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In the midst of record run...a decommit - Printable Version

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In the midst of record run...a decommit - Redrum - 11-02-2010

Daniel Davis,  a 6\'2", 230lb  DE from Norman, OK has decommitted from Stanford per Rivals.   Davis was an early commit rated  a 3-star.   No details yet (or maybe ever) on why.  Just Rivals\' summary that Davis and Stanford had "parted ways."   Often this is a sign of a Montag ding,  but his test scores seemed to be above what is considered the danger zone.  Or, not.  Another possibility is that as a weakside DE,  maybe he wasn\'t ideal as a stand-up OLB in our 3-4,  but that raises the question whether this was a Stanford decision  or a Daniel Davis decision.  Maybe a not-enough-love-you-never-call-you-never-text-or-tweet kind of thing.   We lost  Kentucky TE Tate Nichols(who became a ND OT recruit) in last year\'s recruiting dance.

Probably not the last.

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - fullmetal - 11-02-2010

Are coaches expected to continue upholding a stream of communication after a recruit has committed?

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - washingtonismoney - 11-02-2010

Don\'t know how it works for football, but in tennis (my brother just committed to Duke), the coaches are communicating with him on how to improve and train to hit the ground running there. I would guess something similar is at play for football.

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - ealtice - 11-02-2010

It\'s always disappointing to see a decommit, but the silver lining is that it opens a spot for someone else.  We still have a lot of highly rated recruits showing some interest in Stanford, so maybe this makes room for one of them.

Communication - Redrum - 11-03-2010

For fullmetal.   Schools can and do continue to stay in touch with committed recruits,  except for certain designated no-contact periods.   Well, not that a no-contact period ever stopped Rick Neuheisel who,  at UDub, famously got around the ban on personal contact at home,  phoned a recruit,  then asked him to look outside...where Slick Rick was parked in front of the recruit\'s house.  All "technically" within the rules but dripping with Rick\'s typical slime.  His protestations that it was all just a coincidence sort of thing just made him look worse.

But, typically,  commits continue to stay in communication at least as much as the other schools who don\'t give up trying to woo him with letters, emails, texts and, probably, skywriting.   Coaches will text a kid after his high school game letting him know they are pumped about his 110 yds and 3 TDs or whatever.   Let\'s em know they still care.   If they don\'t do that,  the message gets sent on the sub-conscious net  that  maybe the school doesn\'t love them anymore.

On Davis.  It could be all about Stanford cooling on his fit as a linebacker who has to move in space.  Maybe the more they saw he looked like a 4-3 scheme DL who played with his hand on the ground and didn\'t have the agility to also cover TE\'s or move in space.  Or, not.  Might be a Montag ding.  Ya\' never know about those.  Suddenly all you see is ripples on the surface where a recruit commit used to be.

Add:  Of course, it\'s also possible that maybe his home town football power,  OU,  began showing some interest and he decided that he\'d rather play in Norman...so we parted ways.

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - fullmetal - 11-03-2010

If he picks OU over Stanford...yeah, it might have been a Montag ding as well.

Aren\'t recruits technically non-contactable by other schools after they\'ve committed?  It\'s supposed to guard against poaching, right?

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - jayasena - 11-03-2010

Does the NCAA even recognize a verbal commitment? I would think not (since that would defeat the purpose of having a date prior to which no one can officially commit) and therefore probably places no restrictions on continued contact from other schools.

No restrictions - Redrum - 11-03-2010

Some schools work kids to decommit right up to LOI day and on that day right up until the form is faxed in.  (See Michael Okwo, Bradford) as well as Brandon Bourbon, Zumwalt in this last cycle.

And a verbal commitment is not even recognized by the NCAA as somnambule pointed out.   The only thing that changes is the school that keeps bugging a kid who has verballed elsewhere is to really piss him off.  But, OTOH  what do they have to lose?  Maybe the effort should be spent on kids who aren\'t committed yet.   That\'s why, ferinstance, that OL  aren\'t  hounded like QBs.  There are relatively lots of OL out there with the necessaries vs. truly great QBs, receivers and cornerbacks where rare natural talent counts for a lot.

Tend to think you\'re right... - Mick - 11-08-2010

Quote:It\'s always disappointing to see a decommit, but the silver lining is that it opens a spot for someone else.  We still have a lot of highly rated recruits showing some interest in Stanford, so maybe this makes room for one of them.

