Big Recruiting Weekend
Nick Saban and Alabama, despite already being on tract to having one of the most oversigned classes in the country is having one of its biggest recruiting weekends this weekend.
"The Crimson Tide will welcome 11 recruits to campus trying to land deals with some of the nation's elite high school athletes."
Wonder what kind of "deals" the writer is talking about here?
"This might be the biggest weekend since (Alabama coach Nick Saban) and his staff have been there," Bamaonline.com recruiting editor Tim Watts said. "It's certainly the biggest I remember in the last 10 years or so. Whenever you see the No. 1 player in the country coming in on a visit it's always a big deal."
So despite the fact that they have 21 verbal commitments and 2 greyshirts that count towards this class, and given Alabama has one of the smallest senior classes in the country, Nick Saban and Alabama are hosting 11 recruits this weekend. Granted some of them are probably just taking a free trip and there is no way on earth they sign all 11 of them, but why are they even bringing anyone in when they have already exceeded their projected scholarship limit based on the same guidelines the Big 10 Conference office would use to determine if they had room for more recruits? Why? Because SEC Commissioner, Mike Slive, is a puppet that serves at the pleasure of the SEC University Presidents and the President at the University of Alabama does not have the guts to stand up to Nick Saban and tell him what he is doing is wrong, unethical, and would not be tolerated anywhere in the Big 10 and at several universities around the country.
Alabama also will welcome a handful of players who already have verbally committed, including Vigor wide receiver Marvin Shinn.
According to Watts and Bone, the Tide has done a good job of filling its needs. But if Alabama can add a few more commitments it could reclaim its place at the nation's overall top signing class for 2011.
We don't have a problem with bringing in guys who have already verbally committed elsewhere, that is common practice and generally accepted, but the issue is that Alabama is so far over the limit and they are hell bent on signing 25-28 and sorting it out during spring camp and summer workouts. Chances are, the guys that are verbally committed to other schools are committed to schools that have legitimate room for them; yet here is Nick Saban and Alabama, who by Big 10 Conference recruiting rules does not have any room and would be reprimanded, still bringing in recruits and still trying to get players.
The problem is that there is so much talent available now all over the country that the recruiting game is just as much about keeping players away from rivals as it is about filling your roster needs.
The only thing that can stop Nick Saban is the NCAA and the only way to get the NCAA to stop Nick Saban is to continue to spread the word about this practice and to shame the NCAA, Mike Slive, and the University Presidents into putting an end to oversigning.
While they are at it they might want to consider monitoring coaching hires as well...
Alabama may have improved its chances to land Clowney after it hired former Clemson assistant Chris Rumph to coach the defensive line.
For those that don't know, Clowney is a once-in-a-lifetime player. He is a game changer with raw physical ability rarely seen, even at a school like Alabama that is used to having players like Julio Jones. Simply put, this kid is a freak and the kind of player with which you win championships. We're sure hiring Clowney's favorite coach had nothing to do with his recruitment. This doesn't have anything to do with oversigning, it just wreaks, but then again what doesn't about a school and coach that are habitual abusers of something that an entire conference banned and the reason Georgia Tech left the SEC back in the 1960's.
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January 15th, 2011 - 10:18
Clowney is a good kid. He deserves better than Saban.
January 16th, 2011 - 13:03
I hear Clowney is “considering” taking a visit to Ohio St. There must be a tattoo that he’s wanting to get.
January 16th, 2011 - 19:59
He should go to ND, the greatest tradition in CFB, where he will be respected as a student, not some modern day Roman warrior for the crazies in Alabama
January 18th, 2011 - 12:10
the greatest tradition* in CFB.
* not valid since 1988.
January 18th, 2011 - 10:08
He deserves better than languishing in USCe too, just because mama wants him close to home.
January 15th, 2011 - 10:36
You bolded Marvin Shinn’s name and then followed it with this, “We don’t have a problem with bringing in guys who have already verbally committed elsewhere”. FYI, Marvin Shinn (as well as several of the other 11 visitors) are committed to ALABAMA. Do you ever bother to get your facts straight before posting a new entry?
And now you’ve stooped to making insinuations based on the reporter’s use of the word “deal”. Let me ask you a question. Do you think that the journalist was implying that there was something untoward when he wrote “trying to land deals”? Be honest.
