DJ Marshall officially decommits...

Rogue52 · 12-06-2007, 01:29 AM

I hope he has fun belly bumping with Mangino...

Clone96 · 12-06-2007, 06:06 AM

It happens. I'm not suprised. Maybe if we had an early siging period for football we could avoid something like this (hint, hint, hint NCAA!!!!)

mjones34 · 12-06-2007, 08:01 AM

It may be fair to go after commits, but I don't think it's ethical.

PolkCityClone · 12-06-2007, 08:18 AM

Is isn't that good and we didn't want him anyway.

Oops, wrong school.

Stormin · 12-06-2007, 08:39 AM

Marshall would have been a good catch. However we do have several other DE commits. The sky isn't falling. We need some LB's.

cyclonenum1 · 12-06-2007, 10:41 AM

I always laugh at these threads about "commits" and "de-commits" in the recruiting process.

The reality is that a verbal commitment means absolutely nothing...the only thing that counts is signing a LOI on signing day.

Also, I would not be so quick to knock coaches that keep recruiting a kid after he gives a verbal commitment...everyone does it. I can assure you Chizik and his staff do it. Frankly, if they are not I would be highly disappointed.

Steve · 12-06-2007, 10:48 AM

It seems that the proper response in this case should be one of disappointment, but certainly not outrage or crying foul play. Marshall appears to possess some much needed pass rush skills so he would have been a great pickup. We sold him on our program early in the commitment process and he liked what he heard. You could fault him for saying yes too early, but it's hard to be critical of a 18 YO kid who has never been in this position before. This is the risk teams take when they ask for a "commitment" before a kid has a chance to fully evaluate all of his options. We've been on both sides of these situations so we also should not be ripping on Mangino or KU. It would be different if the switch was driven more by negative tactics, but no one is making that claim in this case.

In an ideal world, a kid should probably take all 5 of his visits and then make an educated decision. In reality, schools with visits early in the process strongly encourage a kid to end his recruiting and cancel all remaining visits. What you have to remember is that most scholarship offers are contingent and not open ended. This puts undo pressure on a kid to "commit" prematurely.

There is one situation where de-commitments should be considered as crossing the line of acceptable behavior. This would be switches in the final week or two of the recruiting period that occur after a long standing commitment.

ISU BET · 12-06-2007, 12:20 PM

man, this is a bummer-i thought this was the time of year when we were supposed to locking these guys up and adding to our list of commitments. i really thought we would see a few more guys verballing to us in the last few weeks, but doesn't seem to be the case.

cloneu · 12-06-2007, 12:27 PM

Originally Posted by cyclone#1

The reality is that a verbal commitment means absolutely nothing...the only thing that counts is signing a LOI on signing day.

What happens if a guy signs the LOI. Then around May decides he wants to go somewhere else, but the original school doesn't want to let him go. Kinda like the senario between Va Tech and the wrestlers that left for Iowa.

Is there still away around the LOI for the athlete?

throwittoblythe · 12-06-2007, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by cloneu

What happens if a guy signs the LOI. Then around May decides he wants to go somewhere else, but the original school doesn't want to let him go. Kinda like the senario between Va Tech and the wrestlers that left for Iowa.

Is there still away around the LOI for the athlete?

If I recall, the school has to let him/her out. Isn't that what happened with bball recruits last year when Huggy decided to leave?

Steve · 12-06-2007, 12:41 PM

Originally Posted by cloneu

What happens if a guy signs the LOI. Then around May decides he wants to go somewhere else, but the original school doesn't want to let him go. Kinda like the senario between Va Tech and the wrestlers that left for Iowa.

Is there still away around the LOI for the athlete?

This isn't a recommended option, but ....

Can't recall the details, but some guys have actually done the following:

Purposely fail to graduate from hs which invalidates the LOI. Spend a year at a prep school to regain eligibility and then sign with another school.

hoosman · 12-06-2007, 01:47 PM

Maybe we should circle the wagons. If ISU and EIU agreed to a hands off policy, we could concentrate on FatMan and the other recruit-nappers out there. We're pretty much surrounded by hostiles right now.

isufbcurt · 12-06-2007, 01:59 PM

Originally Posted by cyclone#1

I always laugh at these threads about "commits" and "de-commits" in the recruiting process.

The reality is that a verbal commitment means absolutely nothing...the only thing that counts is signing a LOI on signing day.

Also, I would not be so quick to knock coaches that keep recruiting a kid after he gives a verbal commitment...everyone does it. I can assure you Chizik and his staff do it. Frankly, if they are not I would be highly disappointed.

Agree 100%. I see no problem with recruiting a kid even though he has verballed. Until he signs that LOI he is fair game.

jumbopackage · 12-06-2007, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by isufbcurt

Agree 100%. I see no problem with recruiting a kid even though he has verballed. Until he signs that LOI he is fair game.

Agreed. A "Verbal commitment" is something that, IMO, has largely been fabricated by the scouting community to make their jobs easier. These are 18 and 19 year old kids you're talking about. Keep working them over until they sign that LOI.

Steve · 12-06-2007, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by jumbopackage

Agreed. A "Verbal commitment" is something that, IMO, has largely been fabricated by the scouting community to make their jobs easier. These are 18 and 19 year old kids you're talking about. Keep working them over until they sign that LOI.

The truth is that kids often can not be slotted into one of: no interest, soft verbal, or solid verbal. There can be an entire range of interest that can change multiple times due to interactions with coaches and perceived best interests.