January 28th, 2009 at 8:43 PM ^
Why is this post not under the Tom tab? (No sarcasm, honest question. It's kind of sad that I have to add this part before someone takes it the wrong way and starts crying)
January 28th, 2009 at 8:43 PM ^
Hope nothing but the best for the young man...NEXT!
January 28th, 2009 at 8:43 PM ^
Just what we needed after a horrible OSU beatdown.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:46 PM ^
He's a very well put together kid, I'll follow his career.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:46 PM ^
hopefully better news with Stokes and Robinson.
January 28th, 2009 at 8:55 PM ^
Tom, it was insinuated elsewhere that the Michigan coaches started backing off him a week or so ago. Did you get that sense in talking to him? Or do you think the Michigan coaches figured he was solid in his commitment anyways and weren't going to pursue him aggressively?
January 28th, 2009 at 9:00 PM ^
No, I don't think that was the case. I don't think whoever reported that knew the situation. This late in the game, with the focus on fewer players that wouldn't make sense. After talking with Travante, I don't think that was the case here. His visit to Auburn went very well, obviously.
January 29th, 2009 at 1:14 PM ^
On his FB page he had pictures of his Auburn trip, and I got to say, I think taking the kid into the locker room and putting an Auburn jersey on him has to be a pretty great way to impress him.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:40 PM ^
And also illegal.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:42 PM ^
What part of it is illegal? Maybe we should forward some pics to the NCAA...
January 29th, 2009 at 2:49 PM ^
Well it depends. You're not allowed to entice kids by letting them wear jerseys with relevant numbers on them. It happens everywhere though.
January 29th, 2009 at 2:58 PM ^
Recruiting rules fascinate me, particularly enforcement. Hypothetically, what would the NCAA do if they got pictures of Auburn doing this? I'm not at all sure what the penalty should be, but it seems like there is no mechanism in place to deter minor recruiting violations like this. The enforcement rate is ridulously low, so an economic theory would say that we need to increase the penalty if we don't step up enforcement to provide adequate deterrence. Then again, people would freak out if big penalties were given for something like this. Further, I can't really think of a small penalty to levy on a team unless it came in the form of a fine, which provides a sliding scale of deterrence such that the penalty could fit the "crime." Aside from money, recruiting comes in discrete chunks and any penalty (e.g., cutting scholarships) would seem over the top and pretty harsh.
I guess there's just no way to deal with such things.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:01 PM ^
I will cheer for this kid though. Hopefully, we can get Stokes and Robinson.
January 28th, 2009 at 11:29 PM ^
NOT!!!
January 28th, 2009 at 9:01 PM ^
must have used this:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1224/769065675_44b6d6c18a.jpg
to snake oil Stallworth.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:12 PM ^
blame me. He read my "annoying" posts and decided he didn't want to be part of an annoying fan base. The fact that UM went 3-9 with no real QB to be relied upon and the distance plus ball shrinking winter wasn't the problem. The problem solely rests on my shoulders. Please feel free to ridicule me.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:37 PM ^
and an even stranger set of strawman arguments.
January 28th, 2009 at 9:55 PM ^
I concur.
January 29th, 2009 at 9:02 AM ^
but there sure is quite a bit in your posts lately.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:05 PM ^
I just posted this so it shows up under the Tom tab.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:16 PM ^
I liked this kid for some reason. He seemed to have his head on straight.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:18 PM ^
I'm happy that he honored the commitment that he made to Auburn, than sad that he chose Auburn instead of changing his commitment to Michigan.
I look forward to cheering for Travante in the future. His interviews and comments show he's a young man of character. The fact that he told TomVH he was honoring his commitment, rather than pulling a "Beaver," speaks volumes.
Bravo Travante. Best of luck. Beat Satan.
January 28th, 2009 at 10:54 PM ^
Sounds like a good kid and would have loved for him to come to Ann Arbor, but to be honest the last thing we need is another slot WR in this class. I wish him good luck at Auburn.
Now we really need Denard and Je'ron.
TomVH: Do you think we will have trouble getting to 25 players? I'm not sure there are 5 solid guys still out there.
January 29th, 2009 at 12:09 AM ^
It's hard to say really. If I had to guess we will get Denard Robinson, Adrian Witty, either DeQuinta Jones or Pearlie Graves, possibly both (I guess they're already included in the first 20), JeRon Stokes. I think at this point 23 is realistic, but it's very possible to get to 25.
This late it's hard, because the kids really don't say too much anymore. Sam Montgmery could go either way, Quinton Washington could go either way.
January 29th, 2009 at 12:12 AM ^
end with a fizzle.
(But I hope I'm wrong).
January 28th, 2009 at 11:01 PM ^
But I wanted THAT slot receiver.
January 29th, 2009 at 4:44 PM ^
TS would have been a fine addition to our recruiting class, but honestly I was never convinced that he had jumped the Auburn ship. I was never sold on TS, or Marcus Hall for that matter. HOPE FOR THE BEST PREPARE FOR THE WORST. (The worst being...we don't sign anyone else and we lose DQ jones, and Pearlie Graves.) PREPARE YOURSELVES!
January 29th, 2009 at 5:48 PM ^
And the best being...RR hires a 'stute to come to my office and give me a beej under my desk.
January 30th, 2009 at 8:07 AM ^
sounds like you're doing a little bit of that california dreaming.
With that said, I do wish Travante all the best. I would have loved to have had him in this class. He is a class act and it came across in how he treated TomVH. So I hope that he gets the success he dreams of unless he plays Michigan.