Another Recruit Has Rug Pulled Out from Under Him - Last Minute Greyshirt
Longtime Louisville commit asked to greyshirt two days before signing day. Feel for the kid. Yes, he's a 3-star RB and your team needs CB's - but this is just sickening.
Matt Colburn was verbally committed to Louisville since June. That changed on Monday. According to multiple outlets, Louisville pulled its scholarship offer from Colburn, a Rivals three-star running back from Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, South Carolina. Instead of signing his national letter of intent with the Cardinals on Wednesday with the rest of the program’s 2015 class, Louisville has extended a grayshirt offer for Colburn, which would delay his enrollment until January.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:38 PM ^
I do not have all the info but that is just plain-out wrong.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:46 PM ^
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:20 PM ^
Either side can change their minds at the last minute if something better comes along. It is hard to criticize one side only, just because they are older.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:48 PM ^
February 3rd, 2015 at 4:26 PM ^
Wouldn't you say the recruit has a lot more at stake than the university?
1/85 scholarship vs a potentially lifeshaping decision?
I would think we would hold the schools to a much hard standard considering what the kid is potentially risking.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:41 PM ^
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February 3rd, 2015 at 1:39 PM ^
Also Toledo and Georgia Southern.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:51 PM ^
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February 3rd, 2015 at 12:43 PM ^
Why hasn't the NCAA fixed this problem already? It's NOT that hard. Give recruits the ability to sign early but if they do its binding on both sides. This would solve the problem of players decommitting (big problem for coaches when it's done to players they've counted on) as well as last minute changes from coaches (like the one the OP references).
I dont get why this hasnt happened already.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:52 PM ^
If there was an early signing date, we wouldn't have Jones, Ulizio, and Gentry. Harbaugh would be looking at a much smaller pool of recruits to flip. You still want an early signing date?
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
Unless we start changing coaches every year, this will likely help notably more than it hurts.
To answer your question, yes, I still want it... particularly as we have our (hopefully long-term) coach already on board.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^
not true at all. look who mich would have if there was an early signing period. almost all of those decommits. plus when harbaugh is recruiting all year he would have been in on all these kids for at least a year. it is very difficult to swing kids from another major university at the last minute.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
Just because a recruit "commits" doesn't mean that he's signing an earlier LOI if offered... Were these guys 100% solid enough where they were to sign early?
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
It seems to me that the sports "industry" has become as much about hype and off field product as putting an actual product on the field. The more recruits that have signed before signing day, the less hype you can generate about said signing day. I don't really think the NCAA or recruiting services would want to give up all the publicity to help out a few recruits. I don't feel too bad for the coaches either because I think most are still trying to flip guys right up to signing day. Great if you are the flipper. Sucks to be the one flipped against.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:04 PM ^
It might have helped this one, but maybe not. Aren't you just moving up a deadline and giving coaches an opportunity to put pressure on recruits? Depending on where it's moved, it could be before most coaching changes take place. The ACC proposal is for so early that it would even preclude official visits.
The number of pulled offers like this is dwarfed by the number of de-commitments. That's the problem an early signing period addresses. Additionally, pulling offers brings a lot of bad press. Most coaches won't do it. I could see how an early signing period would help coaches. I'm not saying that's a bad idea, just don't think it's intent is to help the recruits.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:54 PM ^
the coaches could have held him off with the "promise" that a spot would open up later due to attrition. It really wouldn't help. Having coaches with some limited amount of ethics is the only solution. It appears it will be an ongoing problem.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
If the coaches tell you they won't let you sign early, it gives you important information that will help you understand where you stand with the team and those coaches. It would help a lot.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:02 PM ^
Here's a solution I prefer, rather than bind recruits to a commitment they may want to get out of for myriad reasons:
Allow written scholarship offers to go out the day after Signing Day (instead of this stupid September 1 date) and standardize their language to force schools who send them to explicitly state when the scholarship takes effect. Then set up a commitment clearinghouse to let a recruit commit to a school, bind the school (but not the recruit) to the letter, and make it so that registering the commitment makes it illegal for other schools to contact that recruit unless he rescinds the commitment.
