An Interview With Demar Dorsey
[Editor's note: Somehow this video featuring Dorsey's been on Youtube since March and no one noticed it. It's a profile put together by LifeSkills, an "alternative high school opportunity for at-risk and drop-out youth providing a unique academic model and a proven record of success." It's one of a few promotional videos put together by the company (another couple feature folks who aren't athletes) and should be viewed with that in mind.
Anyway:
On to Tom.]
As everyone knows, Demar Dorsey's situation with Michigan is in limbo. I was granted an interview with Demar. Since he and his family have been refusing to talk to the media I promised Demar that this interview would be a simple Q&A to leave no room for interpretation.
TOM: Do you read everything that's been in the media about you?
DEMAR: Yeah, I've seen most of the articles. The media didn't really make me upset, because I know the truth about me. It made my parents upset, because once I announced I was going to Michigan, that's when all these articles started coming out. I had to change my number, so no one could get a hold of me.
TOM: That's pretty big for a football recruit to have to go through that. What kind of affect did that have on you and your family?
DEMAR: We just got together and said don't let anything affect you, and just move on. I've been trying to do everything I can to move forward.
TOM: Have those reports affected your perception of Michigan, or its fans?
DEMAR: No, I chose Michigan for a reason, and I would love to be up there. Everybody is always telling me how much they want me up there, and that they're supporting me. My cousin, Denard [Robinson], has been telling me how much love they're showing me.
TOM: So, where are you at with Michigan?
DEMAR: Right now, I'm still signed under my letter of intent, so I can't do anything yet until I hear back from them. They told me that they don't think I can get in with admissions about two weeks ago, or a week ago, but they weren't sure. They had been checking on my grades earlier in the year, and I was on top of it. When I got home one day, my parents said that they were sending back my letter of intent. They were sending me a release form. I'm not sure what that means, or if it means I'm officially not in. I think because I signed a letter of intent, if I wanted to open up my recruitment, I would have to send that back to them. If I can't get in from the admissions, then I have to send that back. My mom said we need to do that, so we have to send it out tomorrow, and we'll go from there. I have the ACT score, and I have the core, so we're just waiting to hear what happens. I haven't heard anything from the coaches yet.
TOM: What's next from here? What do you do if you can't get in to Michigan?
DEMAR: If I can't get in, I'll re-open my recruitment. I have a couple schools that I'm thinking of, I don't want to name names yet. I'll just wait to see what happens.
...someone from the school needs to get on the horn with his parents and him tomorrow and give them the official word on the admission decision. If they're sending him a release form pending an admissions decision, that's crazy.
Agreed. Why would you leave a young man out in to dry like that? Makes no sense, folks.
Besides the fact he is being shafted by admissions, what does it mean he has not heard from the coaches? He just hasn't heard either way if he is in or not? I hope that the coaches are walking he and his family through this process.
I hope to see him in the winged helmet soon!
I am the eternal optimist. Im thinking that "they told me I probably wont get in last week" and that no decision has been made means that things are being set in motion to push through his acceptance. If the coaches knew he wasn't in, I think the first thing RR would have done would be immediately call the Dorseys. No news could possibly be good news in this case.
That would be a fantastic swing, but I have a hard time believing the athletic department can get their act together in efficient fashion. A dysfunctional group is a dysfunctional group, and I think it's going to take Brandon a little longer than a few months to sort through the rot.
Still hoping!
...about what academic reputation LifeSkills has. Their website indicates they have Michigan locations which means U-M Admissions is probably acquainted with their program.
I also wonder if Dorsey has been in the LifeSkills program for his entire senior year or just the last semester. If the latter, it could be more problematic, because that may not have been part of the calculus when RichRod vetted him prior to national signing day. If the former, then this should have been known and been factored into Michigan's decision to make the scholarship offer.
If I'm not mistaken, the lady in the video said he came to LifeSkills in October, so 3/4 of his senior year I guess?
...so it should have been known during the initial deliberations.
Gotta say that I am more than a little disappointed/embarassed by how Michigan handeled this situation. I know we don't have their side of the story, but from Demar's point of view (the one that is most important), they seem to have dropped the ball. Admit the kid or cut him loose already.
