<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Get The Picture]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://blutarsky.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Senator Blutarsky]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://blutarsky.wordpress.com/author/blutarsky/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Nutt cutting time, and other recruiting tales of&nbsp;woe]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/01/hot_corner_the_worst_words_a_c.html" target="_blank">Sad story</a> for an Ole Miss recruit:</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>&#8230; Collins Moore</strong> of Bob Jones is an example of another  side of recruiting, where schools say they have accepted more  commitments than scholarships they have to give. What follows is pure  spin control: We still love you as a player, but just not until next  January.</p>
<p>Moore heard those words last weekend. What awful timing. He committed  to Ole Miss in August over enviable choices such as Kentucky and LSU.  Of course, they no longer have room. He&#8217;s scrambling for a Plan B, but  will likely wear a grayshirt now.</p></blockquote>
<p>Of course, if he&#8217;d have picked LSU then, there&#8217;s no telling that Les wouldn&#8217;t have run into math problems of his own later on.</p>
<p>But here&#8217;s the other side of that coin.  Georgia Tech just lost its fourth recruit in less than two weeks (by the way, nice timing with <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2011/01/30/paul-johnson-on-techs-recruiting-ask-again-in-three-years/?cxntfid=blogs_mark_bradley_blog" target="_blank">this puff piece</a>, Mark Bradley) when defensive end <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/2011/01/30/georgia-tech-recruit-flips-to-arkansas-after-gambling-on-last-minute-trip-to-arkansas/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting" target="_blank">Trey Flowers</a> switched his verbal commitment to Arkansas.  In doing so, he sounds like he made as cold and calculated a decision as the Nuttster did.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Yes, I’m excited about Arkansas, but I do feel kind of bad how it  ended with Georgia Tech. I probably rushed with my decision to commit  [to Georgia Tech] last week. But I did it because I wanted to protect  myself with a big-time scholarship. Then a better situation came along  for me with Arkansas and I had to take it.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The more this stuff goes on, the more I&#8217;m convinced that <a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/andy_staples/06/05/early.signingday/index.html?eref=si_latest" target="_blank">Andy Staples has the best solution</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>UPDATE:</strong> I&#8217;m not the only one who saw <a href="http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/01/post_166.html" target="_blank">the linkage between Moore and Flowers</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>UPDATE #2:</strong> Speaking of Miles, <a href="http://www.2theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/114910549.html" target="_blank">he&#8217;s got math issues, too</a>.  Some of it&#8217;s a case of last year&#8217;s chickens coming home to roost.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8230; Twenty three is exactly where LSU’s recruiting class stands with the  commitment Friday of St. Paul’s defensive tackle Mickey Johnson.  Actually, he was No. 22, but LSU must also count Cameron Fordham, a  grayshirted offensive lineman signed in 2010, against this year’s class.</p></blockquote>
<p>But also note that there&#8217;s some painful notoriety he&#8217;s dealing with.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8230; But there is a fine line to be walked for the Tigers, numerically and  politically. Coach Les Miles is still stinging from the bad publicity —  he’d probably call it being singled out — by that ESPN Outside the  Lines piece on former Tiger quarterback Chris Garrett.</p>
<p>The subject was grayshirting, which is something  most schools do. Except most schools don’t get their grayshirts aired  like they were dirty laundry.</p>
<p>Then, there’s also the question of whether the  NCAA would consider any LSU signees over 23 as a slap in the face when  it hasn’t even accepted LSU’s self-imposed penalties yet.</p></blockquote>
<p>Still, there may be some wiggle room.</p>
<blockquote><p>So, if LSU is going to take anyone over 23, they had better be worth  it. Still, it’s worth it for Miles to take the chance. You can’t turn  down top-notch talent now because of some potential backlash. Could it  possibly be worse than losing a game because you were missing that one  key recruit?</p>
<p>There is one particular recruit who LSU could cut  ties with to make room for someone else: Redemptorist running back  Jeremy Hill.</p>
<p>Hill was arrested earlier this month on a charge  of oral sexual battery with a 14-year-old female student at RHS. Despite  that, LSU is still apparently willing to accept his letter of intent  Wednesday.</p></blockquote>
<p>If that ain&#8217;t your quintessential 2011 recruiting dilemma in a nutshell (see how I did that?), I don&#8217;t know what is.</p>
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