Committed…Finally
March 17th, 2009 - byYesterday Bryce Brown, the top running back prospect in the country, finally ended his long strange recruiting cycle and committed to the University of Tennessee. Much has been written about his decommitment to Miami as well as his relationship with Brian Butler. Andy Staples weighs in on the strange saga and endorses several rule changes including an early signing period. He also had this to say about how athlete’s like Brown have looked to “adviser’s” to help with the recruiting process.
Many prospects have unstable families or coaches who aren’t helpful, so they gravitate toward street agents or scam artists. Whereas Butler charges for training services, the street agents quietly shop players to colleges, hoping for a payday. The scam artists, meanwhile, soak unwitting parents by promising to publicize players through bogus all-star games or sham Web sites. Compared to those guys, the Brian Butlers of the world don’t seem all that bad.
But his commitment process doesn’t always have to be such a saga.
A few minutes before Brown revealed his choice, he made an admission. “It was like a roller-coaster ride,” he said. “I didn’t expect for it turn out like this.” Hopefully, it worked out best for Brown. Hopefully, the rest of us learned something, too.
It is abundantly clear that their is a void in recruiting education at high schools across America. Their is also a lack of guidance for athletes and seeking to make the most important decision thus far in their lives. At NCSA we are dedicated to helping athletes with this process and hope that cases like Brown’s don’t become the norm.
