago continued here at 12:05 p.m. ET at the Jeannette (Pa.) High School gym.

Circus -- the byword here among administrators during Pryor's recruitment -- doesn't begin to describe this scene. There were 100 plastic chairs set up for media. There were at least 13 mini-cams. There was a news bunny in the corner putting on her makeup. A nation waiting on Pryor's every word.

And waiting, and waiting. TV produced this awkward moment where Terrelle was on a riser with his mother, coach and adviser Charlie Batch for seven minutes. We couldn't ask questions because we were waiting to go live.

"Stand by!" some goof at a camera yelled.

"I will not make my commitment today," Pryor said to a question we couldn't hear coming from a far off studio.

That we knew, but why?

"I played football and we won state championship, playing 16 games," Pryor said "Two days later I jumped to basketball. I really haven't had that much time to get involved in the recruiting process. I wanted to take some time to be fair to the coaches."

The finalists? Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Oregon. Pryor said that the Ducks are "still in it, because I've got time. They're definitely in the picture."

Only the world of college football recruiting can produce such a non-event. At least four of the city's 14 policeman are here to keep "order." Unless, a bunch of sportswriters start demanding a free lunch, we're safe.

Pryor's recruitment goes on. Michigan and Ohio State were thought to be the finalists. That old octogenarian then elbowed his way into the race. Joe Paterno made a late push after an in-school visit last week. I was there Tuesday afternoon when Paterno spoke to Pryor by phone. The old man still has it, and the kid apparently listened. Pryor had to be pulled away from the phone call by Jeanette athletic director Bob Murphy because he was late for class.

Not that anyone should be surprised that we're all here for nothing. Pryor is no different than a lot of teenagers. He doesn't know what he wants. The difference is that Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State want to know what he wants now. They won't get it.

This is a net win for Paterno. Going from being out of the running to a finalist is impressive. The longer this thing goes on, the better for him. There is word that Pryor's dad, who is confined to a wheelchair, wants his son to stay close to home. Hello, State College?

It has been a long time.

So long ago that the BCS wasn't invented. So long that ago that USC sucked. So long ago that Lindsay Lohan wasn't into the hard stuff yet.

Yes, that long ago.

Saturday marked 10 years for me at CBSSports.com. Even that needs some clarification. Back then it was CBS SportsLine.com.

Call me a survivor of the dot.com bubble and bust. A lot of companies and comrades' careers perished in the skirmish. I've been lucky. A great boss, Mike Kahn, hired me after I'd done some freelance for the site. I will forever be indebted to him.

College football has been my beat, but I've got to do a little of everything along the way. Without boring you too much, here's my top 10 (OK, 11) experiences at SportsLine, er, CBS, er, CBSSports.com.

In ascending order ...

• Chicago, July 1998. We were summoned by conference commissioners to a downtown hotel for a major announcement.

What the heck was going on? Turns out something called the Bowl Championship Series was starting. American Football Coaches Association executive director Grant Teaff announced that the BCS championship game winner would automatically be No. 1 in the final coaches poll.

We didn't really quite grasp what was going on. What was the use of a poll if its voters weren't allowed freedom? What did these other games mean? What was this formula that would decide the No. 1 and No. 2 teams?

Little did we know our quaint little game would be changed forever.

• 2000 NFC championship game (1999 season). Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas was going to the same game I was. I made it. He didn't. Thomas was paralyzed in an accident that day driving the same snow-filled I-29 highway that I did on my way to the Kansas City airport to fly to St. Louis to see the Rams and Bucs.

Kansas City GM Carl Peterson was in St. Louis when he got the news. He was clearly shaken as reporters approached him for an update. Thomas died days later.

The game itself was fantastic. The Greatest Show on Turf advanced to their first Super Bowl with a weird 11-6 victory. It was great for the city that had suffered so long with the wretched Cardinals.

• 2001 Stanley Cup Finals. Two weeks on the road flying between New Jersey and Colorado. I distinctly remember seeing people at the Continental Airlines Arena that should have been in The Sopranos. They weren't cable TV stereotypes. They were real.

After Game 7, a friend Rocky Mountain News had a party at his house for those who had covered the series. We were as worn out as the players.

• 2007 college football. The wackiest season. Every game lasted four hours. They were all at night. Every one shook up the entire sport. It seemed like I was at every one of those upsets.

LSU became a regular hangout as I covered five its games. For the first time since 1960, a team with two losses won the national championship.

• BYU-Utah, 2004. Needing to win to get to the Fiesta Bowl, Utah made it a celebration by whipping its biggest rival 52-21.

Never has a school partied so long for so much. This is where the nation was introduced to Urban Meyer's cheerleader/wife, Shelley, who sat with the students, not in some private box.

On the floor of Rice-Eccles Stadium, I remember looking up in the stands to see one of the most brutally funny signs ever.

Where's Your God Now? read the sign that taunted BYU and channeled Edward G. Robinson in The Ten Commandents.

• 2003 Fiesta Bowl. Miami's dynasty might have died that night in the desert. A team full of All-Americans and future pros was exposed by Ohio State 31-24 in overtime.