...to hear that this young man and his family are not being dealth with in a direct and respectful manner. Then again, it's bureaucrats with zero accountability.
We, and potential recruits, should expect more from the school in humanizing the admissions process.
It'll just break my fucking heart if Demar doesn't get in.
I think it's ridiculous and awful that the school has not contacted him about this yet. If you can't take him, fine, but let him know one way or the other. Wow.
It sounds like the coaches have left him out to dry on this. How in the Hell can't you contact this kid? I have lost a lot of respect for this staff because of that. There is no room for interpretation on that. It came right from Demar's mouth. Way to be coaches.
More than likely the coaches have been told by admissions not to contact Dorsey until a decision is made. In a nutshell: "Don't call the kid and get his hopes up. You have to wait around for a year while we hold our dicks in our office."
Shit.
I wish him luck wherever he ends up, but DAMN I hope he ends up in a winged helmet.
Just... Shit.
on so many levels... This one just gives me the feeling that its going to come back and bite us in the ass.
Thanks for the great work, Tom.
What an unfortunate situation to be in. Dorsey has worked so hard to get things turned around, and I think Michigan owes him a chance to compete, both on the field and in the classroom. It sounds like that's not going to happen
now I'm nervous.
Good luck, Demar. We'd love to have you.
This does not sound good. Shame on the Athletics Department and Admissions Office for not getting this figured out before the offer was made. And shame on the Detroit/Ann Arbor media for likely ruining this kid's chance to make a new life for himself in Michigan. One of the reasons it was expected Dorsey was coming here was to get away from a negative environment in Florida with his peers. If he ends up in a D1 program like FSU, it might not provide him the opportunity he would have at Michigan.
This is not the time for the University to further vindicate the "investigative reporting" of the local media.
This is rediculous. I cannot believe the way this recruit has been treated for the last 6 months.
He's held up his end of the bargain and we haven't held up ours. The worst part is that if it comes to pass that he will not be a Michigan Wolverine, the floodgates will open and everyone will reiterate their general nonsense on the issue of how this kid was never meant to come here.
I do feel for the kid. Does he deserve admission? I don't know. I'm not one in the position to know the answer to that question, but he certainly doesn't deserve the torrent of bullshit he's received from the local press.
Yes, I'm the same guy who has occasionally stood up for the local press, but what they've done to Demar just isn't right. The "investigative piece" in the Freep was prepared well before Demar committed. What better way to show bias than to write a piece in hopes of being able to run it. Shouldn't the facts precede the story? Shouldn't they have written a similar piece of MSU's Jenrette? Same crimes, same state...difference is that Dorsey was younger and Jenrette was arrested for the same thing while at State. Ok...Ok...I'll drop it.
Best of luck, Demar, whether in A2 or elsewhere.
This makes me very sad. I hope that everything gets sorted for better or worse (for us) so this kid can get back to making the best of his life. I really hope this is a big misunderstanding....... I just think that a place like UM could not just keep him out of trouble but provide the venue for him to exceed.
Also. I hope that the press doesn't turn around and say how the coaches promised a scholarship and such and then went back on it. This just looks ugly on so many fronts. I hope the best for him.
This is the most ironic post in the history of both posting and irony
...I don't disagree with what you're saying, though
...with the sentiment, but totally baffled by the logic.
I really hope he ends up getting in. Dorsey is getting seriously shafted if he doesn't get in. I don't know what admissions think they have to gain by turning him away at this point. Its almost as if they expect the media to slap a "UM Reverses on Deliquent" line on the front page of the news the same way they went after them for recruiting him in the first place. The reality is, we look bad two-timing someone, our recruiting will suffer, and the media is just going to use it as an excuse to criticize us a second time for even looking at him.
I have half a mind to send admissions an e-mail about this. Granted, I am bias because I want Dorsey to make our secondary awesome, but if he weren't a recruit, I wouldn't know about it because the process wouldn't be as public, and admissions doesn't have any business pulling this on anyone.
And God help him if he ends up at Florida State. If he's qualified for FSU and he ends up not getting a shot at an education here, admissions should be ashamed.