A 6\'2", 230 pound DE, three star...be nice to get a four star in his place.  Or it may be as simple as the recruit looking at our roster and other recruits and saying, "I\'ll never get any playing time," or as simple as Mom saying for the 1,000th time "I wish you could play close to home so I could see you, do your laundry, etc."

Incidentally, that last point worked against us.  My son made it clear that 400 miles was the minimum and 3,000 miles away worked out even better...


Re: Leaving home - Nan3cy - 11-08-2010

I always told my kid that half to two-thirds of a college education consists of being in a different time zone from one\'s mother. Going away to college is such a big part of the growing-up process, it\'s always seemed to me. (He decided that if one time zone was good, three would be perfect. So now my kid is an Easterner, and I may never get him back in the neighborhood, but even so I think it was the right thing to do.)

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - raja - 11-08-2010

Just an fyi - there is an article at scout.com for those that are members: http://recruiting.scout.com/2/1018620.html

To paraphrase (which understandably will miss some of the nuances in the article), Davis was calling the staff every week to check in, and found out 2 days prior to the interview with the reporter that he no longer fit into Stanford\'s plans.  He was told the defensive scheme had changed and he didn\'t really fit into the coaches\' plans.

There may be more to the story; I do not know.

- MC

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - fullmetal - 11-08-2010

Ouch :(  That doesn\'t reflect too well on the staff, does it?  At 6\'2" 230 lbs, I think he\'d be more of a 3-4 OLB, though maybe he could put on about 40 lbs to reach DL neighborhood...

The weird, asymmetric world of verbal commits - Redrum - 11-08-2010

The recruit can bolt anytime he wants.  No problem.  Maybe the school didn\'t live up to his expectations.

The school can terminate an offer anytime it wants.  Maybe the recruit didn\'t live up to the football staff\'s expectations.   Can be a BIG problem.  (Because the relative balance of power favors the school, maybe that "big problem" risk is a fair burden for the school to carry)

The recruit can speak freely to the public about his recruitment.

The school can hardly speak at all to the public about an athlete\'s recruitment.

In the Davis situation,  we are only hearing HIS side of the story.  It might be gospel truth,  or it might be a teenager trying to cope with a major dis,  or maybe a broken dream.   Maybe there were conditions of sustained performance growth put on his offer.  Maybe, he didn\'t perform like the staff thought he would.    

  Maybe he doesn\'t see it now, but maybe getting cut loose will save him from a career of bench time behind more gifted players.  Maybe.  Maybe, he\'ll go to a school that needs him, wants him, and will play him.   Win-win.   Maybe he blossoms into a fearsome AA outside linebacker with NFL potential.   We lose.  He wins.   How fair would it be to not be straight with the kid, let him enroll and just let him spend his college eligibility buried on the bench?

Just some perspective.

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - fullmetal - 11-08-2010

I guess you\'re right, especially if football is that important to the kid.  Would there ever be a case of a school terminating an offer (I didn\'t know they could do that), but the recruit enrolling in the university anyway?  I feel that Stanford might be a special enough institution where such a sacrifice could be worth it.  He doesn\'t have any offers from any other schools that I can see on Rivals, and the only schools he\'s listed are midwest/southwestern state schools.

Yes.  They\'re called walk-ons - Redrum - 11-08-2010

and we\'ve had dozens in the last couple years.  A few win scholarships.  Ryan Whalen, and Griff Whalen come to mind.   Most are one-year wonders who give it a shot then go back to being just regular students.  Some stick it out.  Others are considered grayshirts.   It\'s pre-arranged between player and staff.  They walk on for a year with a promise of a scholarship the next.   Gotta be a LOT of trust between the player and staff.

In Davis\' case,  he\'d have to have Stanford as his dream school,  the school he would go to any way he could.   Then he\'d have to walk on and work to prove the staff wrong.  Pretty tall order.   My guess is he is done with Stanford and will spit on little Leland\'s mausoleum if he ever gets the chance.

Re: In the midst of record run...a decommit - fullmetal - 11-08-2010

Davis has taken Stanford off the list of schools he\'s considering (as per Rivals), but if he\'s listening, I\'ll tell him 20 years down the road, a Stanford degree is going to be worth so much more than a degree from any of the other institutions from which he\'s hoping to get an offer.