Agree to a certain degree regarding targeting specific kids. However, there are probably other kids that are being targeted for future years that are scratching their heads. And even when kids hear from a coach that they are absolutely going to be at a certain place in coming years, the persistence of rumors always plants a slight seed of doubt. Not saying it's a big seed, but it's a seed nontheless.
In addition, other coaches will always use such rumors to gain an advantage in recruiting by asking kids "can you really trust what he said? I mean he's being mentioned for tons of jobs. There's got to be some truth behind it." Therefore, rumors hurt recruiting in several ways. Having said that, all this back-and-forth between FOT and this other character have gotten pretty bizarre. I can only hope at this point that it settles down soon.
