Andre McDonald is visiting Gophers next weekend!

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Counting recruits before they sign is like counting chickens before they hatch. The coaches know this, the current players know this, the only people that don't appear to know this are fans. Until he is officially part of the team nobody is counting on him for a damn thing. So how is it possible to let them down? There are no victims when a player switches commits. Kids need to do what's best for their future and sometimes minds will change especially when millions COULD hinge on this decision.
 

Doc1001 said:
CJCarter-there is a victim here. Its the team-coaches and fans. We may have stopped recruiting wide receivers as a priority because of his commitment. That can really hurt a team when you are counting on someone and they break their word. Innocent people get hurt when someone does not keep their word. No its not the end of the world but its not the right thing to do in most cases.
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Nothing is final in college athletic recruiting until a kid signs his letter of intent, and even then it is not binding until that kid has enrolled in classes. All coaches know this and that is why they keep on recruiting until the bitter end. Kids committing and de-commiting is just part of the recruiting game.
 

cjcarter8 said:
I see where you're coming from but you missed my point. I was saying the kid is more likely to proceed with the prom date because it's only one night and not a long term commitment like a college choice. Plus high school girls are far more emotional than college football coaches. I think.
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Fair enough. I can definitely agree with your last point ;-)
 

The word committment means an agreement or pledge to do something in the future. I guess many in todays society say its ok to break an agreement or pledge. Its not just in sports but many facets of todays living. Its not right but people make excuses to make it ok. Too bad for our society as a whole.
 

As much as I don't care for bouncing around, I can't help but be excited at the possibility of landing a local 4 star.

Is Illinois considered a favorite?
 


Doc1001 said:
The word committment means an agreement or pledge to do something in the future. I guess many in todays society say its ok to break an agreement or pledge. Its not just in sports but many facets of todays living. Its not right but people make excuses to make it ok. Too bad for our society as a whole.
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I think you're taking the word "commitment" too literally. They use it in recruited because it's the closest word to describe the situation a recruited athlete is in when he is being recruited. Everyone knows (the players, the coaches, etc.) that it isn't final. Take a look at kids like Jones and Bush who were "committed" to go to Northern Illinois and then chose to come to the U. Look at players like Rohr, who was committed to the U, something changed, and ended up not having a scholarship.

It's a different situation than simply not giving your word, everyone understands that people will sometimes change their minds (schools and players), it's part of the whole process.
 

badgergopher said:
Are you serious? Would you rather have no verbals and all 25 spots are up for grabs on signing day with all the predictability of a game of musical chairs? You know schools pull offers too.
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ESPN shows about 23 players committed to the Gophers and at least 35 uncommitted players with offers from the Gophers. What would you propose we do if they all fax in LOI's on 2/1? Put them all on scholarship and expand our roster to 120 and be put on probation so as to avoid going back on our non-binding word?

It seems that is the standard you are trying to hold this young man to.
 

badgergopher said:
ESPN shows about 23 players committed to the Gophers and at least 35 uncommitted players with offers from the Gophers. What would you propose we do if they all fax in LOI's on 2/1? Put them all on scholarship and expand our roster to 120 and be put on probation so as to avoid going back on our non-binding word?

It seems that is the standard you are trying to hold this young man to.
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That won't happen. If it did, we'd decide which kids we wanted and which kids we didn't. It's not that uncommon of a thing to happen in college football where the school pulls an offer.
 

Bob_Loblaw said:
That won't happen. If it did, we'd decide which kids we wanted and which kids we didn't. It's not that uncommon of a thing to happen in college football where the school pulls an offer.
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That was his point :p
 



Let me guess every guy on here is married to the only woman they ever said "I love you" to.
 

Doc1001 said:
CJCarter-there is a victim here. Its the team-coaches and fans. We may have stopped recruiting wide receivers as a priority because of his commitment. That can really hurt a team when you are counting on someone and they break their word. Innocent people get hurt when someone does not keep their word. No its not the end of the world but its not the right thing to do in most cases.
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I'm guessing this wasn't the first player to commit and then de-commit in Kill's career. I think he and his staff know that it doesn't mean anything until the kid has signed on the dotted line. Sure, it probably hurts but it happens all the time and any half way descent staff has back-ups in case it does happen.
 

Doc1001 said:
The word committment means an agreement or pledge to do something in the future. I guess many in todays society say its ok to break an agreement or pledge. Its not just in sports but many facets of todays living. Its not right but people make excuses to make it ok. Too bad for our society as a whole.
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Doc1001, you have 35-55 year old men promising 17-18 year old kids the world. A kid gets a lot of verbal boquets tossed their way by these coaches and many of them even sell the parents on the idea that they will be a father figure for their kid away from home. The constant phone calls build up a kids ego, but the calls/visits also build up a lot pressure. There's pressure on the kid to commit before they "lose their spot". They are certainly told about kids who had an offer, but didn't take it and ended up at Western Michigan (or with no offer at all). They are being given this information by adults who have become experts in getting what they want from these kids (a commitment) because their jobs depend on it. Some of these coaches keep calling after a kid has pledged to a different school (or in this day in age contacting the kids on facebook) and they know what to do/say to put doubt in that kids mind. It's generally a 35-50 year old man who's been through a minimum of 5 recruiting cycles attempting to persuade a 17-18 year old kid who will only go through one recruiting cycle to see things in their schools favor.

I think you need to look much more at the adults in this equation than the kids. I would like the NCAA to change how recruiting works, but I doubt they ever will. This year it seemed like more kids committed to schools in the Summer (pre-visit) than ever before and that's not good for the kids. That said, I want the University of Minnesota to do whatever is allowed by the NCAA to field the best team possible no matter how unsavory. The entire recruiting situation is one reason why I laugh at people who somehow view college revenue sports as being more "pure" than pro sports.
 





cjcarter8 said:
I see where you're coming from but you missed my point. I was saying the kid is more likely to proceed with the prom date because it's only one night and not a long term commitment like a college choice. Plus high school girls are far more emotional than college football coaches. I think.
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Be extremely careful what you say on this topic or jamalo will accuse you of being a perv.
 


gopherfan7 said:
tired of hearing about this attention whore
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You're so tired of hearing about him that you've visited two links specifically about him to complain that you're reading too much about him?

And who's the attention whore here?
 

gopherfan7 said:
tired of hearing about this attention whore
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I am so sick and tired of every song by Lada Gaga, I think i'm going to go to youtube, watch her videos and comment about how i'm sick of her. I can't think of any other way to help me with this problem.
 

Unregistered User said:
You're so tired of hearing about him that you've visited two links specifically about him to complain that you're reading too much about him?

And who's the attention whore here?
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I second this!
 

ruppertflywheel said:
The bad thing is I have visions of Henderson suger plums dancing in my head also. It should be a fun next 30 days.
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I think this is different, since he committed to us at one point in time and is taking an OV in January. SH never had any intention of coming here...
 

Hope they get him, he looks pretty good. Who cares how he gets there, just thay he gets there.
 

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