College recruits are not created equal. Neither are their decisions.

There are no unyielding truths in the unstable field of the minds of 17-to-19-year old boys. Disagree? Take this quiz to see if you really understand recruiting.

True or false: The nation's top-rated quarterback will never need to call a school. They'll flock to him. He'll have his choice of elite programs.

False. There's local proof amid the words of Hueytown Parade All-American Jaboo Winston.

"The school I'd be committed to now over everyone else never offered," Winston said. "I loved Texas. I grew up watching Vince Young.

Texas even has a great baseball program. The first tape I asked our coaches to send out was to Texas. The only school I called was Texas."

Winston is strongly committed to Florida State. His favorite boyhood team was Oklahoma. But an opportunity never materialized even after an Oklahoma coach paid him a visit.

It's not about favorites.

Winston wouldn't flip to Texas now even if the Longhorns wanted to add a second quarterback to their 2012 class.

"It's about relationships," he said. "I dreamed about Texas, but if they came with an offer now I couldn't consider it. I don't know those coaches and the time between now and signing day is not enough time to get to know them."

True or false: What matters most is going to play for the most successful team.

False. Winston feels Alabama has the best program in the country, but there's a big but.

"If you look at Alabama lately they haven't had the best quarterbacks," he said.

"But they always have one of the best teams. If they get the best quarterback in the country, he's not going to make much of a difference because Alabama with Nick Saban will always have one of the best teams no matter who plays quarterback."

Opportunity means more. Does a budding rap star sign on at a country label? Does a quarterback with NFL dreams join an offense where the running game comes first?

"Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin probably wouldn't be who they are now if a Trent Richardson was in the backfield with them," Winston said.

True or false: If a kid loves football and has the ability to earn a scholarship to any school, he'll obviously keep playing.

False. Mountain Brook's Edward Aldag is easily one of the top five senior quarterbacks in Alabama. A prep quarterback cannot be more mentally ready to excel in college than Aldag. He earned the right to scan defenses pre-snap and check into any new play the Spartans ran that best fit the situation.

He's 6-foot-2 and runs a decent 40 in the 4.7 range.

He throws a great deep ball, but wavers between becoming a student at Alabama or playing in the middle tier of college football. He's got offers from Middle Tennessee and South Alabama but isn't sure that's what he wants to do.

"There are certain schools higher on my list than others," Aldag said. "I don't want to go to a smaller school just to say I played college football. Especially at a place that doesn't offer a good education, too."

True or false: The attention is too much. All the prospects have lost perspective on the fact they are kids getting a chance to play a kid's game.

False. The elite recruits shrug their shoulders and hope they don't sound too confident when they feel they've put their town on a map. But there are shreds of humility that still pop out.

"I don't know why everybody makes a big deal about this stuff," Winston said. "After this year, these rankings will be out the window. I'll have to prove myself to a college coach every day. Come next year, there will be a whole new recruiting class for everyone to go crazy over. They'll be talking about somebody else next year."

Lost? There are fewer certainties in recruiting these days.

Jeff Sentell is the high school sports editor for The News.

Write to him at jsentell@bhamnews.com or follow him on twitter at @JeffSentell_ for updates on high school sports.