Recruiting is a business. We were all reminded of that on Monday evening. Sometimes kids decommit, and us as fans get upset. Commits take their official visits to other schools, and we question why they would take their visits if they are “committed” to a school.
The days leading up to National Signing Day can just get crazy if you follow recruiting. Kids change their mind on where they want to go, or maybe they make their first commitment and choose their school, leaving other schools scrambling to fill their final spots.
It is not always the kids that change their minds though. Sometimes the school has a change of plans, and unfortunately, that can happen two days before National Signing day. Matt Colburn, a running back out of South Carolina, had been committed to the Cards since June 25, 2014. After that, he shut down his recruitment and did not take other visits. He was about as solid as a commit could get.
On Monday, he was informed that the UofL coaching staff was going to ask that he would greyshirt, meaning he would pay his own way for a semester before possibly earning his scholarship in the spring.
The following comes from Steve Jones of the Courier Journal…
Colburn, a 5-foot-8, 185-pound player from Dutch Fork High School, said U of L assistant coach Tony Grantham called him early Monday afternoon to tell him the Cards decided they needed additional defensive backs in their 2015 class to offset the loss of their starting secondary, so they would not be able to accept a letter of intent from him this week.
“It’s been about eight months now that I’ve been committed, and I feel kind of short-changed because I got this (commitment and recruitment) taken care of even before the season started so I wouldn’t have to worry about this anymore. But I guess that’s just the way it is sometimes.”
Colburn, who officially visited U of L just two weeks ago, said Grantham offered him a chance to delay his enrollment to a year from now – a so-called grayshirt offer – but Colburn said he’s “not too fond of” sitting out all of next season.
Grantham “sounded sincere,” Colburn said. “It just wasn’t his decision ultimately. They said they tried to work it out any way possible, but it just wouldn’t work with the numbers that they had. They just had to go with their priorities, and their priority was DBs. They’re not taking any running backs as far as I’m concerned.”
He and his high school coaches spent Monday afternoon and evening calling around trying to gauge interest from other schools because he had shut off his recruitment ever since committing to the Cards.
Football recruiting. Crazy.
Is he still going to be a Cardinal?
Rusty, would you still be a Cardinal after being treated that poorly by a disgraceful football Staff with no integrity? The answer is No. Other South Carolina high school coaches are following the lead of Dutch Fork’s coach and banning any Louisville Staff from contrasting their players. This kid committed eight months ago and Louisville axed him with less than 48 hours of signing day. This article is rubbish. The NCAA should take a look at this case and at least issue a reprimand!