The Odd Recruitment of Chris Barnett
Here's a Fox Sports report on the strange recruitment of Chris Barnett. To me the kid seemed a little flaky ever since he first appeared on Michigan's radar. I hope everything's on the up and up. The kid has a lot of talent, but I wonder what's going on in his head sometimes.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:31 AM ^
Reading it I was very confused with all the people involved. Too many questions to make my own opinion. Did Chris want his dad left out of the visit? Is the dad just mad he is on the outside of the situation? Is Chris avoiding problems by just jumping around and is that a major red flag? Was the Scout guy just mentioning Michigan as a fit or more sinister than that? And don't forget Arkansas had 3 TEs besides Chris committed so did they slow play him which lead to the switch? Lots of unknowns.... Hope it works out though.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^
"Reading it I was very confused with all the people involved."
- Ditto, if I did read it correctly...it seems like there should be some sort of rule/regulation prohibiting any third party spear heading the recruitment process for high schooler.
That doesn't seem realistic. Lots of kids would have a family friend other figure prominently involved in their recruiting. Trying to prevent people who run/work for for-profit organizations involved with sports camps or recruiting from running players' recruitments makes sense.
After 7-8 paragraphs of this stuff the names are just a blur. The articles linked to from this one - the series on 7-on-7 - is even worse.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:33 AM ^
why the hell do HS kids need these handlers and advisors??
March 13th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
and the parents may not be in the best position to help. I can imagine the parents might even bring some of the se people to help as they don't know what's going on.
March 13th, 2011 at 12:26 PM ^
Barnett's dad is a high school coach, though.
March 13th, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
doesn't seem to be real piece of Barnett's life.
But my comment was more general as to why athletes may seek out help outside their family, not a comment about Barnett.
Dreisbach mentions this further down, but Bruce Feldman touches on this in his book, most noatably with super-recruit Jurrell Powe. The sheer number of calls, texts, mail, etc. that he got was way too much for him, and he had parents that weren't really capable of helping him. One of his friend's dad, on his football team, was instrumental in helping Jurrell deal with the stress and pressure. It's easy for us to sit back and laugh at kids having trouble with lots of phone calls, but some of them just don't know what to do, and if the family isn't there to support them, they look elsewhere.
It's too bad, because these 3rd party "advisors" probably aren't in it to look out for the players' interests. Having a family friend/teacher/coach or whomever help is fine, especially for kids coming from bad home situations. Having some guy who runs a "talent service" help probably isn't a good idea.
The whole business is just dirty.
But if the kid didn't have family friends or anyone to trust, and HE went to talent service...I mean it's still dirty but it doesn't seem like this guy was forcing himself on Chris and trying to push him one way or another.
these handler's and advisors are very common in recruiting. back in 1999 when i was playing football in highschool our coach's gave us the name of one of these recruiting guys. i think a couple of kids on my team used him and they are the one's that got offer's from school. i think it gives school's and players a way to connect with each other especially if you don't come from a football factory school. where do you think all these recruiting and highlight video's come from anyway. after reading this article the Oregon thing to me doesn't seem as bad as what everyone is making it out to be
March 13th, 2011 at 12:01 PM ^
I thought this line was particularly interesting.
"During the trip, Barnett said he felt comfortable with the Wolverines players and coaches. He also liked the university’s academics and envisioned himself someday living near the school while raising a family."
Sounds to me like someone who wants to get the hell out of Texas.
Haven't you learned to discount the things kids say when they're in the middle of a visit?
school while raising a family? Can' remember ever hearing a kid say something like that in a visit interview. And his being moved back and forth and sideways between family members and schools, perhaps he is looking for some kind of solidity and continuity, and yes, distance from whatever caused his nomadic playing life.
Also doesn't seem surprising that he should suddenly be attracted to Michigan when their switch of offense and clear need for tight ends appeared so close to signing day. Could his Dad be pissed because it wasn't his choice rather than being a questionable choice? There appears to be a lot of this story that isn't told here, and some of it is probably personal and may best remain untold out of respect for family privacy. Let's see how Chris does here. Hope he's found a home that lasts longer than most of his others.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:38 AM ^
There are many kids like Barnett that are:
1) Being raised by a combination of parents and guardians
2) Subjected to too many choices and influences when it comes to selecting a school
3) This new theme of camps and advisors being paid by schools like Oregon and Michigan will continue to be a big story
4) Michigan like all schools needs to be careful who they work with, contact, and pay for services
Thanks for sharing Magnus.
