Class of 2015 - OLB Shyheim (Shy) Cullen (MA) Signed LOI | Page 30 | Syracusefan.com

Class of 2015 OLB Shyheim (Shy) Cullen (MA) Signed LOI

This thread took a turn.
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Hey Bam - I'm as excited as everyone else here to have Shy on board but what really impressed me is how involved you are with your son's future, not only in football but an education at a fine institution. Its gratifying to know that you invested so much time to make sure Shy found the right fit for him.

Perhaps most parents of potential scholarship athletes are like you, but I've read of parents looking for the 'glory' of going to a big time program and driving their child's decision to fit their idea/goals/dreams instead of finding the best situation for their child. Kudos to you man, this entire thread has been a real treat to read from your perspective and thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Like Shafer and company, you seem like a real straight shooter and I appreciate your candid posts.

Also, kudos for being a great parent, your kids ... all of them, lol ... are lucky to have you guys as parents. And like some of the others, when you were describing the joy of tears that you, your wife and Shy were sharing when he accepted the offer ... well, it was a pretty darn moving moment :)
 
Hey Bam - I'm as excited as everyone else here to have Shy on board but what really impressed me is how involved you are with your son's future, not only in football but an education at a fine institution. Its gratifying to know that you invested so much time to make sure Shy found the right fit for him.

Perhaps most parents of potential scholarship athletes are like you, but I've read of parents looking for the 'glory' of going to a big time program and driving their child's decision to fit their idea/goals/dreams instead of finding the best situation for their child. Kudos to you man, this entire thread has been a real treat to read from your perspective and thanks for sharing your experiences with us. Like Shafer and company, you seem like a real straight shooter and I appreciate your candid posts.

Also, kudos for being a great parent, your kids ... all of them, lol ... are lucky to have you guys as parents. And like some of the others, when you were describing the joy of tears that you, your wife and Shy were sharing when he accepted the offer ... well, it was a pretty darn moving moment :)

Thank you for that. I tell you i have met a lot of kids going thru this. There was a kid from South Carolina that committed to BC. He had traveled up by himself to see the school and meet the coaches. He was being recruited by a few big southern schools and he told me he wanted to come to BC because he wanted to be a business major. I asked him why he didn't want to play for some of the big names recruiting him. And he said none of them cared about him as a player. They didn't care if he got a degree. I asked him where his parents were and he told me they don't go with him they aren't interested in where he plays. That kid changed the whole experience for me.
At the same visit was a kid on an offical. His parents were with him and they were loud. They were yelling all the time about how great the kid was. I believe they may have signed him to this years squad but I'm not sure. The parents were dressed like they had just won the lottery. I asked the kid a couple questions and he kinda blew me off like he was too good to talk to me. That kid changed this process for me and how I look at shy when he speaks to coaches parents and other athletes.

Then we went to rivals and I got to meet the hype of recruiting. There was about 30 + of the 4 and 5 star kids. The self entitlement that half of these kids put out is mind blowing. The entourage like they already made it was disturbing to see in a kid their age. The parents mugging to the coaches media and scouts was incredible.They made me realize what Shy and our family would not look like.

Then we visited UNH and we ran into a kid who Shy played against. A great player. I had expected him to be at a big time school and was surprised when he said he had signed with UNH. He was there with his coach and said his parents did have anything to do with his process and told Shy he was lucky I was helping him. I asked him if he had any big offers and he started rattling off a bunch of big schools. I said how did you end up here? He says they have a great program for my major one of the best in the country. Then he says I hope they red shirt me freshman year so I can egt an extra year for my degree. I was blown away. I couldnt believe this kid who I thought would be playing to make it to the next level really couldnt care about ever playing he was just happy to get his degree for free. He change my perception of this game.

I guess what I am trying to say is everyone has a different experience going thru this. I want to make sure Shy has the best of all worlds. Shy has been thru so much and has struggled so much. He deserves more than we could ever afford to give him. He is a great kid...I dont think you could ever understand the person he is. We live in a city that it is very easy for a kid to get caught up in the wrong thing..hell last night 5 kids were shot at a birthday party right down the street. 2 nights ago Shy asked if he could go to a friends house after a work out him and nick put together for the team at UMASS Lowell. My wife said sure. I asked her what time she told him to come home and she said she didnt. I was concerned he would be out late and had to be up early for team workouts and work with the Lowell police. But 9 oclock came and he walked in the door to say good night. I said how was the night and he said awesome all the graduted seniors had come over to the kids house b ecause they knew Shy would be there and wanted to congratulate him. I said really and the party broke up at 9? he said no the guys were all giving him a hard time about bailing but he had workouts the next morning and wanted to get to sleep. Then he told all the kids at the house that are playing next year he knows who is there and if any of them are late he will make sure their workout is one they never forget. He beats to his own drum. He doesnt care if people think he isnt cool for something he does.

