Nine Decommitments So Far

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GopherFish

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Our Ninth Decommitment became official today. Here's the list so far:

9. Chris Hawkins (TCU)
8. Josh Allen (Louisiana-Monroe)
7. Alan Veazie (Miami, OH)
6. James Green (Toledo)
5. Josh Huff (TCU)
4. Antoine Lewis (Purdue)
3. Kip Smith (UCLA)
2. Jabari Price (North Carolina)
1. Konrad Zagzebski (Wisconsin)
 

I would rather look at the commitment list, there are over 20 names on that list and they want to be in Minnesota.
 

GopherFish said:
Our Ninth Decommitment became official today. Here's the list so far:

9. Chris Hawkins (TCU)
8. Josh Allen (Louisiana-Monroe)
7. Alan Veazie (Miami, OH)
6. James Green (Toledo)
5. Josh Huff (TCU)
4. Antoine Lewis (Purdue)
3. Kip Smith (UCLA)
2. Jabari Price (North Carolina)
1. Konrad Zagzebski (Wisconsin)
Click to expand...

I've been pretty critical of Brewster so far, but the number doesn't concern me.

  • KZ appears to have used the Gophers to get his offer from Wisconsin, oh well.
  • Don't know anything, really about price, so can't comment.
  • Kip Smith left for spurious reasons. I hope he finds peace and enlightenment in the haven of good morals, southern California coached by that notoriously fair player coaching UCLA. Do your homework before making the decision in the first place.
  • Huff switched once before. Maybe the kind of guy that doesn't date, he has girlfriends. Some last longer than others.
  • Any time you have guys with the "talent" supposedly possessed by Green, Veazie and Allen and they opt for MAC/Sun Belt schools, there are bigger issues there -- any fault is in going after them if they have zero chance of getting into school.
  • Hawkins seems to be the one that hurts, but every program is going to have some of those.

If anything, I'm more concerned about the lack of replacements for these guys and the low ranking we have. For a recruiting guru, a class in the upper 40s seems a tad weak, but there is still time, so let's see how it all plays out.
 

I seem to have the same memory defect as Cali. I can't remember Price either. Basically we're talking about Huff and Hawkins. They both hurt the rankings. I'm not in the camp that thinks Hawkins is a big loss, but I really wish we had a great RB. Would have liked to have seen Huff.
 

Was there a point the OP was trying to make that I missed?

Hmmm.
 


If Huff would evaluate the situation a little more closely, he'd realize he could have an immediate impact here. Not so much at TCU. My understanding is they have loads of competition at that position already.
 

Green couldn't get into a school - not quite the same thing. Veazie and Allen - I wonder whether those are similar situations. No one chooses Toledo and ULM over a Big Ten school.
 

We got commitments a lot earlier in this class than previous years. When that happens you are bound to have more decommitments than if you fill the class late.

Green isn't a decommitment. He was denied admission at the University of Minnesota. It is better we find that out now with a January enrollee than in August with a September enrollee. For anybody that paid attention last season, Green was Taikwon Paige v 2.0.
 

I sure hope that the people that look at the decommits more than they look at the actual guys that sign realize that every school in the country have guys that verbal and back out.
 



J. Allen, Veazie, A. Lewis, and Zagzebski don't count. The first 3 were prompted to look elsewhere by the staff and the latter was a big fat joke to extort an offer out of Bielema. Furthermore, Green wanted to come here but could not get into our school. Jabari Price was never really committed to begin with. The only real decommits on this list that mean anything are Kip Smith, Josh Huff and Chris Hawkins.
 

A decommitment is no different than someone not committing in the first place. Until signing day it's just for the sake of vanity. I don't care if someone backed out or didn't commit in the first place, I'm just concerned that a high % of highly sought after recruits have turned us down this year, leaving us with a class of players, many of whom have few, if any, other BCS offers.
 

You might want to look at the "Tillman Commits" thread, unless of course you're only interested in thos guys who don't go to Minnesota.:rolleyes:
 

Who cares? It doesn't mean ANYTHING until they sign the dotted line. I quit paying attention until signing day, everything before that is like paying attention to the high school dating scene.
 



