...since many posters here are using this communication btwn player and Coach as another reason to trash our staff, NCAA rules do not allow Coach Hoke to initiate a phone call with any recruit at this time. If Shaun calls and reaches Brady, he can talk but the contact must come from the recruit. He has apparently called when Brady has been out of the office and has only been able to reach some of the assistants.
Gonna be interesting (and more than a bit frustrating) to track all these top-notch recruits that we've either led at one time or had actual committments from.over the next few years and imagine what might've been. Rich only had a few really big names that he had and then lost and even those came mostly after it was fairly certain he was going to get canned.
This is not good and yes, he is definitely gone.
Why would you do that? You know that's loaded against you, right? We can only take 25 or so kids a year, and we recruit more than a hundred. More are going to say no than are going to say yes.
We have Jabril Peppers, Devin Funchess, Devin Gardner, Jake Ryan, Derrick Green, Pipkins, Wormley, etc. We have a tremendous number of fantastic players that said yes and stayed committed. You can't get all of the good ones to come.
I'm referring to players like Treadwell, Harris, Campbell, Hand and now mostly likely Crawford. Players that either got a "Hello" post or were considered Michigan locks until they decided to go elsewhere.
I'm talking about the elite players who said yes at one point only to reconsider. That's the group that makes me sad. I understand you're not going to win them all (I recruited for Michigan from 92-94) but you've got to be able to keep them once they committed.
Every team has decommits. Our roster is full of them from other teams. This is just you thinking negatively, stinkin'-thinkin'.
Treadwell and Hand never committed. Harris and Campbell haven't signed an LOI within anyone yet.
but honestly he had a lot fewer elite recruits to lose.
MGrow, how many kids did you recruit who committed to UM several months before their senior year began?
If he visited ND, he's already effectively decommitted. The only way Michigan remains in the picture is if he contacts the coaching staff to discuss the situation and express continued interest. Which means the phone call can only be good news or no news; it can't possibly be worse than if he didn't make contact at all.
Tuned recruiting season out. Figure many others have too. The last six recruiting seasons have offered far more pleasure than pain, where even the best gets like Peppers were an excruciating experience to see if they'd stick, and Green committed so late in the process there wasn't much time to celebrate.
On the pleasure side of the ledge I'd say my favorite recruit of the last six seasons was Shane Morris because he was a great early get, who not only never waivered, but proselytized the maize and blue like no other in helping to build a monster class. Ferns and Speight come to mind as well, although their class wasn't as colossal overall (though time may tell).
All in all, any indvidual "hello" post gets about a "meh" from me given the endless shenanigans we see like potentially here with Crawford. My focus is just on the body of work for the class, like how many total highly rated recruits, and did we steal one or two gets from big rivals, etc.
So to this news? Meh.
I'm gonna miss his physicalness.
Not to relay what Sam said this morning in the recruiting roundup, but his father was upset that Michigan made a CB offer and he felt he was still committed, just wanted to check. I know i am not doing justice, but listen to the recruiting roundup.
They'll have a weekend date with that ugly dame down the road and think they're still committed.
It's an easy mistake to make. I recommend flowers and a heartfelt apology.
How could he be upset when I'm sure he's very well aware of Hoke's policy on "committed" recruits taking visits to other schools? I may not like or agree with my company's policy on not banging co-workers, but if I go ahead and do it and expect them to make an exception for me, that's on me, not the company.
I tend to agree, but if it was my son, you tend to be greedy. I am not sure exactly what happened, but if you want to look around, Michigan will too. He seemed to want to be still considered a commit after visiting.
that's the explanation behind the phone call or that's the reason he's added another visit to his list?
Frankly, regardless which it is I think it's pretty ridiculous for a guy who is looking around at other schools to get upset that his school is looking around at other players. Now to be clear I didn't listen to the recruiting roundup, I'm just assuming you are telling the truth and if so, Crawford has a lot of nerve getting upset with the coaches for looking around IMHE.
I don't care if he looks around and if he chooses a different team that's fine with me as well, every recruit should pick the school best for them. I just think him getting pissed at the coaches for looking around when that's exactly what he's diong is beyond silly (again, assuming the guy above me has that right).
The reference was to Crawford's father being upset, not Crawford himself.
If he wants to look around, that's his right--if he's willing to risk losing his spot. I'm guessing he knows the score, and if his dad doesn't that's not really on Crawford.
Sorry, yeoman is right, it was his dad being upset, nothing was mentioned about Crawford. It was mentioned this morning on WTKA.
That's even worse IMHE. It's one thing for a kid 17 years old to not see the hypocracy in looking around at other colleges and thinking it's fine, while getting mad at the school he's currently committed to for sending out more offers. It's still very hypocritical, but understandable given the fact that he's still a kid and kids don't always understand the reprecussions of their actions.