When coach asked him and he told him he wanted to commit. It was incredible. It was a reward for all the crap, all the work Shy has been though and done. It made all the time all the money worth every second every penney. To see a kid that had points in life he wasnt expected to live thru come to this moment was like watching a movie. Things like that dont happen to real people but Shy deserves every bit of it. He is a self made man and is who he is through nothing but hard work.

That said he has a long hard fight coming to reach the goal. But he was on the phone with Syracuse staff emailing 3 times a day to make sure he is doing what needs to be done for eligibility. He has been to guidance at school 3 days in a row making sure they are getting all his classes right. He will spend his senior year working harder for grades than he ever has. At times I feel like I have failed him by not getting his testing done much earlier but I can only kick myself in the ass so many times before realizing doing so isnt getting anything done for him. I know he can do it. He wants this more than anything. A couple months ago a kid heard Shy was being looked at by BC and the kid said to him "you cant go to BC you need good grades to go there...football isnt going to cover up for that" Shy was pretty upset by that and qoutes it all the time. He is determined to show that kid he can not only graduate on time and be eligible on time but he will move on from college to work or the NFL and make the most of everything he has been given the opportunity to have.
 
Bam that post was awesome! I have a question for you. How, in your mind, would things play out if Shy gets all his grades up to where they need to be, and some big name programs start putting the full court press on. Would you and Shy tell them to pound sand, or would you take a look at the schools? Would it be to confirm that Syracuse is the right school, or maybe because one of those schools intrigues him?
 
We will take visits and speak with any schools that call. If god forbid tomorrow HCSS were to get fired or the NCAA gets a picture from Rutgers and were to level a death penalty on Syracuse or something of that catastrophic nature... Where say a new head coach came in and didnt like Shy or wasnt honoring past commits type of thing. As much as that would be a stretch of the imagination... I feel burning bridges does us no good. Shy sent emails to every coach he has spoken to the minute we left Syracuse telling them thank you and letting them know he committed...even schools who only called once and division 3 schools that just said Hi. But as I have said in the past Shy will be attending Syracuse...even if Alabama begs. He doesnt want to end up in a factory that doesnt care about him or that will take his commit away the week before signing. Barring the catastrophe he is all Syracuse
 
We will take visits and speak with any schools that call. If god forbid tomorrow HCSS were to get fired or the NCAA gets a picture from Rutgers and were to level a death penalty on Syracuse or something of that catastrophic nature... Where say a new head coach came in and didnt like Shy or wasnt honoring past commits type of thing. As much as that would be a stretch of the imagination... I feel burning bridges does us no good. Shy sent emails to every coach he has spoken to the minute we left Syracuse telling them thank you and letting them know he committed...even schools who only called once and division 3 schools that just said Hi. But as I have said in the past Shy will be attending Syracuse...even if Alabama begs. He doesnt want to end up in a factory that doesnt care about him or that will take his commit away the week before signing. Barring the catastrophe he is all Syracuse

absolutely Bam... You must continue to take visits, its in Shy's best interest and a great way for him to learn more.
 
Let BC people, whoever else do their sh-- talking and continue their antics.

Syracuse shows whose better on the field.

BC has no balls.
 
Bam, your post to like ratio is off the charts, probably approaching hall of fame territory!
 
Mostly they talked about Shy's work ethic. He asked him about when he knew Shy was going to be good and the coach said he was good the first time he saw him. Shy was one of two kids out of 8th grade to go to the football camp. He asked him about the athleticism and the coach said they were in the weight room this morning and Shy was putting on a show then went up to the basketball court and was dunking a ball on the basket ball court no problem. Most of the rest was just stuff you have heard from me before. lol.
 
Mostly they talked about Shy's work ethic. He asked him about when he knew Shy was going to be good and the coach said he was good the first time he saw him. Shy was one of two kids out of 8th grade to go to the football camp. He asked him about the athleticism and the coach said they were in the weight room this morning and Shy was putting on a show then went up to the basketball court and was dunking a ball on the basket ball court no problem. Most of the rest was just stuff you have heard from me before. lol.

I enjoyed seeing and hearing Shys' enthusiasm about his commitment to Syracuse.
 

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