There is a point to this thread. It's a good observation and it's a bit abnormal for this many players to decommit. Yes, every school goes through attrition but usually that happens when the class gets here. A good question could be, why is this happening?

But it is a relevant thread, at least much more realistic then the pinch-and-giggle "Fave 5 Gopher Recruits- 2010" thread.
 

GopherFish said:
Our Ninth Decommitment became official today. Here's the list so far:

9. Chris Hawkins (TCU)
8. Josh Allen (Louisiana-Monroe)
7. Alan Veazie (Miami, OH)
6. James Green (Toledo)
5. Josh Huff (TCU)
4. Antoine Lewis (Purdue)
3. Kip Smith (UCLA)
2. Jabari Price (North Carolina)
1. Konrad Zagzebski (Wisconsin)
Click to expand...

When you look at geography and home state none of these alarm me. Hawkins and Huff switched to a home state team (4 hour drive) with the chance to go to the BCS every year. Lewis swithed to Purdue, which is two hours from his home. Jabari price would be the only one that I would red flag at all and he is still closer to home and in a conference that will play in his home town.
 

MaxyJR1 said:
When you look at geography and home state none of these alarm me. Hawkins and Huff switched to a home state team (4 hour drive) with the chance to go to the BCS every year. Lewis swithed to Purdue, which is two hours from his home. Jabari price would be the only one that I would red flag at all and he is still closer to home and in a conference that will play in his home town.
Click to expand...
Solid rationalization.
 

I think you have to look at the fact that we're getting these guys to commit in the first place, and a lot of them pretty early in the process. This is gonna sound stupid I'm sure, but I think there might be an element of being "too" good at recruiting (let me finish this out before you laugh too hard lol). I mean, you hear these recruits ("I love the family atmosphere here", "I love the coaching staff", "I love how I was treated on my visit", "They presented themselves very well", etc). We're getting guys to commit to the program after usually Grade A quality visits. I think recruits are sometimes wowed by the quality of the visit and make decisions before they are really ready to actually commit. I mean, Jabari Price committed, and like two weeks later was like, wait, I wasn't ready. Lewis committed so early, it was almost impossible to believe he'd stick. Huff had already decommited once, so I think he should have taken his time and made sure he knew what he wanted.

Green obviously wanted to be here but was denied, so I don't really see that as the same. And I have a feeling Veazie and Allen aren't the same type of decommit as others. By the way, if we're counting all players who were previously committed but "decided to look elsewhere", you forgot about Doral Willis.

Of course, all of this is cured by winning on the field, where then the great visits are supplemented by a 9, 10 win season and you have a total package to offer. There's no question that is an element here.
 

MNCH said:
There is a point to this thread. It's a good observation and it's a bit abnormal for this many players to decommit. Yes, every school goes through attrition but usually that happens when the class gets here. A good question could be, why is this happening?
Click to expand...

Yes, that is the only good question that comes from this thread, and the biggest part of it has already been answered. Location. The two that decided to go to TCU instead are doing so because of two things IMO: TCU's success last season and the proximity to home. Even if Minnesota would have had a better year, and TCU did the same, I still think they'd stay home. This is more of a credit to TCU than it is a discredit to Minnesota. They've been recruiting well recently, and the BCS game just added to their momentum.

As far as Allen and Veazie go, I wouldn't worry about them or consider them losses. It's pretty clear IMO that they were asked to gray shirt or look elsewhere.

Smith and Lewis are the only real losses I see, and guess what? Even programs that have made it have a few losses each year, especially when it comes to getting commitments at a early rate. Hell, Texas lost a couple of commits to Baylor and BYU of all places this year, but not many people question Mack Brown as a recruiter.

The OP obviously went for shock value with the number nine, and didn't follow the reasons for each of the decommits. When you actually look at what went on with the recruitment of each, it's not that alarming. Rest easy cynics, though I doubt you will.
 

