Top DT Marvin Wilson leaves Michigan off Top Ten list

Submitted by Trip McNeely on

Thought this was a little odd considering Rivals released an article in which he was quoted as saying it was a good possiblility that he attend Michigan.Of course we still could get into that top ten or get a visit because Harbaugh. But thought it was a good example of crootin'

EDIT: Since I am seeing a lot of comments about how Rivals sucks I just wanted to say that was not my intention with this post. Just to show what recruiting has become...'crootin.

https://michigan.n.rivals.com/news/marvin-wilson-great-possibility-i-go…-

https://twitter.com/RDMW6/status/741807558135062528/photo/1?ref_src=tws…

orangeda

June 14th, 2016 at 10:29 AM ^

was quoted as saying that their was a great chance he would attend Michigan?  How is quoting a kid an example of a recruiting site being misleading?

As the OP said, it's a great example of 'crootin, it's a terrible example of a recruiting site misleading it's readers when they're specifically quoting a recruit and putting it in a headline.

orangeda

June 14th, 2016 at 10:42 AM ^

but I have common sense, and quoting a recruit is not misleading on the part of the person who's writing an article, if anything, it's misleading on the part of the recruit if that information turns out to be false, and as such, falls under the purview of 'crootin.

edit: If we're going to say that quoting a kid is giving bad information, as has been said, then literally everyone is giving bad information.  Rivals didn't twist the words to try and give readers false hope(which is what people have implied), they simply reported what the kid himself said.

turd ferguson

June 14th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^

I don't know the particulars, but context matters, because it isn't hard to get a kid to say something very positive about Michigan even if the kid is hardly considering UM. When asked, recruits tend to say very nice things about the schools recruiting them, and they have no reason to shut any doors.

Seth

June 14th, 2016 at 10:58 AM ^

I think it's fair to hold Rivals and us too accountable for printing quotes that misrepresent the state of things. Recruiting is a subject matter that requires a lot of room for error, but it's still our job as journalists to try to pry out the truth, not just relay things verbatim without context.

Sometimes a player says something that is very exciting if you take it standing alone, but in context of his actions (visits, communication, tenor of his social media, whom he follows, whom he talks to most often, whom he's talking to at that moment, etc.) it conflicts with what the reporter ought to know the reality to be. You can still share the quote, but note that this is the first indication that Michigan is a contender, and as of yet it shouldn't be taken at face value. And it's not worth a headline--it's a throwaway comment that you include in a roundup and say "we will let you know if and when we think Michigan's really in it." 

Marvin Wilson's recruitment has been trending south forever, and one quote printed without context is bad journalism for the sake of clicks.

WolvinLA2

June 14th, 2016 at 11:06 AM ^

But you're assuming (or maybe you aren't) that Rivals' goal is good journalism and not just clicks. My impression is that even if the author knew there wasn't a chance in hell this kid was going to Michigan, he was running that headline once he had the quote.

turd ferguson

June 14th, 2016 at 11:12 AM ^

I don't think he's assuming that. The point is that an honest reporter (i.e., one who's trying to represent reality) doesn't run with that quote out of context and get everyone excited. A reporter after clicks does. That's why people are saying - correctly, IMO - this was just click bait. It might be good business in the short run, but it's not good reporting.

orangeda

June 14th, 2016 at 11:59 AM ^

actually gave all the context you just provided in a postscript to the interview(ITF Extra, as they call them), and when questioned whether he thought Wilson was being truthful, or just playing to the audience, gave the reponse that what Wilson was saying should certainly be taken with a grain of salt(based on the momentum of his recruitment), but that he'd also witnessed Wilson telling a reporter from another school that he flat out wasn't interested in them(so why tell the Michigan guy he was interested if he wasn't?).  

Given that context, unless you think Brown is a flat out liar, I don't see any problem with what he did, and how he framed the interview, and I think it's also poor form to jump to the conclusion that rivals is giving bad information and misleading readers when that's not the case.  Certainly the posters who made those allegations had no proof that that was the case. Their 'proof' was Wilson saying Michigan had a great chance, and then within 3 days saying they weren't even in his top 10.  That's on Wilson, not on rivals, IMO.

And btw, both Scout and 247 use titles for 'clickbait' as well, but rivals is the only site that's consistently villified for it.  

DavidP814

June 14th, 2016 at 12:52 PM ^

From comments I've seen around the MGoBlogosphere, Rivals isn't criticized for "clickbait" headlines, they are criticized for a lack of "insider" information and frequently being wrong compared to the other sites.  Sam Webb and Steve Lorenz seem to be more connected than anyone at Rivals.  

I'm guessing you must have some connection to Rivals to be defending the site?

AZBlue

June 14th, 2016 at 2:26 PM ^

I surf Twitter and the 247 site without a subscription and they seem to tease less or more indirectly than Rivals. I see more of "new update post SMSB camp on recruit X ($)" from Scout and 247.

This was a bad headline whether intentional or not. Even the same title with an "is" and/or "??" added would have been better. Even subscribers would have been let down after reading the full info given the headline.

Hardware Sushi

June 14th, 2016 at 11:33 AM ^

Yes, it's their fault. Rivals sucks and has sucked for multiple years.

One time - fine. But Rivals exhibits a consistent behavior of click-bait articles that aren't rooted in reality. So yes, recruiting analysts running recruiting websites should be able to tell their readership whether a quote is worth believing or not.

To make the entire twitter post lead readers to believe he would visit while knowing there is no chance is definitely Rivals fault.

MotownGoBlue

June 14th, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^

Rivals should have left out the word "great."

Great - of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above the normal or average.

And didn't Hollywood Marv announce this a week ago? Must be a slow day.

PS - with a name like Hollywood Marv the kid has to end up at one of those SoCal schools. But I do like the sound of Ann Arbor Marv.

Fact

June 14th, 2016 at 1:36 PM ^

The odds UM was left off by accident are nil, and the kid doesnt seem interested in UM at all. Why would he be. Most kids at this level want to go to a proven program. Tho UM is heading that way its not their yet. Players like Wilson just watched the NFL draft, and what they saw was that going to the right program can mean a great deal come draft day.

Shad

June 14th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^

Surprising (or not) that Ole Miss still gets mentioned by recruits in spite of their current controversies? I want that program to die more than any other.

What football program would you like to see get killed by NCAA more than any other?

 

 

PopeLando

June 14th, 2016 at 11:22 AM ^

I'm torn. I generally don't blame young broke high school kids for following the money, and it's hard for me to want the players punished unless they committed actual crimes.

Baylor. Tennessee. Those programs deserve serious consequences.

Ole Miss deserves consequences. But death penalty? ...maybe. The whole "loss of institutional control" is a tough hurdle to clear. Especially since Ohio State got a very tiny wrist slap from their scandal

Don

June 14th, 2016 at 10:50 AM ^

A kid from Texas lists one northern school in his top 10—and it's the northern program that bears the closest resemblance to the institutional character of the southern schools he lists.

Avon Barksdale

June 14th, 2016 at 10:57 AM ^

Not really fair. I don't want to defend them but they are also 50-4 in the last four years. Take off the maize and blue goggles and you can see how a team that just had 12 guys drafted and won 50 games and a national championship over the last four years might be somewhat appealing. They also play in the biggest rivalry game of the year on the last week of the regular season.