Views on recruiting - DJ Turner nugget (theathletic $)
Theathletic.com has an interesting article today on "What it’s like to be a college football recruit in 2018" where multiple questions are posed to multiple IMG recruits.
Some of the recruits who were asked questions:
Chris Shearin (Missouri): Three-star cornerback from Suffolk, Va.
Jayden Curry (undecided): Three-star safety from Virginia Beach, Va. Considering Maryland, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, USF.
DJ Turner (Michigan): Three-star cornerback from Suwanee, Ga.
One particularly interesting nugget from the lengthy roundtable discussion was:
What is it like dealing with all these college coaches?
Shearin: Oh, they’re ruthless. They’ll put words in your mouth. They’ll misinterpret a tweet and say, “Oh, you’re committing here?” It’s crazy. Call you. Text you. Show up at your school. Want to talk to you for two hours. It’s crazy.
Curry: I think DJ’s probably got more to say on that.
Turner: Nah, nah. (laughs) They were trying to flip me. I’m not going to get into specifics. I got called into the office for a meeting for like two hours. The coach was talking about why I should flip and stuff like that when I’ve been committed since June. Now, they just offered me. I’m two weeks from signing day. But it’s all good. I appreciated that they wanted me, but I’m committed. I said I appreciated it and thanked him for wanting to have me at their school. But I’m committed, and I’m locked in. I don’t want to burn any bridges, but I’m committed. So my recruitment is done.
Wonder who the school/coach was that tried to get Turner to flip? Sounds like it was very, very recent.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:09 AM ^
It was Maizen. He hates the 3 stars coming here.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:43 AM ^
This must be the new "first"
Maizen again wins this blog for the day.
December 17th, 2018 at 11:31 AM ^
Is it weird writing in the third person?
December 17th, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^
Tennessee. I don't know, but they seem to be real active lately.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:18 AM ^
Pruitt is gonna be the next Hugh Freeze
December 17th, 2018 at 10:28 AM ^
Nah. Hugh was a dipshit. Pruitt was well-trained at Saban's academy of bagmen and free cars.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:37 AM ^
Did Hugh Freeze ever get in a fight with other coaches on his staff?
Pruitt is going to implode like a supernova eventually, he's nuts.
December 17th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
My guess is Georgia - that is standard operating procedure with a local 3*. Wait until the last minute to see if you can get someone higher on your board and, if not, then come in heavy.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:11 AM ^
"They’ll misinterpret a tweet"
Seen that happening here by a couple folks.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
Clearly it wasn't Bama seeing as how the meeting was in the office and not inside his brand new Escalade
December 17th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
Oh, they’re ruthless. They’ll put words in your mouth. They’ll misinterpret a tweet and say, “Oh, you’re committing here?”
I cant be the only one who immediately thought James Franklin here, right?
December 17th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
Of course. That quote was from someone not recruited by any of the big time programs. I'm guessing there are James Franklin types scattered through the various levels.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:13 AM ^
The recruiting nuggets just keep coming this morning. Thanks for the post OP!
Go Blue!
December 17th, 2018 at 10:16 AM ^
DJ Turner has a very impressive offer sheet. A few there:
Michigan
Alabama
Auburn
Clemson
Georgia
LSU
Notre Dame
Wisconsin
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2019/dj-turner-ii-182863
December 17th, 2018 at 10:38 AM ^
It wouldn't be any of those schools (if that's what you're trying to figure out). Turner said he was already committed and the other school had just offered. Everybody you list offered well before his commitment to Michigan.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:45 AM ^
Totally blind speculation here but Penn State isn't on that list and is around IMG recruiting Noah Cain.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:54 AM ^
According to 247, PSU offered a long time ago.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:49 AM ^
I can see he is going Michigan.
I posted that only because it shows how many great teams wanted him. He is a very good player, and I'm really happy he's going with Michigan.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:57 AM ^
Gotcha. I thought you were trying to figure out which school this is referring to:
"The coach was talking about why I should flip and stuff like that when I’ve been committed since June. Now, they just offered me. I’m two weeks from signing day."
You obviously were not. Moving on...
December 17th, 2018 at 11:04 AM ^
I'm just seeing that DJ Turner and Cornelius Johnson are both very good players. If they do sign with Michigan 2019 will be the best class I've seen in a while. I am happy about these two.
December 17th, 2018 at 11:11 AM ^
The 2016 class was stacked.
December 17th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
Yes, you are right.
What ever happened to DE Ron Johnson? I thought he was going to be pretty good. And he had an impressive offers. I thought I'd be hearing more of him.
https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2016/ron-johnson-115#school-interests
December 17th, 2018 at 10:53 AM ^
I hope it was OSU. Makes sense too. They have a lot of room in this class to fill and are mostly trying to flip commits.
December 17th, 2018 at 11:38 AM ^
That could be true, as they aren't on his list of offers, they could be the one coming in late, maybe because they may be losing a DB to Alabama.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:19 AM ^
Couldn't have been Bama because he's approximately two stars short. Not sure what UGA's class looks like, but the Vols seem more likely. They've been showing up on a bunch of lists in the last month or two.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:20 AM ^
He also went on to confirm the negative recruiting tactic of "Harbaugh to the NFL" and what not. The Athletic is so worth the subscription.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:23 AM ^
I let my *free trial* lapse a few months ago, so I'm a subscriber. It's a good read.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
I wonder what Daxton Hill's story is-over the past several weeks...ugh!!!
December 17th, 2018 at 12:06 PM ^
Really looking forward to when Sam lays out the "timeline" for this, as he said he would on last week's MGoBlog Roundtable.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:44 AM ^
The bigger takeaway to me is that being recruited turns into a terrible grind full of liars and people yelling at you on social media.
December 17th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
Isn’t this just general existence on earth these days?
December 17th, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^
It was Rutgers after they covered the spread.
December 17th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
First name that pops in your head is Beilein, amirite?
/s
December 17th, 2018 at 2:04 PM ^
I wonder why this always has to be cloaked in such mystery.
I can understand that until a recruit is safely enrolled, he perhaps feels as though he should not talk specifics. But really, why is it not more common for recruited athletes to say, "Yeah, I can tell you exactly what {Nick Saban/DaboSwinney/Mario Christobal/whoever} said, and when. I can tell you about my entire recruiting trip to _______.}
I know that some might say, "No recruit is going to rat himself out as having been the target of illegal offers or other NCAA bylaw violations." I get that; we all get that. But I don't think that Turner is talking about anything like that. There must be mountains of hinky stuff in recruiting that isn't illegal or bylaw-violating.
There's no privilege between coaches and recruits. I just don't understand why there is such a code of silence. Or if not silence, then anonymity.
December 17th, 2018 at 5:40 PM ^
There's nothing to be gained by opening your mouth and telling this stuff. You do that and you risk ending up like Jalen Ramsay.
December 17th, 2018 at 10:52 PM ^
For the same reason it's best not to do that in an employment situation either.