I talked with Josh Garnett

Submitted by Steve Lorenz on

Hey guys, I talked to Josh last night and he gave me a bit more insight into why he chose Stanford: 

He said he made the decision late the other night and that one factor that definitely came into play was the fact that it would be easier for his parents to watch him play in Palo Alto than it would be in Ann Arbor. He also said that for the majority of his commitment that he really felt like he was going to commit to Michigan but that in the end he felt more comfortable in Stanford. He continually has mentioned the Michigan fans and the support they showed throughout the process as well. 

Also, it didn't sound like he had gotten an overly negative backlash from the Michigan fanbase, which is a good thing to report too. Overall, a good kid chose somebody else and while it would have been nice to see him in Ann Arbor, he'll do good things in Palo Alto as well. 

EDIT: I don't post this to drag it on, or even to wish him luck. It's only to clarify why he made his decision and also to pat everyone on the back for being civil post-commitment. 

JohnnyV123

January 27th, 2012 at 9:55 AM ^

Bummer we didn't get him....and I thought getting my car stolen would be the worst thing to happen to me this week.

Still should have seen it coming whenever its close between two schools distance is often the decider. Of course I think Michigan has a brighter future than Stanford but if in his mind he thought they were about equal then I can't blame him for wanting to stay close to home.

cozy200

January 27th, 2012 at 10:02 AM ^

I forgot to give you a serious shoutout!  Josh tweeted you were his favorite guy to talk too, and he hated most.  You rock brother and are my main recrutiing resource, scooping people at an amazing pace.. love the interviews.. keep it going.  Love TomVH and all his connections, but i also love a dude who doesnt try and sell subs and gives great info! 

kmedved

January 27th, 2012 at 10:03 AM ^

Not getting him will hurt in the far more important recruiting class rankings than on the field. I think that's the true tragedy here that must be remembered. Gloating rights.

Best of luck to Josh. Anytime you decide to go to school somewhere like Stanford, you made a great call.

jg2112

January 27th, 2012 at 10:10 AM ^

Garnett's reasons for staying on the West Coast are exactly why Michigan, Ohio and the rest of the Upper Midwest HAVE to be 80% of the basis of every Michigan recruiting class. No matter the region, it is difficult in general to get a kid to leave that area unless there is no choice. And with the caliber of player that Michigan is going after, those kids will have the choice.

J. Lichty

January 27th, 2012 at 10:50 AM ^

While certainly the chances of pulling an out of region kid is higher where the kid ha ties to Michigan (or at least midwest - Lewan, Wile, Pipkins), or for whom distance is not a factor, I think you are overstating the limitations on Michigan's national recruiting profile.

While it is true that the backbone of just about every school (maybe save Notre Dame) comes from within a 4 hour drive of the school, as Rich Rod said when he took the job, Michigan is a national brand that will attract kids from throughout the country.

We will continue to pull kids from California, Texas and hopefully Florida who "have a choice."

While Michigan is not for every out of region kid, to characterize it as a safety school for kids from out or region like you have done gets it exactly backwards.

brose

January 27th, 2012 at 10:16 AM ^

Elite HS OL prospects have a relatively high athletic wash out rate (i.e. not starting and not going Pro) and this kid was smart enough to focus a lot on academics and picked a great school and almost picked another great school.

 

How can you fault the kid for wanting his folks to be able to see him play more than once a year?

 

Good Luck young man.

 

gajensen

January 27th, 2012 at 10:21 AM ^

I don't see anybody faulting him for his choice.

I do see countless people going out of their way to be gracious losers in the recruitment game and commending him on simply making a choice.  The kid's going to play college football at a premier academic institution!  

He has it made regardless of MGoBloggers respecting his "difficult" decision.  M-Wolverine already said it better than I will, but Jesus, nobody needs to be high-fived for picking 1A over 1B.

M-Wolverine

January 27th, 2012 at 10:18 AM ^

I should clarify too, I'm not ragging on you for posting this. You said you'd follow up, you DID follow up, and you let us know.  You are doing a service for the rest of us. Your post was fine.

It's more the back and forth commentary (that I've mostly avoided) where he's an angel who just went to a different heaven when he first commits, to a devil because he LIED!!!! to OP, back to oh, well, he just wanted to stay close to home, isn't he swell? He's a kid who picked another school. He made a pretty good choice. He'll do well.  But there are hundreds of those guys every year.  And a LOT of them are good kids.  You are covering them for us. That's appreciated. Everyone else just needs to get over him. 

TampaBLUE

January 27th, 2012 at 10:24 AM ^

So hopefully this is the end of all the JG comments forever because I dont care anymore but i can't stop clicking on new entries when they come up. but I don't really care. But i can't stop.

True Blue Grit

January 27th, 2012 at 10:33 AM ^

come close to picking us then going elsewhere.  But it's part of the recruiting game and always will be.  It's painful to lose these battles for really good players, but I think Hoke and staff  will be more successful in the future as they start building relationships with kids earlier in the process and they build a record of success at Michigan.  Also, I do think the 3 years under RR damaged our reputation a little and that will make it harder for the short term with some of the elite kids.  And West Coast kids are going to be harder in general to get to come to Michigan.  So, the "batting average" in signing these players is always going to be lower. 

Going forward, the Garnett decision puts some pressure on the coaches to find a couple quality O-linemen in this class. 

j.o.s.e maizenblue

January 27th, 2012 at 10:52 AM ^

With as much indecisiveness as he went into it, I just hope the decision was his and his alone. I grew up with mothers guilt and as good as her intentions were, sometimes boys need to leave home to become men. Either way he's great kid and he'll do well.

Don

January 27th, 2012 at 11:12 AM ^

Sam Webb's numerous statements that distance won't be a factor for Garnett, which seemed to put UM on an equal footing with Stanford. Josh's father had wanted to play for Bo, but Michigan was too far away for his parents; supposedly Josh's father had said or implied that proximity would not be an issue for his son. As Sam said this morning, it appears that distance was in fact an issue. I wonder if this is a case of the father and mother disagreeing, and mom won.