Where does the article say UM paid this "advisor" anything? We're hosting one of his camps, but that's different than Oregon's paying him for ambiguous/dubious "recruiting services."
March 13th, 2011 at 11:40 AM ^
Definately not cool having Michigan linked in an article to "street agents" and "Oregon." Google nightmare to say the least.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:49 AM ^
My thoughts exactly. From what I have looked up the NCAA is not going to investigate Oregon so I am hoping they won't investigate Michigan either; if it comes to that.
Considering the run we have had in the last few years, which includes an NCAA probation stint, I would be much happier if Michigan had zero involvement with people like Flenory. I know modern recruiting is slimy at best, but this whole thing just reeks on about 50 different levels. Multiple schools, multiple relatives, an 'advisor' with slimy ties to other programs this sounds a heck of a lot more like things in the SEC than what I would expect from Michigan. I dont care how much talent the kid has, no one kid is worth permanent program damage, we have done enough self destruction in the last 5 years to fill the rest of my lifetime. Personally, after reading all this I wish we would have just walked away from him, but that is just my opinion.
Aug
March 13th, 2011 at 12:05 PM ^
The difference is Oregon was paying these kind of people. We don't.
March 13th, 2011 at 12:28 PM ^
Uh, yeah we do, everyone does and it's not a violation.
March 13th, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
to read an article about how those recruiting services work. Did Bruce Feldman's book touch on that aspect?
Not in detail. I'm sure he's written about it, though
but the services will vary with the reputation of the service. I know that's a bit stating the obvious, but there are people like Lemming out there who are respected and provide a legitimate service. There's also a guy out there named Jim Stefani, who posts on Scout and Rivals. Here's a link to his public blog ( http://jimstefani.wordpress.com/ ) He also provides more detailed information to schools on a private site. It's worth reading what he considers his job to be at ( http://jimstefani.wordpress.com/prospect-identification/ ). He considers his service to be one of early prospect identification. So in essence, he is able to cull the list of thousands of potential prostpects to a more manageable list for schools to go off of.
So it seems like a service like theres can be useful to coaches to help put together an early watch list of players to keep an eye on.
Did not know that. How much do we typically fork out a year/ do we make this info public?
I couldn't tell you specific numbers, but it's a significant chunk of the staff's recruiting budget. Coaches across the nation fork out the dough to scouting services who give them lists of kids names, contact lists, film, etc. It should be noted that these aren't the Rivals, Scouts, and 247sports of the worlds. These are private business who deal almost exclusively with coaches.
We have guys from recruiting services visit our school to talk to our coaches and/or watch workouts, practices, etc. They have very little contact with the players themselves. They just come in, meet with our head coach, stand back and take a look, talk to our coach again at the end, and then disappear. They come around a couple times every year just to take a look at what kids look like ballplayers, how hard they work, how big they are, etc.
I thought Jim (or one of the Rivals mods) said that he offered his services to RR for free or almost free and they were barely used. I think Hoke is making better use of the service.
Kids linked to these guys in Texas are recruited by certain schools--not all scools. I hope this is a one off thing for Michigan, and that they don't get mixed up in this business, it's shady.
March 13th, 2011 at 11:50 AM ^
I'm convinced just about any recruitment of any player can be made to look "shady." It's the nature of convincing 17 year old kids to join your program over other top programs.
This is not an excuse for Michigan or any school-- nor to suggest any wrongdoing. It's just a reminder that the system can become very personal and that maybe sometimes we can easily rip other schools for recruiting practices that are completely legal and legitimate.
March 13th, 2011 at 12:21 PM ^
....to get away from the shady South he grew up in?
March 13th, 2011 at 12:36 PM ^
Hopefully the coaches did their due dilligence on this. It's really strange they never spoke to his father especially since he's a coach. I hope Barnett makes it through all four years, but after this article I'm not optimistic.