Early signing days will only result in the schools pressuring the recruits to sign, sign, sign. Did you enjoy watching Roy Roundtree at Michigan? He'd have been a Boilermaker if we had early signing days.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:16 PM ^
But imagine how epic this 2015 class would have been, given how many recruits backed out of their "commitments" under Hoke last fall.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:05 PM ^
This is why we have an upstanding coach like John Beilein. He could have done this to Austin Hatch, but Coach B is the most ethical Ncaa coach out there and honored his scholarship.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:29 PM ^
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:44 PM ^
Wake Forest has offered 2015 3-star RB Matt Colburn @Colburn31.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:47 PM ^
Would anyone on this board expect anything less from a scumbag like Bobby Petrino?
The guy's a great coach, but from everything we've seen, a subpar human being.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:14 PM ^
/digs around for random bits
Here you go:
The guy's a great coach, but from everything we've seen, a subparhuman beingcollection of molecules flying in close formation.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:48 PM ^
Look, if there's someone more deserving of his spot, I don't think this kid should be entitled to his athletic scholoarship just because he committed sooner than someone else. That would penalize kids for taking the the time to make a major life decision, or penalize them for not being discovered by coaches earlier, which they have no control over. Power 5 athletics is a competitive business and this entitlement mentality has to stop. And before anyone chimes in with BUT HIS EDUCATION!!!, consider 2 things:
(1) no one kicked him out of school. he was admitted to the school and can opt to stay, and if he really picked Louisville for its academics (eh), then he can finance a year of his education with student loans like the rest of us did; and
(2) let's be real. these kids aren't choosing power 5 schools because of their acadmics. they're committing to an athletic program where everyone in the world who is honest with themselves knows that the expectation is that atheltics come first, and academics second. if you want to be a student first and foremost and just play football for fun, there are plenty of schools that will grant someone like this kid that opportunity.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
Issuing an offer to a student as a coach and issuing a commitment to a coach as a student should both be decisions carefully thought out and not hastily thrown around. As we've already seen "commiting" to a school means nothing until the ink is dry on the paper which is kind of a shame because it renders the process virtually meaningless up until Signing Day. But that said, these are 17-18 year old kids who are entitled to be a bit fickle. For an academic institution to do so is unacceptable.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:48 PM ^
Exactly. The student athlete has the potential to lose everything. They have relied on the offer and haven't needed to look for other education finance offerings. When this happens this late in the game, there is not enough time for them to them to get all of their educational house in order.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
I respectfully disagree with your view that a kid who is more deserving of that scholarship is simply shit out of luck because he didn't hastily make his decision and this kid committed before him.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:07 PM ^
Why did Louisville accept his committment, then? Petrino sat down and offered the kid a spot in this class and the kid accepted.
If there was a player more deserving than Petrino messed up. As a grown man paid millions to do his job, that should be 100% on him to own up to and make things right.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:02 PM ^
they "accepted" his commitment in June of last year.
In the last month or so they had 3 different DBs declare early for the draft and another get kicked out of school. And their top DB recruit/commit had solidified his commitment like a week ago then suddenly decided to back out and likely go to Miami FL instead so they're scrambling for DBs. The school already has 2 RBs enrolled, so that's where they took the shot to find another DB.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:08 PM ^
in the class. It explains why they are recruiting DBs. I don't see why it means they have to pull anyone's scholarship.
February 5th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ^
When Colburn committed, they needed RBs more than DB.
By January this year, they drastically needed DBs more than RB. With 2 RBs already on campus, and another committed RB they liked better, there wasn't need for another when they had a new need for more DBs.
In April they maybe wanted 3-4 RB players, and 2-3 DB players. By this February they figured out they needed 2-3 RB players, and 4-5 DB players. Having more openings doesn't mean anything if you don't fill them with a position of need.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^
I agree with Mr Miggle, that seems like a good reason to recruit DB's. I don't see what it has to do with reneging on an agreement Petrino and the University of Louisville made with a high schooler.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:18 PM ^
It's sort of mind-boggling that you think a player who's uncommitted, but with a number of legit offers on the table, is more SOL than a player who has no offers on the table because he accepted one he thought was in good faith.
