Great Sam Webb Article on Hand

Submitted by MGomaha on

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130617/SPORTS0201/306170071

 

 

“My goal is try to make a decision before December,” Hand reported. “At first I was going to stretch it out, but then after talking with my pop -- we kind of had a heart to heart -- I kind of have to make up my mind. It’s a big decision, but at the same time I kind of have a gist of knowing where I’m going, but I ain’t gonna say that.”

gopoohgo

June 17th, 2013 at 12:25 PM ^

Great article and a very nice tease by Da'Shawn at the end.

Hard not to like our chances.  Keep recruiting, Mr. Peppers.  Keep on recruiting.

Sione's Flow

June 17th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^

It sounds like Da'Shawn's dad is the one who keeps the whole recruiting process most in perspective.  He's definitely looking out for Da'Shawn's future outside of football.  

Bay_Area_Blue

June 17th, 2013 at 12:29 PM ^

C'mon man, just Hand it over! (your commitment, that is)

To all other schools, Hands off!

He would like to decide now, but it seems as though his Hands are tied. 

But don't wait long, you know how the devil finds work for idle Hands. 

My bad, everyone. 

Talcelm

June 17th, 2013 at 12:38 PM ^

Keeping fingers crossed but I'm just not too sure....Bama has a multitude of bankers/investors that are highly regarded alum.....how do you think the ssss eeee ceee keeps getting away with payments to players n families? It's all that OLD southern money..... Lol

1464

June 17th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^

 

Look at the school, look at that alumni system, and look at guys from the football team (that came) before you that have graduated. See if they are presidents or bankers.

- Sharif Hand

Well, that puts us in good shape right?  How many other President's have played college football...?

funkywolve

June 17th, 2013 at 3:23 PM ^

Not sure how good Harvard was when JFK was there in the late '30's but they were playing some pretty solid competition. 

In 1936, JFK's first year at Harvard, Harvard played the following schools (Final AP rank in parenthesis):  Yale (12th), Darthmouth (13th) and Navy (19th).  The lost to Yale by 1 and Navy by 7.

In 1937 Harvard played these schools that finished in the AP Top 20:  Dartmouth (7th - lost by 18), Yale (12th - Harvard won by 7).

In 1938 Harvard played these schools that finished in the AP Top 20: Cornell (12th - lost by 20), Dartmouth (19th - lost by 6)

gopoohgo

June 17th, 2013 at 1:08 PM ^

Bankers, billionaires, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_University_of_Michigan_business_alumni

Notables:

The Late Bill Davidson.

Did not know, but Stan. Drunkenmiller was a PhD Econ candidate before leaving (big hedge fund, Duquesne and helped George Soros manipulate currencies)

Charlie Munger, Vice-Chair Berkshire Hathaway

Stephen M. Ross

Homer Stryker (founded Stryker Orthopaedics, make fake joints and other implantables)

A.Alfred Taubman (Sotheby's, went to jail for price-fixing, real-estate developer)

Sam Zell, vulture investor

Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist

Some dude named Larry Page.















 

True Blue Grit

June 17th, 2013 at 12:57 PM ^

to announce.  I'd guess after he makes the fall visits he's going to make his decision.  Possibly sooner, who knows.  I don't have any inside information here.  But in reading between the lines in his quotes,  he's making a few visits to other schools for comparison purposes mainly to see how they stack up to his favorite.   So, right now, I'm feeling good where things stand with him. 

StephenRKass

June 17th, 2013 at 1:06 PM ^

I also don't think it will go all the way til Dec. But I think Hand wants to at least make it down to Florida for an official. Assuming they don't wow him, it would be down to Michigan and Alabama. We already know he's coming to UTL 2 in Sept. for his Michigan official. It would make sense for him to have an official visit to Alabama too. After that, he should know one way or the other.

I find it interesting that he is considering either sports marketing or engineering. It seems like he has ruled out engineering at Michigan. I haven't seen discussion on why (although he obviously was impressed with Michigan's Prof. Rosentraub as regards Sports Marketing.)

I also am curious what exactly he liked about engineering at Alabama. Even if Alabama isn't as good as Michigan in engineering overall, I could believe that there might be one particular program that would be of interest to Hand.

gopoohgo

June 17th, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^

Probably meeting a first year Engin. student squealing in agony re; their classes at Michigan.

Seriously, Engin. students get punished.  All the guys on my floor in S.Quad who were Engineering studied like crazy, barely passed, and drank like fishes to blow off steam/stress.  Dunno how conducive that kind of class load is for playing football. 