January 15th, 2011 - 10:45
It helps him to try and make his arguement. Because again he uses numbers that are not correct. Funny though he say please give me info to help or to correct anythin he post, but he should add not if it involves UA.
Again when you write something get your facts correct. UA has 20 verbal since Shannon Brown is no longer a part of the class.
http://alabama.scout.com/a.z?s=14&p=2&c=1037457&ssf=1&RequestedURL=http%3a%2f%2falabama.scout.com%2f2%2f1037457.html
Someone posted yesterday that one player should not be the concern but it is the principle that when making statements they should be correct.
January 15th, 2011 - 10:51
Updated…you have to bear with me, there is a lot of information being passed around and I’m trying to keep it updated. Rivals has not updated their list yet, but it appears that scout has; numbers have been updated.
January 15th, 2011 - 10:55
Thank you and yes I know UA will still oversign even without S Brown or if others decommit. My guess is UA will finish with 23-25 this class, if it can land the few still high on their board, but will not just add players to fill the last few spots.
January 15th, 2011 - 11:01
Senior class of 8 scholarship players and they finish with 23-25 recruits plus the 2 greyshirts…how you don’t find that embarrassing is beyond me, especially when it is well document that the vast majority of the country rejects this method. Desperate and pathetic.
January 15th, 2011 - 11:13
I did not say I supported it but just stating that will happen. The one thing this site got me to do is evaluate the whole process of why oversigning has happened. I have learned alot and they are things the NCAA needs to address to that would eliminate this practice.
Like I stated before even if if the Big10 rules were adopted by the SEC what safeguards are in place to keep players from getting pushed out. Making room in the spring to accomodate 25 new players or in December before they sign. How does the Big 10 deal with that?
I think Mario once posted that we need a better policy in place that affords the player an opportunity to stay with the school. Right now the NCAA is a joke regarding protecting the student in this case. Lets say a player does not want to transfer and by luck they win their appeal and the school has to retain them and offer their scholarship for the next year. So a player now has to work his tail off to never see the field just to maintian his scholarship.. Even though he is not wanted he still has to show up at that point.
January 15th, 2011 - 16:52
You bring up a good point about the fact that schools will continue to push kids out only the process will just move to December/January. I’m sure that kind of thing happens in the Big Ten but I’m not aware of any overt “cuts”. You do see kids announcing they are transferring and I’m sure some of them are under the advice of the coaching staff.
Limiting oversigning won’t totally protect the players and we’d be naive to think it could ever be 100% fair. It is a good first step though.
January 15th, 2011 - 16:59
I agree but I would like to see this site move in a direction to address it than the bante rback and forth between fans. Heck I was guilty in the bieginning for it, but we already know what schools do it, which conferences are worse for it, who does not like it, but lets work on fixing it.
And I was asking a legit question before becuase I do not know how the Big 10 deals with roster management as the way the SEC turnsover its roster.
January 20th, 2011 - 18:55
Do you find it embarrassing that Ohio State had 5 players, including a star QB, who should have been ineligible but played all year?
January 15th, 2011 - 11:06
$1 says 25 will be the number.
illegitimate program
January 15th, 2011 - 10:54
Did not bold his name, it was bold in the original article. The “deals” comment was TIC, if you can’t see that then there is nothing I can do about that.
What facts are not straight? I did not say Shinn was committed somewhere else, I said “guys”.
January 15th, 2011 - 11:04
If it was meant as TIC, then that’s fine, but, no, it was not apparent to me at all reading your entry.
Reread your entry pretending you’re a visitor to the site. Would you not leave with the impression that Shinn is committed elsewhere? It’s very misleading in my opinion.
January 15th, 2011 - 15:46
Yeah right man. You are just trying to back off of your awful research or downright fact twisting. It is very obvious that you were either twisting it to say that Shinn was verbally committed somewhere else or you thought that he was. Either way you are a clown and an idiot.
January 15th, 2011 - 20:12
That was directed at Josh, not me, right?
