Dee Hart Officially Gone/To Bama
Just received this tweet from URecruit's Jeff Contizano
Orlando FL. RB Demetrius Hart has eliminated Michigan. Down to Auburn and Alabama.
So the most dramatic recruitment that I can remember is over. In a way, this is almost a relief.
EDIT: I don't have premium, but there appears to be an article on the front of Rivals that suggests the same.
EDIT EDIT: He then promptly turned around and committed to Bama?
Looks like Hart has already committed to bama.
Just got off the phone with a source and Dee Hart has committed Alabama.
Evidently he's wanted to for a while now?
I love to see a kid like Dee Hart want to commit to a school so bad and that school finally accept it. He is ecstatic and I just love that!
Also, see comment from JC3 further down the thread.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
I thought this was going to Happen as i just saw it on Thewolverine.com
Good luck to him.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:36 PM ^
The Tide did roll into Dee's hometown to prepare for their bowl game and made a committment to invest in improving Dee's high school facilities.
Earth to NCAA Investigative Division- "What the hell is going on around here?" (in the immortal words of Vince Lombardi).
Tatoos, autographs, time released suspensions for next year to avoid bowl games this year, and now university funded high school sports facility rehab divisions. I just don't get it.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:48 PM ^
Those are schools in states that don't have a Bill Plaschke or Michael Rosenberg covering them.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:49 PM ^
When they looked into that, they figured out they were just getting the field back up to snuff, i.e. the way it had been before the season. And the only other part they upgraded, I believe, were the showers. Saban's done a lot of trashy things before, but let's not criticize him for doing totally legit things.
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:01 PM ^
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:51 PM ^
Sound to me like you get it perfectly. Money talks - coaching uncertainty and recruits walk.
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:58 PM ^
I highly doubt that improving the locker room showers and reseeding the field is a factor in Dee's switch to Bama. However, having a best friend also commited there and being much closer to home maybe, just maybe, played a role.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:54 PM ^
Saban must have done some serious recruiting while his team was practicing at Dr. Phillips during the dead period this week!!!
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
wow! that is even before we foind out if RR will still be our coach.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:36 PM ^
Not surprising after yesterday. Happy trails, Dee.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
I would like to hear it from Tom though. The hits are gonna keep coming but we will survive! WE ARE MICHIGAN!!
GO BLUE!!
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:40 PM ^
I think this guy works with Tom at Urecruit.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:43 PM ^
He does
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
Still sad, but not surprised. I finally got to watch him on TV in the Florida finals. He had his worst game and still looked very good. His recruitment took so much time and energy going through the ups and downs.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
I'm still recovering from the 52 point induced hangover but I refuse to freak out about a kid decommitting who is not going to fit the new regime anyway. Maybe Dee is reading the Harbaugh rumors and decided to go elsewhere.
I hope he puts that SEC degree to good use.
Fcuk it though..I'm still all in. Those who stay...
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:11 PM ^
I know what you mean. My fiancee thought I was still hungover, but she knows better. There will be some decommits, hopefully not too many, but glad to hear about Dallas yesterday. Dee is a special player and I can't begrudge the kid. I wish him well, but Dallas may be more important.
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:41 PM ^
How Dee would fit any worse with a JH regime than with a Saban regime. Saban has been pretty pro-style (this year he ran a bit more pistol, though), and JH has shown he can get RBs to perform very well in his system. Dee is also very versatile, and I believe he really can fit in any scheme.
Now if you are talking fitting in as in getting along with the coaching staff, I guess I can see that. At the same time, JH has a very similar attitude as Saban and we would yet know who JH's, or anyone else for that matter, would bring in as assistants.