For his father to be the one getting upset about the offers going out after his son chose to look around at other schools...that just makes me scratch my head. I would think it serves as a good opportunity for a life lesson where a father puts his arm around his son and says something like "Now son, you have to understand that your actions have consequences. The fact that you decided to look at other schools leaves the university in limbo and they can't be expected to just sit around waiting for you to make up your mind." Instead he's the one getting upset about it. I just don't get it.
Again, I want the kid to come here because he is a great talent, but I won't get upset if he feels there is another school that is a better fit for him. I'll wish him luck no matter where he goes. I just find this so comletely bizarre that a person (especially an adult) can't see the hypocracy in what is happening here.
For his father to be the one getting upset about the offers going out after his son chose to look around at other schools...that just makes me scratch my head.
Contrary to the nuclear family stereotype, not every father behaves like Ward Cleaver. Father's do not always see the big picture that we automatically assume eludes their children and react in their own self-interest. I'm not saying that this is true in Crawford's case, but it's important to remember that values and standards are not absolute, they are very often relative.
true that, unfortunately. sadly in many recruiting situations gone awry, it seems to be about 50/50 on kid/parent...likely just as many unfortunate situations where kids are pushed somewhere against their better judgement by their parents/coaches/guardians/crazy uncles, etc as there are foolish kids who make decisions for the wrong reasons. but i do not think either is the case with crawford. i think crawford and his pops both seem like solid dudes, they just want the kid to end up in best situation and wed all have to agree um has been weak for a long time...cant blame him for looking around, theres dozens of huge schools which have potential to play in big time bowl games over his 4 years, schools consistently placing kids high in the draft and tons of sick campuses with smoking chicks (and unfortunately for um, many of those schools combine all those factors with southern or west coast weather - kind of tough to beat, especially for kids with nfl aspirations, realistic or not, and no snobby um bias)
Decommitments are never fun but thinking about past decommits (Harris/Campbell) this one stings far less. Small class with a commit from a high ranked recruit at the same position and that position already having depth is comforting.
I'm curious...I don't follow recruiting outside of UM. Do other schools have recruits "decommit" often? Or atleast, at the rate we have seen lately?
Of the guys offered by Michigan (or at least who are on Michigan's radar)...
Ricky Town decommitted from Alabama for USC
David Sills could very well decommit from USC
Jaason Lewis decommitted from UCLA
Chris Clark decommitted from North Carolina
But not really atypical compared to a lot of places. It's certainly not an outlier.
MSU last year had four decommits: D. Harris (Michigan), S. Pittman (OSU then elsewhere), C. Benenoch (UCLA), Durkin (VTech).
OSU I believe had three last year: Knox (recommit to OSU), L. Johnson (WMU), L. Marshall (Michigan)
Outside of Lonnie Johnson, each of those guys were pretty highly regarded prospects coming out of High School
and earlier which is going to make it more likely some change their mind.
I'm drawing a blank on the name but there was one player from I believe '16 who wanted to commit and I believe Michigan told him to take his time and be sure. I don't remember hearing anything recent.
Thiyo Lukusa?
Supposedly Hayes
Lukusa was ready to commit but the coaches told him to slow down.
Responding to SC, he is another one but it seemed to be more his parents idea if I remember correctly.
he gone
...if this 17-year-old's promise to do something roughly a year from now wasn't written in stone.
Man, I thought we were talking about the dope test avoiding Shawn Crawford. That would have made this a much more interesting thread.
The only thing stopping him from visiting other schools in the past was his track season. Now that he doesn't have track obligations he is visiting schools.
I'm going to consider him a strong lean to Michigan even if he ends up reaffirming his commitment.
Oh well, if we lose him, it stinks, especially if he goes to a rival. If he goes to ND, we will never play against him anyway, so it is what it is. Still don't understand if these kids know what 100% committed means, but oh well. Crawford is a good player, but Jabril is twice the player.
The board has the Muppets singing Temptation and Hawaiian War Chant for happier moments. Is there any music for de-commitment announcements?
This?
Or this?
I don't know much about Crawford, but the kid doesn't strike me as a coward. Given that, it seems unlikely that he'd choose a cowardly program like ND.
Would be a shame if he decommitted. But, there is always time to get a recommitment. Keep your fingers crossed
I was referred to this thread at MGoBlog by I friend and found it so interesting I thought I would take the time to register, as several users opined for a more unbiased, rational perspective from a member of another fan base.
First, when you recruite (more) against SEC schools you see a lot more funny things, like players canceling visits, or reneging on comittments. See internet articles on bag men. This years big trend is to pay players ($2500) not to take visits to a particular school. The only other reasons I can think of for a player to decommitt was that he was pressured into a decision, or he feels like the direction of the program he comitted to isn't going the direction he wanted.
Sometimes it is the player, but most of the time it is not. Sometimes it is the difficulty the recruiting process puts on seventeen year olds and coaches that have to contact 27,000 players to get the class they want.