There’s a couple reasons I stay away from the area of recruiting news beyond linking to info from others and basic opinion. As much as we all crave the info. The scoop. The inside info. There are days when the whole thing just makes you want to take a chemical rinse to wash it all away.
Let’s face it, the whole nature of recruiting has a natural “eww” factor. We are talking borderline stalking of young, athletic boys — by multiple parties. And fans are on websites and forums obsessively tracking and going on emotional rollercoasters over their plans. I try not to think too much about that.
From highly accomplished and acclaimed coaches doing whatever it takes to convince some kid in high school to come sign, to the recruiting sites breathlessly reporting on the latest impulses of a 16-year old boy. And so much crosses each wire. The coaches and assistants feed some info to the recruiting sites to maneuver and relay info to the recruits. The recruiting sites use that info to have scoops. Everyone knows the game and plays it. I don’t want to say all sides use each other, so much as carefully share information to maximize their own interests. Even the kids at this point. They understand. Probably better than most of us.
It also means those that do write on recruiting are generally stuck with info that comes off as vague unless it comes from the kids, the family or the high school/AAU coaches. College coaches and the assistants aren’t allowed to talk on the record about recruits. That’s an NCAA no-no. So anything gleaned from sources within an athletic department have to be protected. It can’t come back, which requires a certain nebulous quality in conveying that side of the info.
On the academic issues, there’s a lot of problems in tracking that. There are privacy/verification issues of the student. Plus, these things are fluid. Heck, I posted on FanHouse about how Arizona commit Brandon Jennings has not yet academically qualified. It doesn’t mean he won’t get qualified. But right now, he hasn’t. It has an impact on how early a commit can get on campus and people want to know. So even if ultimately it comes to nothing, it gets reported at that moment.
