If Punahou School football coach Kale Ane had a dollar for every time he's been asked which school Manti Te'o will be signing a national letter of intent with ...

Well, let's just say Ane might be able to endow a building on the school's campus any day now.

The drama surrounding the future of the most heralded prospect in Hawai'i history mounts as the Feb. 4 national letter of intent day approaches. Some recruiting services list Te'o as the highest ranked player nationally who has yet to announce a commitment, which is why coaches are still wearing a path to his door looking for not only a lights-out linebacker but a 6-foot-2, 233-pound exclamation point on their recruiting campaigns.

It has been four months since Te'o winnowed a Who's Who of suitors down to the eclectic five — Brigham Young, Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA and Southern California. Since then we — and they — have been awaiting the puff of white smoke from his North Shore home. Or, at least Rocky Hill.

All the while there have been some interesting developments unseen in previous recruiting campaigns here like BYU signing a home-and-home contract with Hawai'i, Notre Dame choosing to play in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl and UCLA getting commitments from several local prospects, including two of Te'o's Punahou teammates. Coincidence? Or maybe indications of how high the bidding has escalated.

The pursuers have continued to send coaches — head coaches, coordinators, position coaches, you name it — to try and close the deal making use of the one face-to-face visit per week and unlimited phone calls that NCAA regulation allows. For what some schools have already invested in man hours, plane fare, hotels, rental cars etc., you could probably feed a small country.

Yet, they seem as much in the dark about his intentions as we are. If Te'o has made a pick, he isn't telling anyone. And chances are the winner for his services might not be revealed until just before he is scheduled to sit down, pen and letter of intent in hand, with 30 or so other recruits for Mayor Mufi Hannemann's Feb. 4 sign-a-thon at Blaisdell Center.

Meanwhile, you have your choice of rumors to believe or discard. Has Notre Dame muscled its way atop the chart? Or, is surprising Stanford the clubhouse leader? Could Norm Chow and UCLA be the darkhorse? Will BYU's church ties prevail?

Give Te'o this: There have been no impulsive flip-flops on commitments in what has been a very deliberate process heading into his last official visit, USC.

Of course, maybe he just needs to catch his breath before he can announce something. In the space of 10 days, we're told Te'o visited BYU, flew to Chicago to accept the Dick Butkus Award, got in a side trip look at Notre Dame, flew back to Hawai'i to take a test and then went to Stanford.

Phew.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.