This was a corner-turning moment for the sport in the 21st century. ... Jim Tressel, like Bob Stoops before him and Urban Meyer after him, won a national championship in his second year at his school. ... The image of Kellen Winslow Jr. saying, "The best team didn't win." ... Terry Porter throwing that flag. ... Fireworks going off celebrating a Miami victory before Terry Porter threw that flag. ... Willis McGahee shredding his knee. ... If there was a playoff, how to do you ask Ohio State to play another game to prove itself? ... Seeing the Go-Gos at Tempe's Fiesta Bowl Block Party on New Year's Eve. Belinda, we love you.

• The 2002 Rose Bowl. My first. After spending a lot of time in Pasadena during the 2001 season advancing the Nebraska-Miami game, I understand all the pomp and tradition that goes with the Granddaddy.

I don't necessarily agree with it, but I understand it. Tournament of Roses folks hope that the game lives up to the parade. It's going to take some major convincing for the Big Ten, Pac 10 and Rose Bowl to change 100 years of tradition.

I visited the Cal Tech track in Pasadena, the approximate location of where the first Rose Bowl was played in 1902. In a fit of nostalgia, I pulled up a hunk of turf, somehow got it back home on the plane and kept it alive for two years.

• 2007 Fiesta Bowl. A Boise State team that was noticeably smaller than powerful Oklahoma somehow upset the Sooners in the best bowl game ever.

Ian Johnson proposed. Chris Petersen became the pinball wizard as a coach. Oklahoma was embarrassed.

After Utah broke through in 2004, Boise State made it a trend by beating the Sooners with the most famous Statue of Liberty play in history.

"That was the most gangster thing ever," Boise State linebacker Josh Bean said.

Uh, yeah.

• Bucknell over Kansas, 2005. I still love my lead from what was expected to be a yawner of a first-round NCAA Tournament game.

Kansas thought it could flip a switch come tournament time. All the great ones do when injuries, meaningless conference tournaments and tedious regular seasons get in the way of what really counts.

Something flipped all right -- maybe James Naismith in his grave.

I still don't believe that a Patriot League team with five scholarship players beat freakin' Kansas. During the regular season, Bisons coach Pat Flannery got up from the bench, walked out and drove home. It was stress. He had to take a leave of absence because of it.

The school had been offering scholarships for only two seasons before it met Kansas. Bucknell didn't send its band, which was understandable. All that expense for the band geeks to travel from Lewisburg, Pa., to Oklahoma City to witness a blowout?

A Bucknell assistant approached the Northern Iowa band already in town for the tournament and "rented" it to play for the Bison. The Bucknell fight song was faxed in that morning.

Why wouldn't you expect the game-winning shot to be made by a German (Chris McNaughton) who came across the big pond to study engineering?

A bunch of stunned Jayhawks lay around a locker room by a sign that read: The Road to the Final Four starts right here.

Not so much.

• USC-Notre Dame, 2005. Still the best college game I've seen.

USC's 34-31 victory will be remembered for the "Bush Push," but I'll never forget the fourth-and-8 pass dropped into the hands of Dwayne Jarrett by Matt Leinart. The 61-yard completion set up the winning score in a game that still stands as Charlie Weis' greatest "accomplishment" at ND.

This was a media and celebrity event. Private plans descended upon the South Bend airport all weekend. Two years later, USC is still in the middle of the dynasty. There are questions at Notre Dame.

• 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. You spend two weeks in a Days Inn out by the airport and see how you like it. I felt like a baseball minor leaguer riding a bus to and from the media center each day. Seriously, though, the 12-18 hour days were exhilarating.

The hockey was the best. Canada had waited 50 long years since winning the gold. It seemed like half the country was inside the 8,500-seat E Center cheering on the victory over the USA to clinch the gold.

For good luck, a Canadian rink employee entombed the country's dollar coin -- the "loonie" -- at center ice.

"Have you ever carried a piano on your back for 10 days?" Team Canada defenseman Al MacInnis asked. "Back home it was gold or bust."

I saw a German writer (or Polish, I couldn't remember) nursing a beer on press row. I'll never forget walking into P.F. Chang's and spotting the Team Canada brain trust (Wayne Gretzky, Pat Quinn, Ken Hitchcock) at a table.

I'll never forget Austria House. Nothing like the goulash and Zipford beer with which they plied us at the country's Olympic headquarters. Austria was trying to get the 2010 Winter Olympics at the time.

The dumbest thing was the Canadian figure-skating scandal. Canadian pair Jamie Sale and David Pelletier went from sympathetic figures to attention-grabbing, gold-medal-sharing media creations thanks to agent Craig Fenech.

To be around that much talent -- athletic and journalistic -- for two weeks was the highlight of my career.

Terrelle Pryor is wavering.

How do I know this? I texted him on Thursday. The word was that the nation's No. 1 recruit might delay the announcement of his school, scheduled for noon Wednesday at Jeannette (Pa.) High.

That might be true. I asked Pryor two questions: Are you still going to announce on Wednesday? Are you going to take a recruiting visit to Oregon?

Both times, he replied, "I don't know yet."

Sounds like a typical teenager to me.

The only solid news is that Michigan's Rich Rodriguez and Ohio State's Jim Tressel are reportedly traveling to Pennsylvania on Friday night to watch Pryor play his basketball game. Maybe they settle things with some Greco-Roman wrestling at halftime.