Who was the "Worst Decommitment Ever"?

Submitted by Maize.Blue Wagner on

I realize this is a morose topic a few weeks out from signing day; however, as I prepare for This Month in MGoBlog History for January 2007, I came across the news of Indiana Safey Jerimy Finch decommiting. He was a 4 star and 37th nationally to Rivals and was set to join a young, untested Michigan secondary. On January 15 he decommitted and promptly committed to Indiana, though he would sign with Florida. Brian declared this the "worst decommitment ever". In hindsight, this wasn't that big a deal. Finch was later named the biggest recruiting bust for IU in the last ten years. 

This has made me wonder if Brian's statement is still true. Finch was a highly rated player at a position of need. Given what was to come in the next few years, it probably didn't matter much one way or another. Three others come to mind since then that are probably bigger: Dee Hart, Damien Harris, and George Campbell. Hart and Campbell for what they would have meant to to the coach who recruited them. Hart was supposed to finally be the super athlete to thrive in Rodriguez's backfield. Didn't Campbell refer to himself as the "mayor" and was going to put together a magnificent recruiting class. Harris might be the biggest talent of any of these for Michigan to lose. Interestly but probably not coincidentally, all four of these guys decommitted from a coach who was out the door. 

Are there any I am forgetting? Any who could have had a bigger impact on the program or had a lot of success at another program? 

EDIT: I should have checked out Touch the Banner right away, but here's a great list of decommits and transfers. 

MGoBoard
dee hart
Damien Harris
George Campbell
Jerimy Finch

Pit2047

January 16th, 2017 at 12:39 AM ^

If we don't get Aubrey Solomon back and don't pull in Tufele then he'd have to be my choice. We are in dire need of NTs. Damien Harris would be runner up and Darrin Kirkland would be nice to have right now.

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jakerblue

January 16th, 2017 at 10:41 AM ^

Scrolled down to see if he was mentioned. Really screwed up the class for us and gave MSU a big boost. Seems like he committed to lock up the spot before Langford, which forced Langford over to MSU. I wonder if we had ended up with Langford sticking in the class instead of Battle decommiting, would we have ended up with Winston too, who is looking much better than X to start their careers.

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SagNasty

January 16th, 2017 at 12:58 AM ^

In hindsight it may have been a blessing and I don't think he was ever a commit but Terelle Pryor. I remember stories of RR supposedly calling him immediately when he accepted the Michigan job. I also remember seeing him on tv attending a M basketball game with RR.



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brad

January 16th, 2017 at 12:58 AM ^

Any quality defensive back that decommitted from the 03, 04, 05 or even 06 recruiting class probably cost M a national championship. So, any one of those is the worst imo. I'll take the loss of silent commit Nic Harris to OU on signing day '05, specifically.



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SeattleWolverine

January 16th, 2017 at 3:14 AM ^

RoJo was bad but kind of cancelled out by Warren since both were 5 stars who went to the opposite school of the one that they were expected to choose. And while RoJo was a serviceable player and managed to be roster filler in the NFL for a bit, he didn't exactly light it up in college or with his cups of coffee in the NFL. 

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BlueinLansing

January 16th, 2017 at 1:09 AM ^

Michigan suffers very few decommitments that aren't covered by someone close to the same talent level.  At least it seems like we have fewer than some other top programs

 

I get more upset by the near misses than by guys who committ and decommit.  

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FrankMurphy

January 16th, 2017 at 1:55 AM ^

Man, this is a painful thread. There are two that stick out in my mind:
 
1) Jai Eugene. The rumor surrounding his decommitment--that Les Miles told him Lloyd Carr had Parkinson's Disease--was infuriating, to say the least. And I'm pretty sure Lloyd held a grudge over it, since he responded to a question about Les Miles with a cryptic remark about the recruiting trail during his retirement press conference back in 2007. Jai went on to have a great career at LSU while Michigan's secondary sucked for the next four years.
 
2) Gareon Conley. That one stung because he left us for Ohio State. Though our secondary turned out fine without him, you hate to lose players to your biggest rival. The one recruit I can think of who decommitted from Ohio State and committed to Michigan--Kyle Kalis--didn't have as good of a career at Michigan as Conley had at Ohio State.

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LandryHD

January 16th, 2017 at 2:59 AM ^

Finch was an odd one. He went to Florida and either started or played meaningful minutes his freshman year as an LB before having a season ending injury. Went to Indiana and sucked at safety then later played the rest of his collegiate career for Marian U in Indianapolis. I do believe he was part of a national title for Marian.



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SeattleWolverine

January 16th, 2017 at 3:05 AM ^

Travis Johnson. DL in 2000. He infamously went to bed a Wolverine and woke up a Seminole on signing day. First round pick of the Texans. Capping a disappointing recruiting class during the good times that might have been the difference (along with special teams) between truly competing for a national championship in 2003/2004, or having 3 losses. There are probably worse examples that I am forgetting, but the combo of talent and how it went down was worse than any of the other examples mentioned in this thread. 

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GhostofJermain…

January 16th, 2017 at 7:30 AM ^

Huge miss on Mikey (had him twice, allegedly), and many people may not remember the whole story on Greg Jennings.  Was commited to Lloyd Carr and Michigan as a sophmore I believe, blew his knee out as a junior/senior and scholly was no longer available.  Decided to stay home in kzoo, and was a great pro!

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