I think this is more a situation where Dee had a change of heart, and decided he liked 'Bama more. It happens, I guess from an un-biased look, I can't blame him.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:37 PM ^
See ya Dee! I guess academics weren't as big a facor as we might have thought.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
I don't think he ever really mentioned that as a deciding factor
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
I thought he wanted to be a business major or was that someone else
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^
I don't think it was a make-or-break kind of thing. It was more of the coaching staff and the offense that attracted him, at least IMO
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:43 PM ^
Yeah, you are right. Kids are kids. If he is looking at Alabama's offense, I hope he would at least consider us.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:42 PM ^
He obviously understands the time value of money. Ok, that is my last "Auburn pays players" post.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:41 PM ^
I'm not sure he could have suceeded at Ross anyway. Majoring in Business while playing football is hard enough, but attending Ross is a different animal than what he will encounter at most institutions.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
Yeah when I read he wanted to major in business I thought it'd be really tough. I went through the undergrad program back when it was a 2 year program and it was tough enough without any major sport looming over my head. Not to say it would be impossible - Reilly Olson and I think one other player on the hockey team were in the school along with Chris Hunter from the bball team, but it had to be tough.
I'm not sure what it's like now that it's a 3 year program, but I imagine it's a little less intense now that you can intersperse LSA classes with classes at Ross.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:44 PM ^
Cannot be that hard... I mean Tate said recently it's impossible to flunk out of this school... all you have to do is show up.
Oh, wait, nevermind.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^
Zoltan was in Ross and he turned out just fine. Zack Novak is also in the B-School right now. It is difficult, but really if you're not just taking blowoff classes at U-M, any combo of school and football is going to be tough. If it was something he really wanted to do, it was definitely possible to have success in both.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:18 PM ^
...Dee was looking for an excuse to reverse his commitment, based on recent comments. This finality makes the coaching change easier to stomach now.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:38 PM ^
Can't say I'm happy, but still not surprised.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:42 PM ^
Be mad at a 18 year old kid who wants to know who his coach is going to be and what kind of system he will be playing in. I look at a kid like Blake Countless who wants to be here and know's what donning the "WINGED HELMET" means.
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:44 PM ^
Agreed, while I won't root for Dee anymore, I also am not going to down him or root against him. Good Luck.
January 2nd, 2011 at 9:07 PM ^
I have this hunch that you'll root against him in the first game of the 2012 season.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
We'll be okay. Harbaugh currently has 3 top RB commits at Stanford; I'm sure he'd be able to bring one of them. Reymound Wright, 4* RB from Indiana, had a Michigan offer so possibly could flip him. Best of luck to Dee in his career (except if he plays us).
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:40 PM ^
I'm not sure we really need Wright. We're pretty stacked at RB, althought there could be some attrition.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:53 PM ^
by stacked do you mean vincent smith.....cause he's the only guy that seems to get any PT.....on second thought, i'm guess that'll be changing sometime this spring.
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^
Cox, Hopkins, Fitz, Shaw, Vincent, and even Teric Jones could contribute at RB if needed
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:55 PM ^
What running back do we have that can really be the man??? Staying healthy plays a role in that too... Not healthy.. Can't be the man.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:05 PM ^
In the Harbaugh offense
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:48 PM ^
A lot of people have looked at the QBs Harbaugh's teams has produced, but the RB production has been consistently good for his teams as well. I think particularly the big backs can be good, but I feel Harbaugh knows how to use players well enough to utilize Smith's abilities.
Either way, I think the RB position isn't in dire need, we have some talent there, and it may not be the best, but I think in a system that relies less on QB runs (which seems to be the direction Michigan is going), I think Michigan at least has the talent to be productive with what they have while still utilizing Denard's (or Devin's, or someone else's) legs on occasion.
January 2nd, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^
Stephen Hopkins?
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:49 PM ^
No need to stress on this, we still have the #3 AP RB in Justice Hayes. Win some, lose some.
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:09 PM ^
Stacked you say?
I'd like to be stacked at DT.
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:21 PM ^
Where can I get one o those!
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:57 PM ^
I'm family friends with the Wright's and if Harbaugh leaves Stanford, he's switching to ND... FWIW
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
Well....damn
January 2nd, 2011 at 2:59 PM ^
Talk to him about Michigan. That would not be against the rules, would it?
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:01 PM ^
Only if he is a booster, IIRC.
January 2nd, 2011 at 5:16 PM ^
Aren't all alumni considered boosters? (assuming he is an alum)
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:26 PM ^
Best of luck to Dee in his career (except if he plays us).
If he chooses Alabama he will be playing us in 2012.