Stud football recruit wavering

[JasonEvans]

As I was surfing around this AM, reading random websites, I happened to read a bit about Aramide Olaniyan, who is Duke's top recruit in football for the class of 2010.

You may recall a lot of folks here got excited when he committed in the spring. He is a linebacker who is a little undersized but has great speed and athleticism. A ton of big-time programs were after him when he committed to Duke and we all celebrated this big get. He is considered one of the 20 best linebacker prospects in the land.

Well, he has been playing really well at summer camps and now even more programs are after him, despite his commitment to Duke. He recently went to Notre Dame's camp and says he is hoping to get an offer from the Irish. He is also going to visit UCLA this summer. Clemson, FSU, and Michigan have all made offers since he committed to Duke and Penn State is starting to get involved as well.

I know this is part of college football recruiting, but I have never understood this "soft verbal" stuff where a kid commits to a school but still encourages other schools to make offers and evaluate/recruit him. It is just strange.

Anyway, here's hoping he sticks with his first love-- the Blue Devils!

--Jason "sorry I cannot provide more links, but a lot of this was gleaned from reading opening lines/teasers of paid content" Evans

[wolfpackdevil]

This is just like CJ leslie and NC State in Basketball.

CJ is one of the top Basketball recruits for the 2010 class and he gave a "soft verbal" to NCSU before his Sophomore year of High School.

Now he has decomitted to NCSU and is considering about 15 schools.



Hopefully this does'nt happen to Duke's Football Recruit

[CameronBornAndBred]

I know this is part of college football recruiting, but I have never understood this "soft verbal" stuff where a kid commits to a school but still encourages other schools to make offers and evaluate/recruit him. It is just strange.

How about this guy? He's a Miami commit that went to a Florida camp so he could "improve his recruiting stock". He got kicked out of the camp for riling up the masses.
Link To Story

[RepoMan]

I wonder if our success this season might help bring this outstanding recruit back into the fold. Anyone heard anything?

[airowe]

I wonder if our success this season might help bring this outstanding recruit back into the fold. Anyone heard anything?

Nothing positive.

[Kedsy]

I know this is part of college football recruiting, but I have never understood this "soft verbal" stuff where a kid commits to a school but still encourages other schools to make offers and evaluate/recruit him. It is just strange.

Sounds a little like Austin Rivers, doesn't it?

[Richard Berg]

CJ is one of the top Basketball recruits for the 2010 class and he gave a "soft verbal" to NCSU before his Sophomore year of High School.

Now he has decomitted to NCSU and is considering about 15 schools.

So you're saying that some teenagers, when faced with a decision about 4-5 years of their life (a HUGE amount of time to a kid, recall), occasionally change their minds? Golly gee. I have a really hard time getting worked up about this.

Of course I want Olaniyan to come to Duke, but at least I recognize that my wishes are 100% selfish.

[Greg_Newton]

Nothing positive.

There have been a couple recent interviews with him where he sounds really impressed with Duke's recent performance. Supposedly we're just as much in it as anyone else at this point... if we win 1-2 more games it seems like he'd be hard pressed not to come back home!

[Edouble]

Sounds a little like Austin Rivers, doesn't it?

Ronald Curry.

[jafarr1]

Read the last line of this article.

[airowe]

There have been a couple recent interviews with him where he sounds really impressed with Duke's recent performance. Supposedly we're just as much in it as anyone else at this point... if we win 1-2 more games it seems like he'd be hard pressed not to come back home!

Yep, Greg. Looks like you're right. Just read a couple more articles and he is impressed...

[The_Greater_Blue]

Commits to UCLA today...Would have been a huge get for Duke football but chose to head out west to Cali...More fun in the sun I reckon.

[juise]

That's too bad. I hope the commitment was more about the atmosphere in Westwood than about the football program. The Rick Neuheisel era has been very unimpressive thus far. They are definitely in the bottom half of the Pac-10.

[Highlander]

Commits to UCLA today...Would have been a huge get for Duke football but chose to head out west to Cali...More fun in the sun I reckon.

So did he commit, commit? Or just kinda commit like he did for us?

[DevilAlumna]

That's too bad. I hope the commitment was more about the atmosphere in Westwood than about the football program. The Rick Neuheisel era has been very unimpressive thus far. They are definitely in the bottom half of the Pac-10.

Ugh. I would expect more of a Woodberry Forest senior than to want to go play for "Slick Rick" at a bottom-of-the-PAC-10 team. Seriously, Neuheisel is a lying weasel of a coach, who took down good programs at Colorado and Washington prior to his current stint in LaLaLand.

[juise]

Ugh. I would expect more of a Woodberry Forest senior than to want to go play for "Slick Rick" at a bottom-of-the-PAC-10 team. Seriously, Neuheisel is a lying weasel of a coach, who took down good programs at Colorado and Washington prior to his current stint in LaLaLand.

As someone who grew up a Washington fan, I know this all too well. He had a couple nice season (2000 in particular), but left the once proud program in shambles. At least UCLA didn't have that much to lose when they rolled the dice on him.