That's what I was thinking. Seems like the kind of kid who might transfer if things don't go his way immediately on the field. It's hard to tell without knowing the details behind his odyssey.
That's why it's too early to make that leap. The relationship between father and son is shaky, and this is only dad's view. Bouncing around high schools is a concern, but he was also 14-18 yrs old during that time. The risk is elevated, but too soon to be worrisome.
<br>The only thing that concerns me is the name Flenory, and the Oregon connection. Beyond that, almost anyone involved in CFB could have seen M desperately needed a TE, made that recommendation.
I find his jumping from school to school more concerning than anything else. If he had legitamate problems in each home, one of which was his father's home, I'm not sure why they would talk to his father.
If this kid is the head case that his father alludes to I don't think he'll last at Michigan. On the other hand some out of the box choice of colleges could have been just what Chris was looking for to distance himself from family members that hadn't convinced him they had his interests in mind.
March 13th, 2011 at 12:47 PM ^
This whole (street agent) thing sounds very shady to me. The kid moving around so much has to send a deep red flag?
March 13th, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
TomVH to educate us.
This story is very odd to say the least but the most important aspect is the fact that the man helping with Barnett's recruitment is the one who contacted Michigan. Nowhere in the article does it state that Michigan payed for his recruiting services, and if they did it is not illegal. Sounds to me like a kid that wants to start a new life away from texas. I am pretty confident that nothing will come of this.
That Flenory guy seems like a sketchbag. Too bad one of our players is involved with him. We don't need our name anywhere near that guy.
The whole 7-on-7 thing is becoming comparable to AAU basketball, where the recruitment of kids goes on in a void where the NCAA has a hard time figuring out what's going on. I'm sure the NCAA is worried that 7-on-7 football will become as prominent/shady as AAU basketball.
it may have already gotten some play on here at the time, there was a NYT article about this just last week:
High School Football Recruiting's New Face
These guys are pretty plugged in to the Texas recruiting scene, and were WAY out in front of the Yahoo expose. Here's their take: http://recruitocosm.fantake.com/2010/12/10/street-agents-in-texas-some-…
For what it's worth, not all schools deal with these guys, and on sleeze-to-clean scale, they fall squarely on the bad side of the spectrum.
First, it is trying to be salacious and say that Michigan did something untoward. That is clear as day. Of course, the article failed to mention that ARK was oversigned by 5 recruits (30 total) and had two other TEs in the recruiting class. This is classic FREEP level reporting - leaving out the logical parts and create a classic innuendo point.
Second, there was absolutely no attempt to determine what Barnett's relationship was with his father. It is quite possible that they did not get along at all. That seems apparent with him moving out of his dad's house. If he was living with his uncle and his dad and him were not in speaking terms, would it really be that strange that Hoke did not speak with the kid. Of course, the slop article took no attempts to frame these questions approprioately and preferred for the slander angle. What a load of garbage.
If you took this as a hit piece than you are paranoid to the highest level possible, maybe you and Tater should hang out. The reporter is talking about a kid who happens to go to Michigan, UM is an afterthought at best in the whole story. The real story is the total sketchiness of the recruiting process and of Flenory in general. I certainly wish UM wasnt involved, but that certainly isnt the focus of the story. You are reading way way too much into it.
Aug
I wonder whether we should be more concerned about mental issues or physical issues with Barnett. Hopefully both will work out.
I have taught a lot of kids in Title I schools, who have also lived transient lives. The problem with this kid seems to be the adults in his life. They just don't realize the disservice they are doing to him. I hope Michigan, the students, the team, staff and community can offer this kid stability. He has to live up to his end, too. He has to realize that if it gets tough, you STAY and face the adversity. He needs to do his best to not listen to the adults who have steered him wrong thus far.
I couldn't care less if he's a great football player for us. I just hope he learns how to handle responsibilities and gets his degree.
I'm sorry but unless they were misquoted and the writer really took what they said out of context, that's a pretty terrible thing for his parents to blab to the media like that.
They're butthurt about their kid not selecting an SEC school that is known for oversigning. Hmmmm. Wonder why they wanted him there so much?
Helping send a kid to Michigan, even if for free, is definitely something Flenory would want because it helps build his credibility as an effective rectuiting advisor.
Will Lyle is dirty.