Coach says Roquan Smith will NOT sign any NLI
Per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Roquan Smith's high school coach says the player will not sign an NLI for any school. He will simply enroll in classes this summer at his school of choice.
After almost getting burned on signing day, Roquan Smith has decided against signing a national letter of intent (NLI, or commonly called LOI) when he finalizes his college decision, according to his high school coach.
Macon County coach Larry Harold told the AJC on Monday that Smith now has “no timetable” on selecting a school, but that he “doesn’t expect it to drag out too much longer” with his star player.
Perhaps most significant, Smith’s coach also revealed that the linebacker won’t be signing a letter of intent after finalizing his college plans. Smith will commit, and then officially be a signee on his first day of summer classes.
The article also says Smith is still consdering Michigan and will choose between Michigan, Georgia, TAMU and UCLA.
February 10th, 2015 at 10:52 AM ^
Honestly, beside the occassional fuck weber and osu i havn't seen a lot "absolute degredation" eminating from this forum. To me Weber proved with his last "didn't mean to make a statement" crap that he is quite the fibber, naive or both.
MW handling of recruitment seems to be the opposite of RS. The former let the process control him; the latter, not so much.
February 10th, 2015 at 8:50 AM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 9:43 AM ^
You should feel bad about yourself.
February 10th, 2015 at 10:21 AM ^
What you're really saying is "bend over and take it, young man, because the NCAA money train is more important than your future."
February 10th, 2015 at 10:46 AM ^
His choice was based on certain criteria which, unbenounced to him, were changed just prior to his signing. Kowingly signing something someone handed you that just tried to bamboozle you is hardly manly.
You may not agrree with his criteria but then again, it's not your life.
February 10th, 2015 at 8:27 AM ^
was that if anything is done about this it will more likely be that the NCAA will close the loophole and mandate LOIs or schools will simply pass players by that refuse to sign them. Of course those 5 star players may get a bit more latitude from schools.
February 10th, 2015 at 10:29 AM ^
...does mandating LOIs mean schools wouldn't be free to award scholarships to anyone that hadn't signed an LOI?
Wouldn't the recruit then just sign and return the LOI on the last possible date, with the financial aid paperwork? Or on arrival on campus?
It's hard to imagine the NCAA establishing a system that would make it impossible to award an athletic scholarship, if one is available, to a walk-on (who by definition wouldn't have signed an LOI). I'm as cynical as the next guy about the NCAA's commitment to its supposed ideal of the student-athlete but they have to at least pay lip service to it.
February 10th, 2015 at 11:53 AM ^
preclude accepting walk ons that usually are non-scholly players initially then may play their way into a scholarship such as the Glasgows in subsequent years. There are obviously more rostered players than the 85 scholarship limit.
February 10th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
No, of course it doesn't preclude accepting a walk-on, it just means you can't give them a scholarship that first year even if you have one available.
Which of course never happens at an oversigning P5 school. I'm not so sure about the other end, though. Do low-end D2 schools sometimes exit signing day with scholarships still in their pocket? Does this ever happen to Eastern or Incarnate Word?
February 10th, 2015 at 8:27 AM ^
Shows his camp is thinking what's BEST for him and not what other deems as what is RIGHT.
February 10th, 2015 at 8:39 AM ^
I think Smith is going to be one of the kids that I'm going to follow through out his career. Whether he's a Wolverine or not. These are some of the near misses like Sammy Watkins or Joshua Garnett. Or the guys I grew to admire like DJ Foster. I like how Smith has handled this and not rushed through this process. In the end, I hope the kid goes Blue like everyone else, but I'll follow his college career.
February 10th, 2015 at 8:48 AM ^
I'm not suggesting Smith should do something different; he should make sure he ends up in the right place for him. I'm just saying that until the NLI is binding on schools, this does nothing to help student athletes who are not in the most elite category, and may actually hurt more than it helps.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 3:22 PM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 3:26 PM ^
"They can deny another player a scholarship..."
It may not be a problem for Tennessee, but what about the player that's denied the scholarship?
February 10th, 2015 at 10:17 PM ^
This works for the elite guys, but only the elite guys. The guys that can show up very late in the recruiting season and still know a program is going to make a slot for them. The Kate Uptons of the world who know they can just show up and find a date the night befoe the prom.
Everyone else is still going to sign LOIs on NSD even if they don't have to, to try to lock in their position.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:10 AM ^
Makes total sense. More kids should do this, especially ones that have options like Smith does.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:12 AM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^
Some of us actually care about the kids. The NLI serves one purpose: give schools the ability to fuck over prospect. That slippery slope you tried to reference doesn't exist; avoiding being chained by a school that might very well screw you over doesn't lead to NO RULES.
February 10th, 2015 at 10:16 AM ^
I hate this fucking work computer
February 10th, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
I hate this fucking work computer
February 10th, 2015 at 10:17 AM ^
I hate this fucking work computer
February 10th, 2015 at 9:19 AM ^
a normal student? Normal meaning he has to meet the same academic standards as any other incoming freshman.
February 10th, 2015 at 10:59 AM ^
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February 10th, 2015 at 11:16 AM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 11:14 AM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
I agree with Smiths decision 100% but at this point it seems like he wants attention and wants to be THAT guy who can make his own rules.
February 10th, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^
He just doesn't want to get fucked over for the 2nd time.
February 10th, 2015 at 10:12 AM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 10:24 AM ^
Part of me thinks it's penis envy, pure and simple. People who never got this kind of opportunity sometimes invent reasons to tear down people who do.