And this is not a knock on Da'Shawn's (he took AP Calc as a junior, from his tweeted grades) intellect.  Just I think that Engineering at Michigan may be in a different league than that of 'Bama.  Hell, 'Bamas isn't the best Engineering school in the state...

superstringer

June 17th, 2013 at 2:18 PM ^

Exactly -- if you want engineering, you go to Auburn not Bama.  And you can't even begin to compare UM engineering v Bama, in terms of alumni in the field.  Are you kidding me?  UM engineers are running NASA, GM, Boeing, etc... Bama engineers are working for UM grads.

My view of his and his father's proclamations are simply -- it sounds good, but it's totally just noise.

Given that the Bama Engineering dean is a "football guy," here is what he's saying:  "Well at Bama I can get an engineering degree, and it won't interfere with my playing football."  I.e., "It's easy."

Plus, he has FLA on his list becuse he wants to check them out, and is keeping LSU and USC in mind for possible offers?  OK, this has nothing to do with academics.  It's a who's who of football factories.

Really, there's no accounting for what 17 year olds think.  Maybe there was some hot blonde in a Bama engineering class that caught his attention.  Something random like that.  But saying Bama engineering keeps them on the list? Nonsense.

alum96

June 17th, 2013 at 4:15 PM ^

Before switching my major about 2 years in I was a chemical engineering major.  I think mostly to avoid the foreign language requirement ;)  But on a serious note I can remember the semester I quit, I was taking 3 friggin classes - an organic chemistry #2, differential equations (maybe it was "calc 3") and thermodynamics.  A whopping 13 credit hours and I was getting my behind crushed even as I worked my behind off.  No offense to other majors and maybe my brain just didnt fit with some of these classes but I got As and Bs in just about any humanity or non science/math at UM but I struggled to pass all these in conjunction at UM.  And a lot of it was the curve - a lot of top notch foreign students who this seemed to come much easier than for me.

To put in perspective (and reason I tell this story in relation to Alabama) is I took a Physics course at Wayne State during one of the summers when I was home and got the same grades I got at UM - a lot of 71s to 78s on tests.  At Wayne State on the curve that was an A... at UM a solid C.  The course was very similar, class size the same, the main difference was the student body/peers.  So yeah, I think it depends on the school how certain majors will treat you.

Specific to Hand the engineering thing is a canard in my opinion.  He wants the sports management thing.  He could get engineering at VaTech yet said specifically VaTech does not offer what degree he wants.  So it tells me he is considering Bama and has to retrofit a degree to consider it.  But I also believe he is coming to Michigan from reading btw the lines - it does sound like he really wants to do the sports management.  Plus we were his neck and neck (1A and 1B) before the "new love" (alabama) came around.  

inthebluelot

June 17th, 2013 at 1:32 PM ^

First off, don't get knocked down. For such a "tough guy" he sure prepared for defeat an awful lot. And, if you get knocked down and get up, it's a wash. It's not like you can get up more times than you can get knocked down, right? Sorry, I've just heard one too many Lombardi quotes at sales seminars over the years to handle seeing it anymore. No offense, it's a "me" problem... Plus, the Packers suck!

GoBlueinEugene

June 17th, 2013 at 1:34 PM ^

Seems like a genuine and great kid getting some sound advice. He's also careful about what he says to the media, which is a nice attribute in our Twitter-mad say-anything society (see, Johnny Manziel, can't wait to leave College Station). Happy to have him in the winged helmet, but kids like Hand deserve our well wishes no matter where he ends up. 

uofmdds96

June 17th, 2013 at 2:12 PM ^

He said taint.

Why do we continue to click on these Hand posts when they are all essentially the same and receive the same chatter?

Because sometimes you see taint, that's why.

His Dudeness

June 17th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^

Am I the only one who thinks it is kind of odd that Hand didn't want to have pictures taken near Ferns at their last camp, etc.?

I can understand wanting to be secretive about the choice and keeping it a surprise and all - and he may very well not even come to Michigan-  but if a guy is your friend and you come to camp and say "sorry, man no pictures this weekend" wouldn't that come off as strange behavior?

If I were Ferns that would be really odd to me.

LSAClassOf2000

June 17th, 2013 at 3:30 PM ^

“It was my favorite coaching staff,” he said. “A lot of charisma. They’re just fun guys to be around. You can tell by looking at the players. All the players are comfortable talking to the coaches."

It's nice to hear this from Hand especially because it is something other recruits have essentially said, that they are impressed with the interactions between players and coaches at Michigan. That only helps us, I think. Even more impressive is Hand's very three-dimensional perspective on his future, talking to professors in his field of interest as well. Clearly, he simply wants to be successful in all his endeavors and that is great to see.