The Extravagence of College Football Recruiting

[zls44]

Endless lobster and steak. Being put up in hotel rooms with jacuzzis on the patio. Money is no object when the only object is winning.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/high_school/7696869.htm
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/high_school/7804726.htm

I didnt link the Auburn visit because they didnt show anywhere NEAR the audacity that FSU and Miami did to try and get this kid to play football for them.

[PVnRT]

1. Isn't that against the rules?

Rick Majerus at Utah (basketball) got fined for buying a recruit a $5 hamburger.

[zls44]

2. Nope

Since theyre RECRUITS, they can do this.

If they are actual PLAYERS, they cant. Majerus bought his team the burgers. If they werent on the team though, no problem. Frankly its all ridiculous.

[democrat in Tallahassee]

3. Sorry, but it's all legal; that's what recruting trips are for--

to impress the kids and recruit them to come and play for you. And if the only object at FSU was to win, we wouldn't have kicked Randy Moss and Adrienne McPherson off the team. Besides, we haven't even won that much lately.

[Awsi Dooger]

4. I posted the Auburn link last week in the Lounge

Entitled, "The Recruiting of Willie Williams..." or something like that.

Let's see, Auburn tried to tempt with cheerleaders outside a bus chanting, "We want you Willie!" plus beautiful girls at a party he attended. He was turned off by too many "farmer girls" on campus, "plant food" served during the recruiting visit and a flood in his room.

Hey, this kid is the highest rated uncommitted player in the country, so the deluge is inevitable: http://Rivals100.rivals.com/viewrank.asp?SID=880&Year=2004&ra_key=464

And Miami makes no apologies for the extravagance. We have only 4 linebackers on the roster and are losing another 3 underclassmen to the pros this year, all among 6 likely first round 'Canes.

I still think college recruiting has really cleaned up its act from the cash flow '70s and '80s. When I was at USC we lost a prime basketball recruit to UNLV at the last minute, after he had committed to us nearly a year earlier. More than a decade later I was introduced to a big black UNLV booster by my friend, a former UNLV player. When I mentioned the lost recruit the booster didn't even hesitate: "Oh yeah, cost us $25,000," he said matter-of-factly, "plus a scholarship for his sister. Turned out neither one of them was worth a damn."