EDIT: The admissions phone number for anyone who might have an inquiry about their status or something tomorrow: XXXXXXXXXX
What? I'm just sayin'
What business would anyone here have calling admissions to ask the status of Demar Dorsey's application?
The publication of names and phone numbers and contact information for people at the admissions office is crossing the line, and it's been done multiple times today. We're fans. We have no business interfering in the decisions of the admissions office, no matter how great the needs of our defensive secondary.
That number will give you the admissions office and whoever happens to pick up the phone. It is not a line to anyone in paticular, and it was obtained from the admissions website, therefor being wide open to the public.
As to the business of any one person's application, they aren't going to give it to you, nor should they. It doesn't matter anyway, because in this paticular instance, there would be no need to ask. His status is very publicly known, and we're sad about it.
I posted the number primarily as a joke (Since, you know, its on their website and anyone could find it on Google with a couple keystrokes. Also, my original statement very clearly implies one's own status, not Dorsey's, as in "Hey, how's my app coming, and BTW, please don't screw Dorsey over". But again, it was meant as a joke in the first place. If I was serious I won't have said "Just sayin' and would have done a whole lot better than the public number), but if anyone DID tell admissions they suck for screwing Dorsey over, they certainly deserve it (Assuming that actually happens, which doesn't appear 100% certain).
Yes, you are correct, the student worker at the front desk deserves to hear how badly somebody they've probably only met a handful of times screwed this up.
I hope/anticipate that Dave Brandon will be able to show the way forward on this based on what's right and that we'll get harangued by the Freep afterward.
(sorry for re-posting but no one's going to comment in the other thread again)
Not comparing the individuals, but the general situations. Pat Tillman beat a weaker kid senseless in high school, felony assault. He would have lost his ASU scholarship if it stood, the judge took this into account and reduced it to a misdemeanor. He went to juvie (sp?) for 30 days after high school, and wasn't required to disclose any of it to the university.
First point is that Tillman got a second chance and it turned out pretty well. Second is what admissions may be missing with this: the entire purpose of the court's action was to provide a second chance. Take the path out that football provides you, and do better with your life. Denying admission is denying the opportunity, in effect subverting the court's intent.
Michigan is the second chance. But Demar you can make wherever you need to. We'd love to have you, keep your head up regardless
Wow, I never heard that story. +1. Puts things in perspective.
"Where Men Win Glory", out just recently
I referenced it in an an e-mail exchange I had with that bumbling McCabe. Maybe I can post that later
Hmm. Seems the lowlife crawl over here to read from time to time:
Via Twitter
[RT from Adam Rittenburg]
Mark Snyder, AKA, @freepwolverine
RT @freepwolverines: Dorsey to mgoblog in interview: "They told me they don't think I can get in"
we can look forward to another Mark Snyder article with unattributed TomVH quotes tomorrow.
http://www.freep.com/section/BLOG14
Click at your own risk.
Did he attribute to TomVH? I durst not glance or click.
...as the source of the interview and provides a link to this story.
I think you mean:
The mgoblog community prefers to read these articles in printed form -- easier on the eyes and whatnot.
thanks for the link
this has to be one of the saddest stories I've witnessed at U of M. It's clear that he won't be coming to Ann Arbor. This case was severly botched at some point. I'll definetly follow Dorsey closely where ever he goes. He's going to be a stud and we'll all remember how he got away from the maize and blue
if I wanted to open up my recruitment, I would have to send [the letter of intent] back to them. If I can't get in from the admissions, then I have to send that back. My mom said we need to do that, so we have to send it out tomorrow, and we'll go from there.
So...it's over? He's not coming? Or he's not coming barring admissions stepping in before the outgoing mail is collected?
So he can be released immediately if he is not admitted. It doesn't necessarily mean he won't be admitted.
More disheartening is the fact someone told him it was unlikely he would get in, due to his grades earlier in the year.
we should start a petition for dorsey and send it to the schools admission board
I was thinking the same thing, but doesnt look like there is time
but I fear the writing is on the wall for this one.
Best of luck to Demar.
But here's hoping Rich Rod gets up early, heads down to admissions, defenestrates the entire department, and calls Dorsey from their office.
+1 for the use of the term "defenestration."
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