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January 28th, 2009 - byA coach offers a recruit a scholarship just to entice his more talented friend and teammate on campus. It’s called the buddy system or a package deal. It has being going on in college athletics for years.
“You’ll see it a couple of times every year,” said Tom Lemming, a recruiting expert for CBS College Sports Television. 
“BCS-type schools will try to bring in a buddy or a teammate to land a great player. And a lot of times it does work.”
USC and Washington are currently battling over top recruit James Boyd and it appears that his good friend Delvon Purvis will play a huge factor in the decision. While Boyd is a top recruit verbally committed to USC, Purvis has yet to get an offer. Both are scheduled to visit Washington this weekend.
“I just want to get him to a Division I school,” Boyd would later say of his teammate.
“It’s really like a Rubik’s cube with a lot of pieces and everyone’s scrambling at the last second,” the high school coach said. “One move affects five other moves.”
The point I would make to athletes in this type of situation is clear: IT’S YOUR DECISION!
What will happen if the lesser talent friend fails to make the team as a sophomore? What if he is unhappy with his lack of playing time? Did he chose a school based academics and fit or because it was the only Division I scholarship offer?
Will the more talented friend have a losing college career by following his friend? Will he be happy with systems in place? Will he be happy with the academic program?
The questions are numerous and the answers are complicated. So complicated that I urge every potential recruit to make decisions based on what they feel is in their best interest. By making such an important decision based on someone else you may end up hurting both of your futures.
