Austin White officially gone

Submitted by me on

Sorry if discussed elsewhere

 

From Rothstein:  Rodriguez: "Austin White is no longer in the program." #Michigan

 

And then Tim:

 

http://twitter.com/varsityblue

 

Asked UM football spokesman Dave Ablauf about Austin White not on roster: "That's permanent."
 

me

August 22nd, 2010 at 3:31 PM ^

and he did have good offers.  I was just thinking that he would stick close to home and when kids wash out of a big program they don't usually end up at a decent size program.  Now maybe as a Freshman he has a much better chance of landing on his feet at a BCS school.

 

Of course as I'm typing this I know Turner ended up at WVU and I'm sure there's a dozen other examples of kids landing on their feet.

dennisblundon

August 22nd, 2010 at 10:17 AM ^

Wish him the best of luck in life. Respect the fact that he didn't drag it out over the course of a couple of meh years before transferring. This frees up a spot for someone who is better suited for Michigan.

ND Sux

August 22nd, 2010 at 10:22 AM ^

It seemed like Austin was getting a lot of reps and doing very well, judging by the "countdown" videos.  Disappointing, but obviously he has his reasons. 

evenyoubrutus

August 22nd, 2010 at 12:55 PM ^

anytime you have a B10 talent in your backyard that is a life long fan you should pick him up.

And so what does that have to do with Nick Hill?

(Nothing against the kid, I'm sure he's a great human being)

antidaily

August 22nd, 2010 at 10:38 AM ^

Correct. Not offered. But was really productive in HS and as stated above LOVED Michigan. 

You can argue that White is the better fit, but Hopkins (huge back) is the guy they're excited about from that class so who knows.

blueheron

August 22nd, 2010 at 11:11 AM ^

What does his departure have to do with Nick Hill?  As someone else noted here, it does not appear that he was ever offered by UMich.  Not offering White != offering Hill.

Scholarships need to be used widely, but I have to admit that the other response here (bringing in a local kid who's a lifelong Michigan fan) makes some sense.  By reputation Hill is also a high-character guy.

Anyway, my understanding is that Hill's skills were considered 3-star across-the-board (speed, strength, vision, elusiveness, etc.) and that his best chance for success would be at a mid-major.  Compare him to Vincent Smith, who might have inferior speed and strength but high D-1 elusiveness.  It's early.  We'll see...

blueheron

August 22nd, 2010 at 2:06 PM ^

You remember that he held national career rushing records, right?  His size worked against him in 2004 (pre-Sproles, pre-Jones-Drew, etc.).  Have you ever seen this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umDef_92fGc

That's called elusiveness.

Based on what I've seen of Hill (all highlights), he's got Hart beat on speed and strength.  Vision?  Not sure, but I'll bet he's worse.  Same with elusiveness.

It's not at all clear that Hart was considered an across-the-board 3-star.

Hill is still young and he could eventually make Michigan look foolish.  It's early.

Knappster

August 22nd, 2010 at 10:32 AM ^

That's too bad.  He showed some promise.  We're stacked at RB and Slot though.  Maybe he's looking for more PT somewhere else.  Best of Luck to him...

Don

August 22nd, 2010 at 10:44 AM ^

During his recruitment last year, there were assertions that he had some unspecified character issues, and I think one or both of his brothers got into some trouble up at MSU. However, Austin and his parents appeared live on-air on WTKA after he verbaled or signed, and he sounded like a decent kid. His dad is or was the principal at AA Pioneer, and he sounded like a no-nonsense guy. Maybe AW will transfer to EMU—RE will love the fact that he's been raised in a two-parent family.

bronxblue

August 22nd, 2010 at 10:47 AM ^

Best of luck to the kid.  Looks like he ran into a logjam at RB and probably didn't see a future.  Hopefully he'll land somewhere where he is happy. 

This might be a bit callous considering the kid just left, but how does this affect UM's APR?  I'm not sure how the rules apply if the kid never plays a down and doesn't complete a semester.

bronxblue

August 22nd, 2010 at 3:52 PM ^

Even if Shaw doesn't meet the grade, the team still has Hopkins, Smith, Cox, and (hopefully) Toussaint.  Certainly not the depth chart we all thought at the beginning of the year, but still okay.  Plus, you could always see about dragging one of our slots (like Grady) if need be as a last option.  

Garvie Craw

August 22nd, 2010 at 11:06 AM ^

Hate to see anyone leave, but it's a fairly deep position with similar looking players. Sam Webb keeps saying how great the talent coming out of Ohio next year is and that OSU will not have many scholarships to offer. It would be nice to have more schollys available to fill out the roster with players at positions of greater need. 

The FannMan

August 22nd, 2010 at 11:07 AM ^

Good luck Austin.

Does this count against the APR?

Let me try to make this point in a pro-Michigan way:  We seem to be having more attrition than I can remember (save possibly for the Moeller era).  Dorsey and Whitty were academics, Turner was motivation (I guess),  and White  - who knows.  I understood Carr's guys leaving b/c of the change in style.  However, these are RR's guys.  I think that Rich Rod and the coaches need to take a hard look to see if changes need to be made.  I get that we are loaded at running back.  That's not the point.  On a team that needs depth, we are seeing a lot of guys leaving.  It simply can't be good.  Nor can it all be blamed on the kids.

I am not trying to blame RR.  I am just saying that there seems to be an issue that he needs to addressed.  I hope he does so, rather than digging in his heals.

brandanomano

August 22nd, 2010 at 11:24 AM ^

I have no problem with players leaving the team. If they aren't willing to put in the effort to get better, let them go. I think a lot of these transfers have to do with the fact that RR runs a tough program, and by no means should they change it.

Now, I would love to have the guys that didn't get in because of academic purposes, but that's not RR's fault. He wasn't the only coach who recruited these kids, and he can't take their tests for them.

CrankThatDonovan

August 22nd, 2010 at 11:26 AM ^

Neither Dorsey or Witty left, those guys would both be at Michigan if they could.  Also, it sounds like Austin White did not leave the team by choice.  There really haven't been a lot of guys leaving recently, and Michigan had plenty of attrition under Carr (as every program does).