Petrino lied. There is no excuse for it. None.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:03 PM ^
i applied to UM. I got accepted there. If UM told me many months later that they were pulling my "acceptance" because some better applicants came in, I would have gone ape shit.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:22 PM ^
I hope you have a kid one day talented enough to play college ball. He then commits to a school 2 years in advance, knowing that he's set for college and for life for the next 6 years only to have that yanked away from him 2 days before he signs.
February 3rd, 2015 at 5:15 PM ^
You can try to polish this turd of an argument all you want but in the end, you still have a turd....just a polished one.
Petrino has, is, and always being a shady piece of shit. I completely believe he totally dicked that kid over.
I hope this is a lesson to any recruit out there when it comes to UL or any program Petrino is heading.
February 3rd, 2015 at 12:59 PM ^
Issuing an offer to a student as a coach and issuing a commitment to a coach as a student should both be decisions carefully thought out and not hastily thrown around. As we've already seen "commiting" to a school means nothing until the ink is dry on the paper which is kind of a shame because it renders the process virtually meaningless up until Signing Day. But that said, these are 17-18 year old kids who are entitled to be a bit fickle. For an academic institution to do so is unacceptable.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
I get your point(s). However, most of us had quite a while to figure out how to pay for school. This kid has been told for a long time that his education (such as it is) was paid for and he shut down other options (e.g. loans and alternative schools to further his education).
To have all of that blown up at the last minute is not respectable and the kid deserved better.
I guess to put this in proper perspective, ask yourself WWHD? (What Would Harbaugh Do? Trademarked/Copyrighted, whatever, 2015).
Would you feel the same if we did this to a Michigan recruit? Please respond as I'd like to hear your thoughts.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
Education has nothing to do with it. It's not an entitlement mentality to expect people to live up to their word, which Petrino deliberately failed to do.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:21 PM ^
Look, if there's someone more deserving of his spot, I don't think this kid should be entitled to his athletic scholoarship just because he committed sooner than someone else.
"Deserving" in this case meaning "depth chart needs", and mind you the guy making these decisions is this fine, upstanding fellow:
This kid made a decision to commit to Louisville and while we can debate whether or not athletics were the driving force, it isn't his fault Petrino screwed up his math. I'm not a pollyanna about college sports, but this shit shouldn't happen just because the victim has the vague "other options" you are alluding to. Petrino and Louisville have virtually all the power here and abused it.
February 3rd, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
That's an awful lot of words to say something so dumb.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
So, what if we applied this principle to the general student population? Here's what you said:
if there's someone more deserving of his spot, I don't think this kid should be entitled to his athletic scholoarship just because he committed sooner than someone else.
So, imagine that Michigan sends out 10,000 letters stating "Congratulations! You have been accepted to the University of Michigan! We look forward to having you join 5,000 new Freshman in the class of 2019."
It turns out that more than 5,000 accept Michigan's offer. Worse, 1,000 rock star students apply late in the cycle, but Michigan wants them. Would it be ethical for Michigan to send out a followup letter stating, "We have good news and bad news. An unprecedented number of excellent applicants accepted our invitation to enroll at Michigan next Fall. Unfortunately, as a result, we will need to delay your admission. Your GPA in your senior year Fall semester of High School was only 3.4. As a result, we are wait-listing you. You have the option of immediately attending UofM Dearborn, UofM Flint, or waiting until Winter term, 2016, or Fall term, 2016, to begin coursework in Ann Arbor."
The outrage would be off the charts. "You can't admit a student, and then pull their admission!!" But this is what you are stating is ok at Louisville.
February 3rd, 2015 at 3:04 PM ^
I was thinking the same thing.
Petrino and any other coach the pulls this crap is a shitbag in my opinion.
If this is what it takes to win, I'd rather lose.
February 3rd, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
If the kid wasn't "deserving" of a spot, then the coach shouldn't have offered him one. At one point Petrino thought this kid was good enough to play for him, so he should honor that commitment from the moment he makes the offer. Nothing forces coaches to give out offers. If Petrino really wanted a different player, he should have recruited that player in the first place.