January 15th, 2011 - 11:07
It’s not mentioned in the source article, but it’s worth mentioning that 4 of the 11 visitors are Alabama commitments
January 15th, 2011 - 12:38
Typical reaponse…only 6 over…lol. Pathetic and the whole country is starting to see it what it is. Keep your head in the sand if you want. By the way, if this is a business then perhaps Alabama should lose its tax exempt status and be forced to adhere to basic labor laws for their players, I mean employees. You are nothing more than the typical idiot that doesn’t see this for what it is; win at all costs and the professionalization of college athletics.
January 15th, 2011 - 14:15
Why do you insist on calling readers to your site names? The fact is simple: If no player signed in any given February “loses” out on a chance of the one-year scholarship through no fault of his own (in other words – as long as all academically qualified players that signed and were not told of a possible greyshirt), then “managing” the numbers is acceptable. Name me one student-athlete signed by Saban that was eventually denied an initial one-year football scholarhip because there was no room for him in the 25/85 (and if said player was a greyshirt, prove that Saban had not previously discussed such a possibility/probablility with said player). You can’t do it because all student athletes that are signed are accounted for by August. Saban as well as other coaches recognize that there are current players on scholarship that will not return for the next season (whether it be for medical, academics, legal issues, violating team rules, personal reasons, etc.). Can you prove that Saban has denied a returning player his scholarship (because said player did not measure up athletically) and the player did not consent?
Frankly I don’t see what the big hubbub is over this issue of oversigning, but I guess I’m also just a plain idiot from Alabama too. LOL
January 15th, 2011 - 17:27
If you want to talk about programs losing their tax exempt status, then let’s talk about Ohio State. That school outspends every program in the nation. Maybe we should start another website overspending.com? Is it just maybe possible that spending should be regulated by the NCAA? Why should it be fair that Ohio State be able to spend twice that of virtually every 1-A program in the nation? Maybe because there isn’t a rule that prohibits it? It seems to me that there would be plenty of university presidents that would love to see a “salary cap” imposed on programs like Ohio State’s.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/bowls10/news/story?id=5970794
January 15th, 2011 - 17:29
It’s also pretty clear that OSU wouldn’t be spending $31 million-plus on its football program if they weren’t taking a win-at-all-costs approach, and any other opinion on the subject is “pathetic”, because I just deemed it so.
January 15th, 2011 - 21:12
Hoss,
OSU football supports 36 varsity sports. Alabama supports 19 varsity sports. Where is all of that Revenue going for Alabama?
OSU’s coaches are not paid anything near Alabama’s.
January 16th, 2011 - 20:41
The $31 million is not the amount of revenue generated on BEHALF of other programs, genius, it is the amount SPENT on football. Alabama was #2 on that list. But we need to even things out so that ALL programs have an equal chance. Right? That’s the whole purpose of this site–to instill fairness in the system, and it isn’t fair that a wealthy program should have an advantage over one that isn’t. This is why salary caps are in place in professional football and basketball. To protect the smaller-market teams and to allow them to be competitive.
Where is your sanctimony on THAT topic?
January 15th, 2011 - 15:42
LOL…there is nothing “normal” about it.
But keep going on.
Oversigning days are numbered.
January 15th, 2011 - 16:10
Again even if you require teams to provide a budget I have yet seen any safeguards put into place that will prevent teams from managing their rosters from the way they are now. Again what they do in the spring and summer can be done in December. Until something is put into place to negate these actions schools will continue to do it. There has to be something that will work as a deterent so when sign and place, transfer, or whatever is happening forces the school to be held accoutable ofr these players.
Right now there is nothing, so saying oversigning days are numbered looks to have little value. Until the NCAA actually address the student athlete and scholarship awards there will always be gray area that allow schools and coaches to skirt the edges and not break a rule.
January 17th, 2011 - 14:46
So Alabama is an illegitimate program for breaking a rule that doesn’t exist?
January 18th, 2011 - 12:11
Whining is a Big 10 tradition didn’t you know?
January 18th, 2011 - 08:07
So, it seems this site advocates scholarship welfare.
January 20th, 2011 - 14:29
A simple cure for oversigning is this: if a player has a scholarship “non-renewed” they are immediately eligible at a new school. Hard to believe that the NCAA turns the cheek when a student-athlete has a scholarship revoked then forces that student-athlete to sit out a year in order to transfer.
January 26th, 2011 - 14:00
I stopped at “… already being on tract … .”
Go put on the dunce cap.