Monty519 said:
I think you have to look at the fact that we're getting these guys to commit in the first place, and a lot of them pretty early in the process. This is gonna sound stupid I'm sure, but I think there might be an element of being "too" good at recruiting (let me finish this out before you laugh too hard lol). I mean, you hear these recruits ("I love the family atmosphere here", "I love the coaching staff", "I love how I was treated on my visit", "They presented themselves very well", etc). We're getting guys to commit to the program after usually Grade A quality visits. I think recruits are sometimes wowed by the quality of the visit and make decisions before they are really ready to actually commit. I mean, Jabari Price committed, and like two weeks later was like, wait, I wasn't ready. Lewis committed so early, it was almost impossible to believe he'd stick. Huff had already decommited once, so I think he should have taken his time and made sure he knew what he wanted.

Green obviously wanted to be here but was denied, so I don't really see that as the same. And I have a feeling Veazie and Allen aren't the same type of decommit as others. By the way, if we're counting all players who were previously committed but "decided to look elsewhere", you forgot about Doral Willis.

Of course, all of this is cured by winning on the field, where then the great visits are supplemented by a 9, 10 win season and you have a total package to offer. There's no question that is an element here.
Click to expand...

You got that right. (cue the "it will never happen with Brewster" posters.:blah:)

I was going to type that Price, Green and Smith, for whatever reason, are the only ones that bother me. The TCU board, as some may know, is already ticked at Huff because he's still looking around.:clap: I didn't because really, unless a kid is a Four or Five Star recruit it's all a crapshoot anyway. Even those kids may not pan out or even worse, may get hurt and not play to their potential.

I also have, like the vast majority of people on this board, no idea if that's a high number or not. I'm not going to research. If it's within the norm trolls, Masonites and the depressed wouldn't believe it. They'd just ignore it and find schools that have a smaller number.

The number does though, seem to be high, even if you factor out the couple that saw their recruitment by the Gophers "soften" and left. We just have no idea how it will all play out.

Here's what Feldman on ESPN had to say about kids who "decommit".

Mailbag: Stepping into the minds of recruits

Friday, January 22, 2010 | Feedback | Print Entry


Here are few answers to reader questions that have come in over the past few weeks.

From Amanda in Atlanta: What is wrong with the college football world? Coaches run out on their fans and recruits and chase other jobs and these kids flip-flop all the time. Every day I read about recruits de-committing left and right. What are these kids thinking?


Since the recruiting business began to boom about a decade ago, a lot of kids have grown up with the mentality that they are "playing the game." As I've said a few times before, can you be "60 percent committed"? Only in recruiting does stuff like that become commonplace.

Many kids have a hard time coping with all of the attention. Not just from these celebrity coaches chasing after them, but also from the growing number of reporters who cover recruiting and from the fans who also can become involved via things such as Facebook. It can mess with a lot of folks' perspectives, especially since we're talking about high school kids. Plus, they realize that it's the one time when they have leverage with these schools, because once they sign, the power goes to the coaches.

I always shake my head whenever fans talk about how a kid was never in doubt and was "silently committed" to such and such for months and just goofing around. I'm sure the school he was supposedly silently committed to never had any doubts, because who knows what else this kid might be telling other people?

As for the flip-flopping side of recruiting, a lot of kids do enjoy the attention and mess with the recruiting process by having fun with it, as you see in this Jorge Milian story. The other side of this is that so many of these kids have a hard time saying no to college recruiters. Defensive back Ahmad Dixon of Waco, Texas, is the country's No. 15 recruit. He committed to Texas in February, to Baylor in May, then to Tennessee in January, and just this week recommitted to Baylor. His high school coach at Midway, Kent Bechtel, who is retiring this year after around 30 years there, says he's never seen anything quite like it.

"On his first visit [to Texas] he got all caught up in the atmosphere," Bechtel says of Dixon. "I just think it's a case where Ahmad gets to visiting and talks too much."I hope it's ended now, but I know [other recruiters] are gonna hit him hard. They know he's such a good kid, and they know it's hard for him to say no."