February 10th, 2015 at 10:14 AM ^
Your'e right. He has been given an opportunity a lot of 17-18 year old dream of. But, most 17-18 year olds don't have random people following where they go to school, have people be untruthful towards them about their futures, or have to sign a contract that limits them from making a better decision for themselves should extenuating circumstances arise.
Smith has not in anyway been an attention whore. He didnt make a music video announcing his commitment, or hold a team hostage. His coach has been the one communicating things to the public. Smith is trying to make a decision that is best for him, he isn't lauding it over anyone's head that he is a groundbreaker or asking us to look at him. It's people coming up with decisions about him without being in his shoes that are drawing all of the attention towards him.
He isn't making his own rules, you don't have to sign a LOI in order to play. As others stated above, this route might not be a great thing overall in the future, especially for 3-star type guys, but for right now Smith is playing by the rules and attempting to make the best decision for himself.
February 10th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 10:27 AM ^
That being said, I haven't read anything that would remotely suggest that Roquan Smith is acting like prima donna. He's just doing what's in his best interest.
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February 10th, 2015 at 11:03 AM ^
While my first thought was "what the hell is this kid thinking?" I immediately came to realize that it doesn't matter.
A) He's doing what's best for him and not making a hasty decision just to make a decision
B) He can opt not to send in a NLI and it won't matter. Wherever he goes, the football coaches will be all over him the minute he sets foot on campus to make sure he gets whatever he needs so he can play football. He's that good.
Hope he chooses Michigan, but it won't be the end of the world if he doesn't.
February 10th, 2015 at 11:54 AM ^
I hope that more kids won't sign these things - it is too one sided.
It obligates the kids like a contract and they give up rights that other students don't have to yield (e.g. transfering if the faculty or program changes) and does not have an equal obligation from the school.
February 10th, 2015 at 12:28 PM ^
for huge changes in the NLOI process, I have to say, careful what you ask for. While it is fun and often appropriate to bash the NCAA and all it does, not having a structure in place could lead to some unintended consequences for some kids, as well as some institutions. As much as I dislike the process, making the process even more unstructured is dangerous and will ultimately lead to more abuse and dirty dealings. Yes make it easier for kids to be released from a NLOI after a change in circumstances, but an unending recruiting system-no thanks.
February 10th, 2015 at 12:33 PM ^
There is nothing wrong with the NLI process. It works 99.9% of the time for both schools and recruits when viewed over all sports. This is an issue of honesty and integrity. People lie all the time and unfortunately it was become an accepted way of life in todays society.
Why is it when a recruit commits to a school and then flips at the very end that we don't challenge their honesty and integity? Afterall a man's word is his bond is it not? I don't see anyone criticising Gentry, Higdon and Washington for going back on their word to Texas, Iowa and Cal. Of couse not because we are happy with the outcome
Life isn't fair. Its a life lesson and its what you do with it that counts.
The happiest peole don't have evertything, they just make the best of everything.
February 10th, 2015 at 12:54 PM ^
February 10th, 2015 at 2:38 PM ^
It seems to me that a lot of these problems could be solved by removing the limit on scholarships. Yes, other recruits are potentially negatively affected by Smith's decision. Yes, the schools are left in limbo because they don't know exactly what their roster composition will be.
It seems to me that there is a very easy solution to this. Admit that "competitive balance" is a codeword for "creating a cartel to suppress costs" and allow schools to offer as many (guaranteed, four-year) scholarships as they like. If Alabama wants to offer 130 football scholarships, and Michigan only wants to offer 90, that's on each school's respective athletic departments. And if a kid would rather be fourth on the depth chart at Michigan than starting at Penn State, that's his choice.
In the modern era, with nearly every game on television and unprecedented amounts of information available for potential recruits to use when making a decision, the scholarship limit seems quaint. Will kids really choose a four-year backup role at a power five school in preference to a chance to see the field from day one at a smaller school? Somehow, I doubt it.
If there were no such thing as oversigning, each of Smith's finalists could decide whether or not they can afford to take on another scholarship (hint: they can) without affecting anyone else.
February 10th, 2015 at 2:46 PM ^
The problem would then be Title IX athletics. The size of woman athletic teams would have to correspondingly be increased, and/or you would have to get rid of many men's athletic teams and scholarships. I guess if all we cared about were the football players, then the proposal would make sense.
February 10th, 2015 at 2:59 PM ^
Title IX is not an impediment. It simply increases the effective costs of a scholarship. Teams that wanted to have 120 football scholarhips would give full scholarships to the entire softball and volleyball teams or whatever. (Obviously, you'd have to eliminate scholarship limits for all sports, not just football, for this to work).
It still boggles me that the NCAA can prevent an institution from granting a student a scholarship to play a sport and then turn around and claim to be representing the student-athlete.
February 10th, 2015 at 4:51 PM ^
I think that's fine for the four or five schools that can afford to do that, but I don't think I want a situation where substantially most schools would have to get rid of every sports program other than football to simply compete with the likes of Alabama, Michigan, OSU and Texas.
The NCAA doesn't prevent any school from granting a scholarship to play a sport. Being a member of the NCAA is technically voluntary. If a school doesn't want to waddle through the morass of D-1 athletics, it doesn't have to.
EDIT: It does de facto "prevent" granting a sport scholarship, but again, NCAA membership is voluntary. For instance, Harvard technically doesn't grant scholarships for football players, but it does find ways to provide very generous financial assistance for its athletes that any lay person would consider the same a scholarship.
