All 'round...
They are building one on State Street. 
but I hope he only does if he really wants to. It sure seems like he took his time and chose MSU over Michigan so I hope his parents don't just force him to come here.
On good authority he's going to MSU and it's not worth asking again.
...also on good authority (very good actually), Mom will never consider signing for MSU and Malik is unwilling to end his relationship with her over it (which he could do by enrolling after the start of fall semester without an LOI, which also means he would miss all of fall camp and essentially be forced to redshirt). This woman is 10000% serious about her son not going to State though her reasoning has not yet been made public.
I fully expect Malik to continue to say he's going to MSU until he signs elsewhere within this month.
You sound like an insider, well-connected here... did you get this directly from your good source?????? And you say 'elsewhere'.... care to make a prediction?
And as far as not going to MSU....didnt he skip both fsu and osu visits? Therefore the only likely destination is in fact MSU, with us as an outside shot, since he loved us forever.
public info as to what his Mom's issue is with State (since it's not academic)? Something must have gone down on one of his visits, I guess?
You remember the fate of RDT and Raback Obama...I'm hoping you're right here but know that the institutional memory of the board is only forever.
No I don't Raback that...as I said I refuse to make an affirmative prediction. There are still too many moving pieces. And as I carefully chose my words, it will be very hard for anyone to misquote or misunderstand what I said.
Also, if Malik were to come to UM the meltdown from Sparty fans (especially RCMB) will be like nothing any of us have ever seen. You think wishing an 18-yr old kid to tear his ACL is bad, just wait and see what they'll come up with...
This is a strangely direct, yet vague declaration; one that if it came from anyone else everyone would be all, "Wtf dude, whose good authority, and why shouldn't anyone ask?" But since it's Seth I'll just say, okaaayy....
I have one good source, a coach of another team in the area who is close with Southfield's coach. He doesn't disclose anything that hasn't been made public, if my source has a rooting interest it's MSU, but he's not the kind of guy who lets fan bias color his comments much. We watched the MSU-Michigan basketball game together, and that's when he told me to stop asking about McDowell because players tend to go where they want to go.
Before he said Malik and his family take his school decision very seriously, since it has been their goal since he was a little kid to get him to the NFL. They did a lot of homework on various possible destinations and formed strong opinions a long time ago.
What's fucked up isn't the family's situation; it's how fans follow the recruitment of the highest-ranked athletes. I don't blame Sam since he has good connections that seldom steer him wrong and that's what he does. I don't have much appreciation for the responses of Michigan and MSU fans on message boards who've made one recruit's decision into some all-encompassing value judgment on the two programs. Note that the most vitriol from their camp came when Mom met the internet Sparties. I don't think this recruitment is all that hard to figure out: if Michigan didn't have a blow-you-away academic support program and a staff with a strong record of developing and coaching pro prospects, we wouldn't be in it; if Michigan State didn't have perhaps the best defensive coaching staff in college football, they wouldn't be in it. If Malik was from Atlanta instead of Detroit neither of us would probably be in it.
By the way he's got more on Marshall than McDowell. They are very different kids--Marshall is outspoken and a lot more independent (knowing his family history it makes sense), and grew very close with his coach. Whatever happens with McDowell, Michigan is getting a fantastic defensive lineman and fantastic human from Southfield.
I hope they stay away from everyone over the next 2-3 weeks and only ask advice from those they trust and make the decision that is best for them. I posted earlier that the mother doesn't have a public relations background and may be responding emotionally out of caring for her son which is only making matters worse. Sam is doing his job and he has to report what he learns but I hope everyone leaves them alone so they can make the decision without all the fans being involved. Obviously we are all here looking for updates but I'd be happy to not hear anything more until the LOI is signed.
I'd love to have him play at Michigan but ultimately I want what is best for the McDowell family. They have been through enough.
I clicked on this thread expecting a torrent of people shitting on the OP for raising an issue long dead and buried. Boy was I happily surprised.
Speculate on boys......
And for everyone asking "do we really want him" the answer is HELL FUCKING YES. 15 minutes after he was here (assuming he actually somehow comes here) nobody - including him - will give two shits how he got here.
As hard as it is for me to say this (as a mom), you have to let the kid go where he wants to go. If he's going to make mistakes, he's going to make them and hopefully learn from them. Hopefully, he won't make the kind of mistakes you can't recover from, just the garden variety ones most 18 and 19 year old's make. Hopefully, I can keep this attitude as my almost 14 year old starts to make teenager mistakes.
In my view, for what it's worth having raised 3 daughters, I think you're generally right. You have to let go and let kids lead their own lives/make their mistakes. I also know, however, that each kid and each situation is different. With two of my kids, I let them do what they wanted, for the most part. With another, I had to be much more direct and authoritarian. Sometimes a parent can see warning signs and will throw up a roadblock. If that's the situation here (and I have no inside knowledge), I respect MM's mom for holding her ground while also refusing to tell the media her thinking.
I'm not saying this is what is going on here but seriously??... are you willing to say that you would allow your kids to make bad decisions and "hope" that it is not irreversible without doing everything possible to help them?
If he has a penchant for hanging out with hoodlums and derelicts, MM's going to find them anywhere he goes, even Ann Arbor. Besides, he's 18, or almost 18, and that's very different from 14.
in three years when your child is making college decisions I doubt you will feel the same. I don't know much about most things but this I know... 18 years does not make you an adult. Very critical skills and life changing choices need the attention, due diligence, insight and love of caring parents when kids choose their higher ed.
MM is also coming from a very different place than your average MGoBlog household as well. His challenges are deep. When the risks are greater so too should be the supervision. God's speed to those parents who do that well.
Welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, welly, well... To what do I owe the extreme pleasure of this surprising question?
In all seriousness though, he isn't coming to Michigan.