Javarie Johnson to leave Maryland
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that 4* (Rivals) LB Javarie Johnson, who committed to Maryland (after previously committing to Miami) is leaving the school.
He had enrolled early and was taking classes there, [EDIT: Removed idea that he could transfer without sitting out as it is unclear if spring practices would eliminate this possibility]. Apparently he was still around some bad influences in his hometown area of DC and was having academic issues.
Before commiting to Miami his final 4 was: Miami, Maryland, Michigan, MSU (not nec. in that order).
Obviously character + academic issues is a fine line to walk these days, but it could potentially lead to something. More on it on my blog below if you care. :)
if we make a play for him, i can't wait for the f***p's article.
I'm sure MSU would go after him too ... although even if we both went after him, I'm sure the Freep would somehow spin it against us (e.g. Sharp's whole "perceptions are changing" column about the Feagin & Winston incidents).
MD is experienced with giving kids second chances while RR is taking shortcuts in a misguided attempt to win.
I hope you meant Dantonio and not Maryland, because they both use MD as their abbreviation. I read it wrong at first but then realized you probably meant Dantonio, because if you meant Maryland then your statement could easily be misinterpreted.
If he is having academic/character issues at Maryland, I find it hard to imagine a ton of schools are wanting him.
To be fair he had the "character" issues when he was in HS too. It's more like a "being part of the wrong crowd" type of thing according to his coach. Schools were definitely recruiting him then. The problem was, he stayed around that crowd when he went to school so close to home. If he were to go to a different school that group wouldn't really be near him.
I'm not quite certain on the academic things exactly what was going on there, so no clue how much that will play into something.
Right - I understand what you're saying. Not saying he is a bad kid but this raises red flags.
I think some other schools would consider it. With the recent stuff with Dorsey I think Michigan has to tread lightly here, but it would be a nice recovery.
1) Maryland's a very good school
2) The actual campus community in College Park struck me as very small when I stayed there for a bit, and it seemed like there would be a lot of negative-type things to get into, especially if you were coming from a bad situation in DC (which is like 15-20 minutes away on the Metro).
This really might just be a case of the kid needing to move away to a better situation.
I'll update on it (and I updated my blog as well): InsideMDSports has an article interviewing his HS coach with more on the academics:
“He was struggling academically. Maryland did everything they could to help him out but it was an uphill battle,”
And
“We’ll have to see who is able to get him in as soon as possible, because they’re going to have to help him out with some things because he’s not in the best standing [academically],”
I suppose it remains to be seen exactly how bad of standing he's in, but that makes it sound like it might be more than just running with the wrong crowd. I suppose it could be that he needs help academically, not that his grades are so low as to make him not able to get into UM, but that might be me being a bit of an optimist.
I don't understand why Javarie Johnson wouldn't have to sit out a year. Steve Threet transferred from Georgia Tech after enrolling early, and he had to redshirt in 2007...
I believe Threet was redshirted by the program, not required to by the NCAA.
EDIT: Summer classes don't count as enrollment for transfer purposes. Practices do, but spring workouts might not (still looking in to that, but I believe they don't).The school could just release him from his LOI and he could sign elsehwere without having to sit out.
EDIT: I'll add that while you may be right (subject to above), he'll probably need a RS year anyways regardless.
From what I understand, if you sign an LOI and transfer, you have to sit out a year. Otherwise, an LOI would be meaningless, you could sign with whatever school you wanted to and then change.
Maybe I'm wrong, but the NCAA Guidelines imply that you need to attend a regular practice, play, or attend class during winter/fall semester, not simply sign a LOI. For example, I think Dorsey can play at Louisville this year.
this is not surprising considering the New Mexico staff has deep ties to DC.
Seems very likely at this point.