U of M thread (in the Lions Forum) :)

[Rocky Bleier]

Looks as though Mr. High Moral Character Dantonio has his own wizard hat which he used to put a spell on the impressionable David Barrent. I'm sure that's Rich's fault.

[froot loops]

Whooh, some thin skins in this thread.

[Masspartan]

David Barrent was a 'soft verbal' to Iowa and made Michigan State his choice some 6 months ago ... he didn't flip in the 11th hour which is what this article is portraying. Not even close.

Big difference in losing a guy 6 minutes before signing day and 6 months.

[froot loops]

yep

[nhwbrooklyn]

David Barrent was a 'soft verbal' to Iowa and made Michigan State his choice some 2 months ago ... he didn't flip in the 11th hour which is what this article is portraying. Not even close.

Yeah Iowa's coach is on the hot seat and word is he didn't want to play for a guy about to get fired.

[Masspartan]

^ Actually it was 6 months ago ... I took a quick look at the David Barrent thread at Spartantailgate.com and the information their is that Iowa had a lot of problems with the law last year and DB wanted no part of it.

[Rocky Bleier]

Guess the "Gentlemen's Agreement" doesn't apply to anyone then.

[Rocky Bleier]

David Barrent was a 'soft verbal' to Iowa and made Michigan State his choice some 6 months ago ... he didn't flip in the 11th hour which is what this article is portraying. Not even close.

Big difference in losing a guy 6 minutes before signing day and 6 months.

You must have missed this from the article:

One of Michigan State's top offensive line prospects is David Barrent, a native of West Des Moines who originally committed to Iowa.

[Masspartan]

Didn't miss anything Rocky .... but obviously you did.

Barrent originally verballed to Iowa in May, 2008 before he had taken his visits .... by July he had changed his mind .... a full 6 months before signing day.

The whole point of the article was to shed light on guys making last minute changes ... late changes where it is way to late to recruit another player in his stead. Iowa had 6 months to offer another lineman.

Dantonio is one of the most straight up recruiters in the business by all accounts. He actually discourages guys from making a quick decision (even if they were to choose MSU) and tells them to take the other visits and talk it over with your family before commiting. It is one reason why MSU didn't have those last second changes and had all 23 signing day faxes on board by 10:00am. Coach D should be applauded, and I for one, really respect the job, intensity and integrity he brings to the table.

In the end why not admit, both schools did a nice job, though I wouldn't change the class State brought in for U-M's, but then I'm a State homer, so why would I? It would have been nice to get Campbell though.

More on Dantonio recruiting.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090129/SPORTS07/90129008/1055/rss20

[froot loops]

Matt Dorsey is one of the few media members not behind the Blue Wall.

[SeattleLionsFan]

mass last minute defections were not the point of the article but instead about the relative uselessness of verbal commits and the poaching of verbal commits within the nog ten.

A more interesting idea than an early signing day is signing non binding letters of commitment which "closes" recruiting by other schools, but would allow an athlete to rescind the agreement and re-open recruiting.

[Rocky Bleier]

The whole point of the article was to shed light on guys making last minute changes ... late changes where it is way to late to recruit another player in his stead. Iowa had 6 months to offer another lineman.

Then why is it mentioned in the article? Because it's not just about last minute changes. It's about kids breaking their original committment, period. Or, if you believe Froot, it was to prove that Rodriguez was the first coach ever to make an offer to a kid who had already given a verbal elsewhere. It's really about kids playing the recruiting game. I don't think Barrent did. Neither did Roundtree, who didn't get an offer from Michigan until Rodriguez became coach in January. However, if he had made up his mind well before Signing Day, he should have told Tiller.

[DanO]

"The day started with Wisconsin plucking four-star receiver Kraig Appleton from Illinois."
-------------------------Well it's only proper that a guy named Appleton should sign with Wisconsin.

GO LIONS "09" !!!!!!!!!

[froot loops]

The point of the article did focus on decommits in general but they did put some empashis on the last minute defections. The article isn't very clear that Barrent wasn't a last minute defection. It was the third example and the first two were allegedly last second defections.

[nhwbrooklyn]

The point of the article did focus on decommits in general but they did put some empashis on the last minute defections. The article isn't very clear that Barrent wasn't a last minute defection. It was the third example and the first two were allegedly last second defections.

It was a bit misleading, while worth mentioning Barrent, the author should have noted Barrent changed his mind 6th months ago and that he decided not to attend Iowa before deciding to attend MSU. If that makes sense.

He left it vague... making the reader assume MSU's coaching staff was part of the "Big Ten-on-Big Ten crime" when really that isn't the case.

But journalists do this all the time.. the main agenda here was the big ten wants an early signing date.