That's a good question and thank you for thinking we are on top of this. Truth is I m pretty clueless and just learning as we go. We have discussed the big names and shy doesn't want to go to the factories. We have met a lot of kids through this and very chance I get I pick their brains. I see who they have talked to what they thought of it. The biggest thing that has rung thru is the kids that have a brain all say they don't care about me as a person just as a player. They won't help me get my degree they will just put me in easy classes to stay eligible. Shy doesn't want any part of it. From a football stand point the big schools don't get you any closer to the nfl than syracuse or bc but they put you further away from your degree... At least for a kid that may need some help the ultra smart book worms will be fine where ever. Shy has 3 schools on a list Syracuse Miami and BC . But bc cooled way off after shys last report card and shy looks at it as they don't believe in him. It had really slid them way down from where he was a couple months ago. Miami these week end was quite the trip great campus decent school they say all the right things about acedamics and haven't really heard anything bad in that front. The coaches were all very nice and lived shy. The big problem aside from they haven't offered is their defense isn't really set up for shy. I'm sure shy could work and fit any scheme but I think the coaches feel they have other fish they want to land before making a project of shy. As far as post commit offers shy and I have talked extensively about it. His word is his word. Syracuse has put faith in him to offer and he won't change once he commits ( aside from what I have always said... If coaches leave or get fired ... Ncaa sanctions etc real reasons ) not just well so and so looks better. Shy has very little use for these kids that use a commit to draw attention. He even told one kid that told him he wAs doing it to get a better offer that he wouldn't want to play with a kid who would do that. So when you see the BOOM SHY committed ... To who ever it is... You won't need to worry till signing day with this kid
I won't lie, it's very exciting to hear you talk about how those factories don't have any sort of family culture, and they could give a rats backside about a kids ability to have a life if he can't go pro (which is still 50% of their roster or higher for any one year).
Like you said at SU they want to be a family that extends beyond the field. It really seems like Marrone was able to start that ball rolling, and Shafer has been able to put it in full swing. That's all we ever hear about, how much like a family we are, and it is great to hear that it really does matter to kids out there. Since you've talked to so many kids, what other schools seem to really have that family first culture?
Love the fact Shy wants to be a student at the next level. That's especially exciting to hear given his academic issues previously. It wouldn't be that shocking to hear a student in that situation just wanting things made easy for him so he can just play ball. Now that he has his IEP and is getting the additional supports that he needs, it sounds like he won't have a problem getting through HS and qualifying, especially with the help of another year to get that stuff up even more.
I don't claim to know a ton about IEPs, (and you've probably thought of this anyways) but I believe there are certain accommodations that HS students can receive that college students can not. I would shoot his case manager (or perhaps talking to Shy's lead SU recruiter would be the better option?) an email and see if she can clarify, so that before Shy's final HS evaluation meeting, he has the proper accommodations listed that will transfer with him to college and make sure he has all the necessary supports. I would hate to see him make tons of progress and then back step because something he was accustomed to as a support wasn't available to him.
Random piece of advice/suggestion (which might be hard on a mobile device) but for your longer posts, could you space them out a touch? Always a little easier on the eyes, you won't get people who do the whole TLDR; garbage when some really good stuff you point out is there to give us all the more insight, and for my own selfishness, I often get interrupted when surfing and it takes time to find where I was when I got interrupted.
Lastly I would also like to say its nice to hear about "your word is your word, and you stick by it." Essentially you don't want him to say yes until he's 100% all in, and that's great to see. Also quite happy to see Shy isn't a fan of kids using schools to get bigger offers. That practice annoys the crap out of me.
Couple more questions...
How did you guys identify your top 3, Miami, BC and Syracuse? Was that a growing up thing? Or were they the first to reach out? Something else entirely?
I assume you are aware, but we unveiled new Uniforms are while back, what do you think of them? What about Shy? Do the uniform he'd be wearing make an ounce of difference to him/you guys? Do you think uniforms make that big of a deal in terms of recruiting? This has been debated to death around here, and would be nice to get an opinion from somebody who is actually in a position to help answer those questions.
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