UCLA blocks potential Clark transfer to UM

Submitted by Bambam on
Title says it all. Jim Mora and UCLA block Chris Clark from potentially transferring to Michigan. Edit: link is paywalled and wont let me post it on my phone, but was on UCLA Rivals board and confirmed by Brandon Brown.
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WolvinLA2

September 23rd, 2015 at 12:16 PM ^

You don't know why Clark chose UCLA.  He made a comment about Mora being a "chill" guy, but that could have just been what came to his head when he was being interviewed.  Or he was one of those 18 year olds who way over uses certain words, and at that particular time, his word was "chill."  Let's not read too much into that one answer from that one interview.  

Michigan was recruiting him really really hard and we were in his top 2 until the end.  If he really wanted chill, 2 minutes with Harbaugh would have ruled us out.

Joined: 11/13/2009

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WolvinLA2

September 23rd, 2015 at 1:32 PM ^

I have two responses to that:

1. Don't take as gospel everything a 17 year old says to the press.  Sometimes they give an answer just to give an answer or they give an answer because they don't want to give the real answer.

2. I would guess 90+% of recruits don't pick their school based on "just football," nor should they.  Maybe UCLA did a better academic pitch, maybe he liked the people he met at UCLA better.  Not every factor other than football is a "bad" reason.  Reportedly, DeShawn Hand picked Alabama over Michigan for academic purposes.  If you believe that, couldn't Chris Clark have done the same?  If you don't believe that, then maybe you shouldn't beleive Clark either.

Joined: 11/13/2009

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Franz Schubert

September 23rd, 2015 at 5:18 PM ^

You are really spending a lot of time rationalizing this guys flakiness. Decommit multiple times, dont read into it. Transfer before even attending class, don't read into it. Clarks own words, don't read into it...lmao!

Joined: 07/20/2009

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WolvinLA2

September 23rd, 2015 at 12:22 PM ^

That's not a fair description.  A better way to put it is that most of the city is made up of fans of other schools.  I've never gotten the impression that UCLA was much of a bandwagon fanbase.  I went to a couple games when Dorrel and then Nueheisel was the coach and the stadium was pretty full both times.  

USC, on the other hand, major bandwagon.  

Joined: 11/13/2009

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ottomatic

September 23rd, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^

I think a lot of schools based in large urban centers have a simialr challange. I lived in Miami, FL from 1985 to 1995. That was a pretty good run for the Whoricanes. But unless it was a marquee game they might not draw 25K fans to the Orange Bowl. Lots of things to do in Miami on a Saturday afternnon. On the other side of that, for the marquee matchups the stadium was loaded with people who were not committed fans.

Joined: 01/12/2011

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McSomething

September 23rd, 2015 at 12:32 PM ^

I have never, and will never, understand why schools get to dictate where a player can transfer to. Wasn't there a situation a few years back where a school put around a dozen teams on the "can't go there" list?

Joined: 09/29/2010

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LSAClassOf2000

September 23rd, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^

The ability to block transfers to the level that schools can has always been pretty absurd, at least in my opinion. Whereas in any other arena of life, chasing an opportunity or relocation somewhere for legitimate reasons of well-being might be seen as a net positive, the NCAA frames these as a breakdown and an opportunity for correction in a way, allowing coaches and schools to pare down options for students, potentially to a ridiculous level.

It never seemed right to me honestly.

Not advocating that transferring at will would be the alternative (that would be chaos), but it seems like schools don't even have to try and understand the reason an athlete might want to transfer, and if they grant the release, the rules allow them to be vindictive potentially even if they are understanding to the face of that athlete. I guess I see opportunities for reform here. 

Sorry, rare moment of editorializing from me - this issue gnaws at me for some reason.

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JamieH

September 23rd, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^

He might have chosen UCLA for a lot of wrong reasons.  Westwood is unbelievably impressive.  The weather is amazing, there are beautiful women everywhere, the beach is right down the street.  It is a really amazing place.

But if you're looking to maximize your football potential, none of that is really important.  And once you get to LA, you realize very quickly that most of the good parts of it are very expensive to partake in.  Not necessarily ideal for a college kid.

Joined: 09/05/2009

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JamieH

September 23rd, 2015 at 7:04 PM ^

But I DID live there for a number of years (Santa Monica to be exact) so I'm not just talking out my @$$.  

My only point is that I can see that UCLA's recruiting pitch could be unbelievably good for a weekend visit, especially for a kid that hasn't spent any time out there before and might be a bit star-struck.   But none of those things really have anything to do with football, and the reality of being a college kid in LA might not live up the expectations from a weekend visit. 

People can dump all over Clark for being a flake, and maybe they are right.  Only time will tell.  But the flip side of the coin is, if he realizes already that he made a huge mistake, better to get out right away than to wait.  I once quit a job that I had only been in for a month, and I'm no flake.  It was just a horrible, horrible fit, and I had to get out. 

You are talking about his entire future here.  He wants to be an NFL football player, and he only really gets one shot at it.  If he plays at the wrong school, he won't really get another shot.   It's easily one of the biggest decisions of his entire life.  Only time will tell if he's a whiny primadonna who couldn't cut it under Mora, or if he's actually saving his future by getting out of a terrible situation.

 

 

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Icehole Woody

September 23rd, 2015 at 12:46 PM ^

The kid can go to school and play football anywhere he wants.  But he or his family will have to pay if it's Michigan.  So, if he comes to Michigan it will be as a walk-on and would not impact the scholarship limit.

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gustave ferbert

September 23rd, 2015 at 1:05 PM ^

We're thousands of miles away.  We might play them in a bowl game.  Outside of that there isn't much conflict.  All he gets is bad publicity for blocking a transfer.   Does anyone know?

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bronxblue

September 23rd, 2015 at 1:05 PM ^

I wish Clark the best, but it doesn't seem like a great fit at this point if a major reason why he didn't like UCLA is the distance.  I know UM is closer, but it's still quite a distance away from CT.  

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