Recruiters can sense indecision and are good at smelling blood in the water. "They're like a bunch of sharks," Bechtel says, "and it's not going to stop until he signs
 

I don't like the de-commits, but I think the Feldman comments can be construed as a bit of a compliment (maybe a stretch) to guys like (not just) Brewster who can probably knock the socks off a kid on a recruiting visit and sell himself and the program. The kid is so impressed he commits, then goes home and realizes that Minnesota is a long ways away or its cold or there's more to college than just playing football (or whatever) and changes his mind.

That said, I don't like this pattern and I don't know whether or not it can be rationalized away. It would be nice to keep these deals in place, but they are decisions being made by 18-year-old kids that rank among the most important decisions many will ever make. I cut the kids some slack.
 

50PoundHead said:
I don't like the de-commits, but I think the Feldman comments can be construed as a bit of a compliment (maybe a stretch) to guys like (not just) Brewster who can probably knock the socks off a kid on a recruiting visit and sell himself and the program. The kid is so impressed he commits, then goes home and realizes that Minnesota is a long ways away or its cold or there's more to college than just playing football (or whatever) and changes his mind.

That said, I don't like this pattern and I don't know whether or not it can be rationalized away. It would be nice to keep these deals in place, but they are decisions being made by 18-year-old kids that rank among the most important decisions many will ever make. I cut the kids some slack.
Click to expand...

I think your first paragraph is probably very close. From how Brewster projects himself, I'm guessing he's a great salesman to the recruits and they really buy into it when they are here. Brewster could be a bit of a high-pressure salesman too so maybe they feel like they should commit. Once they get back home, go visit other places, talk to family, they change their minds. Who knows? And frankly, it's not worth getting bent out of shape over because who knows if they're even good?
 

Nobody knows how these kids will turnout. Look how many of you recruiting experts had Carpenter penciled in as a starter and home run guy last winter??? Wait and see how things play out before you chastise or christen.
 

MNCH said:
I think your first paragraph is probably very close. From how Brewster projects himself, I'm guessing he's a great salesman to the recruits and they really buy into it when they are here. Brewster could be a bit of a high-pressure salesman too so maybe they feel like they should commit. Once they get back home, go visit other places, talk to family, they change their minds. Who knows? And frankly, it's not worth getting bent out of shape over because who knows if they're even good?
Click to expand...

The best sales guys aren't high pressure. From some of the reports I've heard he just works much harder than everyone else and does a good job of selling our strengths.

We tend to think good sales guys are high pressure because of our exposures in the real world, but we never meet the real high flyers unless you're buying Jet's and multi-mil computer software. The best sales guys are organized, hard working and exceptional communicators. Three skills I don't have btw.
 

At most 5 of those kids are de-commitments. Green could not make it in to school and a minimum of 3 others were encouraged to look elsewhere.
 

Latest rumor is that Huff is de-committing from TCU for Oregon. It should be an interesting last week.
 

Schnoodler said:
The best sales guys aren't high pressure. From some of the reports I've heard he just works much harder than everyone else and does a good job of selling our strengths.

We tend to think good sales guys are high pressure because of our exposures in the real world, but we never meet the real high flyers unless you're buying Jet's and multi-mil computer software. The best sales guys are organized, hard working and exceptional communicators. Three skills I don't have btw.
Click to expand...

He's selling football to 17-year-old teenagers and some can't read over an 8th-grade level. Not exactly the same clientele as corporate sales.
 

MNCH said:
He's selling football to 17-year-old teenagers and some can't read over an 8th-grade level. Not exactly the same clientele as corporate sales.
Click to expand...

The intelligence of the client has very little to do with it. The quality level of the product you are selling (in this case, Division I-A football) is a much, much bigger part of the equation. Each salesperson's level of sophistication in knowing their product inside and out, and how to sell the product to their client, is far more germane to the discussion than the client's level of sophistication.

And if you think that people buying high-end products are automatically intelligent and/or sophisticated, you are sadly mistaken. In fact, due to the high proliferation of money flowing into the hands of complete and total idiots (heirs, athletes and entertainers), I would argue that the exact opposite is the case.
 

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