Big Time Recruits who "flipped" after a visit?

Submitted by StephenRKass on
In the recruiting discussion, there has been significant debate on the difference between "expressed interest" and where someone actually is going to end up going. For instance, it is prob. rather likely that Christian Jones will go to FSU (I trust Tom VH's judgement.) If I were a HS kid who hadn't been around the country, for sure, I'd be interested in flying, eating, visiting, going to a game, on someone else's dime. For some of you road warriors, and those whose family's resources allowed you to travel/fly extensively, it's no big deal. But for a kid from the middle of nowhere (think Pahokee) or from an area no where near a big city/big airport, flying around the country is pretty cool. Going to a game in the Big House, visiting USC or UCLA, maybe making it to Washington, it sounds pretty cool. What I'm interested in is the history of recruits who have flipped after an official. Have any flipped to us? Flipped away from us? Does the "snake oil" have anything to do with this? Regardless, it's impossible to guess the mind of a recruit. Who knows how much PT, family influence, NFL prep, team rankings, feeling a part of a team, getting along with coaches, especially position coaches, and a ton of other intangibles, really matter. All that can really happen is for the team to play well, the coaches to reach out to the guys they truly want, and let the chips fall where they may.

Magnus

October 6th, 2009 at 12:39 PM ^

The "snake oil" comment arose from a comment made by Joe Tiller. His comment was made after Roy Roundtree, who had been committed to Purdue, committed to Michigan on signing day '08. He said something like, "Rich Rodriguez is nothing but a guy in a wizard hat selling snake oil" or something like that (I know that's not 100% correct, but I don't feel like looking it up). I don't know that Roundtree ever visited Michigan. He may have, since he had teammates who had visited. But he didn't flip right after a visit. I think he just flipped because he liked Rodriguez better than Wilford Brimley.

brose

October 6th, 2009 at 3:56 PM ^

Great find...I just love me some Lou Rawls and yes it does appear to be some jazz club in the sky...maybe this was filmed AFTER he died? I'm just saying... Edit - Lou died in Jan. of '06 - Bless that man

jg2112

October 6th, 2009 at 12:46 PM ^

well, I'm not sure under Rich Rod because he doesn't allow you to keep your commitment if you're going to take officials. So, for those who de-committed last year, they really can't fit your definition (well, maybe Pearlie Graves and DQJones do).

03 Blue 07

October 6th, 2009 at 3:47 PM ^

What...on earth are you talking about? "Wasn't allowed to commit to Michigan?" By who? By what? Wasn't his mother actually pushing M hard? Also, wasn't it actually that he made his decision after LC and Ron English had actually taken a freaking helicopter to Muskegon b/c there was a terrible snowstorm and they couldn't drive there that night- the night before he made his announcement?

PurpleStuff

October 6th, 2009 at 1:33 PM ^

I've always viewed the Warren-Rojo swap as a wash (we get a guy from their backyard and they get one from ours). We needed a pure corner and Rojo wanted to play wideout. Donovan has panned out pretty damn well while Rojo had some nice success last year after struggling to get/stay on the field early on at SC. Just hope he gets healthy and continues to play well.

Hannibal.

October 6th, 2009 at 1:36 PM ^

I can think of one huge recruit who flipped away from us about 10 years ago. His name was Damien James and he was from Louisiana. He committed to us and then flipped to LSU. Rivals or Scout would rank him a five-star athlete today (although his college career would probably be considered a disapppointment). I think that was 1998. We had a downright insane recruiting class that year. Using today's ratings, it had at least three five-star recruits. That was back when most recruits didn't commit until much closer to signing day, so our 1997 national championship came into play.

J. Lichty

October 6th, 2009 at 2:33 PM ^

or at least a kid. And, also around the time of the Les Miles to M affair, it was widely believed that the references made by Carr to "things on the recruiting trail" were in reference to the recruitment of Eugene by Miles and reports that he was "negatively" recruiting against Lloyd - telling Eugene that Lloyd was retiring.

Hannibal.

October 6th, 2009 at 3:36 PM ^

For the record, Tiller didn't mention Rodriguez specifically in the "snake oil" comment and he may not have been specifically referring to him. He might have just been disgusted with the recruiting process, in general. I've never seen the full context of that quote.

stubob

October 6th, 2009 at 4:51 PM ^

http://blog.mlive.com/thediag/2008/02/tiller_livid_over_losing_round.ht… Taking about Ray Roundtree: Feb. 7, 2008, Indianapolis Star: "If we had an early signing date, you wouldn't have another outfit with a guy in a wizard hat selling snake oil get a guy at the last minute, but that's what happened," Tiller said. So, he doesn't specifically mention RichRod by name, but since he's talking about Roundtree, it's pretty easy to infer. (btw, WTF indystar.com? I'm going to pay for BACK issues?)