Coach Bans Georgia Football from Campus
July 23rd, 2009 - byHere’s an example from ESPN Rise about how poor communication can sour the recruiting process.
When the Georgia Bulldogs decided to back out of their scholarship offer to Carver (Ga.) High School quarterback Devin Burns, they didn’t cut off their relationship with just him.
They find themselves banned from stepping on the Carver campus, as well.
Burns, accompanied by his family, had traveled to Athens last weekend with the intention of formally committing to the Bulldogs after receiving a scholarship offer from coach Mark Richt and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo this spring.
But while he was on the trip, the Bulldogs — who apparently knew of Burns’ travel plans — had decided to withdraw the offer.
Carver coach Dell McGee, upset with the timing, has since informed the Georgia coaching staff that for now, it was not welcome to visit the school, located by the Alabama border.
“I say that to show them that the incident that occurred wasn’t appreciated,” McGee said, according to the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. “The biggest thing is, the University of Georgia knew, they had knowledge of Devin and his parents coming there for the weekend. For them not to communicate that they had rescinded that offer before that was not very professional.”
“I talked to my parents and my coaches about it, and I just got over it,” Burns said told the Ledger-Enquirer. “My parents raised me to be able to deal with things like this.”
McGee acknowledged that the ban does not mean there will be no communication between the schools. The coach said he would not prevent his players from visiting or talking with Georgia.
“Rescinding a scholarship is not uncommon; that’s not my problem,” McGee told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It’s really about how the situation was handled. It’s the manner in which it was done.”
This is yet another example of how important communication with a coach is throughout the recruiting process. Had Burns understood his situation with Georgia, he may have never had to go through this ordeal. Recruits should always be in contact with coaches that are interested in them in order to stay on the same page.
