Boubacar Cissoko Dismissed Comment Count

Brian

The writing was on the wall for this one, but some playing time against Penn State made it seem like Cissoko had come through his recent issues and would rejoin the team in good standing. Not the case, unfortunately:

Michigan sophomore cornerback Boubacar Cissoko has been kicked off the team.

Coach Rich Rodriguez, through a team official, confirmed Tuesday he dismissed Cissoko for a "violation of team rules."

That's obviously a severe blow to Michigan's already paper-thin secondary, both for this year and going forward.

UPDATE: Details from Wilcher:

Cissoko's high school coach, Thomas Wilcher of Detroit Cass Tech, said Cissoko was dismissed from the team for missing class, missing workouts and missing study table.

"That's what he was suspended for in the first place," Wilcher told The Detroit News. "He's upset. He's going to transfer as long as he can meet the requirements."

Wilcher said Cissoko had a difficult time handling the "social structure" at Michigan.

"He couldn't handle it," Wilcher said. "He's always been a quiet kid. (But) he needs to do what needs to be done as a student-athlete. Nobody is bigger than the program."

He was probably on zero-tolerance and missed something, or somethings, yesterday and or today. I really hope he does manage to transfer somewhere; if he doesn't and he leaves ineligible that's another double-blow to Michigan's APR.

Comments

AAB

October 27th, 2009 at 7:08 PM ^

but the quotes from his coach (Cass Tech) were along the lines of "Cissoko blew it", so it doesn't sound like this will sour the recruiting relationship or anything.

PurpleStuff

October 27th, 2009 at 7:16 PM ^

I'm not too worried about the impact on the team going forward. Woolfolk has been solid at corner and is a better fit there than at safety. I think we also all hope/expect Turner would have beaten out Boubacar next year anyway. In that scenario, at worst we lose a 3rd corner with an attitude problem and at best (read Warren decides to come back) we are no worse off at all.

I certainly don't like losing anybody off our defense but I am not freaking out nearly as much as if we'd just lost a potential contributor at safety (where we really are paper thin).

Blue_Bull_Run

October 27th, 2009 at 7:30 PM ^

I think Troy has looked better than Cissoko, and next year we'll take the red shit off JT Turner.

It sucks as far as depth is concerned, but as other posters stated, RichRod seemed like he was really trying to give Cissoko a chance.

So, in sum, Cissoko wasn't so great on the field, and evidently he wasn't so good off the field, either. Time to move on, in my opinion.

steviebrownfor…

October 27th, 2009 at 8:38 PM ^

if i'm not mistaken, when Justin Turner was being
recruited it was said that he could potentially
be used at safety. I was wondering if during the
spring they could prepare him to play safety next
season. am i crazy here or is this a possibility?

it would be interesting to see if Turner would be
able to make reads, play the run effectively, and
do other safety-type things.

jonny_GoBlue

October 27th, 2009 at 7:19 PM ^

Dang, this really sucks. Here's hoping he can still manage to get his life priorities in order before it's too late.

Also, here's hoping this doesn't hurt team morale to a major extent.

HartAttack20

October 27th, 2009 at 9:39 PM ^

All the guys on the team had a man crush on the guy, then I don't see a big blow to morale for the team. They understand the rules (I hope) and they need to know that they have to follow them. Cissoko is a big loss as far as depth goes, but not too huge as far as overall talent for the team. We should be able to get some good CBs coming in next season, but this is still tough. Must've been a pretty big violation to get him kicked off of the team. I'm glad to see the guy get kicked off the team rather than have the staff attempt to sweep it under the rug and keep him on the team.

Magnum P.I.

October 27th, 2009 at 10:54 PM ^

I don't like to see kids who come from the type of background that Boubacar does not make it through. I don't know much about him, but he grew up in Guinea and went to high school in Detroit, so I'm assuming he hasn't been privilege to a lot of the advantages that most of us have. This situation was likely part attitude/choices, part cultural mismatch between him and the U-M scene.

That said, I would think that having somebody on the team who is dragging team rules and norms through the mud would be worse for team morale that kicking him off. When teammates see guys skipping practices and still playing, that, in my opinion, is what could really undermine buy-in. We've all been pissed a little at the coworker who does half the work and still gets the same benefits.

SysMark

October 27th, 2009 at 8:20 PM ^

This is exactly where the problem is and what is needed. There is total sense of entitlement and no appreciation for what they are getting. Not all, but some. I know what it costs. I am paying out of state UM tuition for my daughter now (and went there myself) and this really burns me.

I realize that the athletic programs contribute revenue and some athletes may feel used, but the vast majority are getting a really good deal, especially at UM.

jamiemac

October 27th, 2009 at 7:23 PM ^

What was the question again about the 2008 recruiting class? I might want to reshift my position.

No, I dont. Fitz will smoke Illinois for 12 tackles this week while Obi takes notes! Book It!

Six Zero

October 27th, 2009 at 7:24 PM ^

Is it 2008 again??

Seriously, this is suck information.

Also, how will this affect the Cass Tech connection for future recruits? I thought it genuinely seemed like Rich was trying to let this kid earn his way back onto the team, but who knows. I'm sure we'll learn more once word drops on exactly what he did, but until then let the speculation begin...

oakapple

October 27th, 2009 at 7:37 PM ^

Warren turning pro would create a big hole, regardless of what Cissoko did. Cissoko would have provided useful depth, but I doubt he would ever be a reliable starter. (That is, he wouldn't start, or he wouldn't be reliable. One or the other.)