(08-30-2016 05:59 AM)emu79 Wrote: (08-29-2016 04:09 PM)emu steve Wrote: One was a walk-on, not hardly the type of recruit one moves heaven and earth to get.
I'll check on the other recruit.
EDIT: The other recruit, Ron George, was a 2-star recruit.
The notion that Fleck took two talented recruits who had questionable background doesn't hold water.
If a coach is going to reach, it would be for a 3 or 4 star recruit.
Apparently it took a local TV station exactly one hour to find out about White. Arrested in March and awaiting trial in September, but is in camp? Kid did a pretty good job keeping that incident under wraps from the coaching staff.
http://woodtv.com/2016/08/29/1-of-2-wmu-...-invasion/
Of course its not like we've never had any due diligence problems with players (insert whistle by the graveyard here).
My, my, my...
Now re: WMU and this kid: First rule of thumb: Google the hell out of a recruit BEFORE offering him a LOI or place on the team. As I read the article, Google might have detected his prior offenses.
NOW(2): Colleges and universities use questionnaires to screen their recruits (I saw one a long time ago). I can not remember what questions, if any, were there about legal issues, e.g., juvenile offenses, school offenses, etc.
NOW(3): Was he truthful in how he answered the questions? Were the offenses AFTER he completed the form.
Interesting, WMU contacted the high school and didn't get a red flag... (I'm quoting from the article):
“In May, 2016 a concern was brought to our attention related to Bryson White’s character. At that time, our coaching staff did follow up on this concern, contacting Mason high school officials. We received positive reinforcement as to Bryson’s character including the specific assertion of no known law breaking incident,” Beauregard continued in a written statement. (end of quote from the article).
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My take:
It appears that WMU did their 'due diligence'.
Schools probably will need to be more vigilant with recruits. E.g., have the compliance staff do the Google searches, more background checks with the high school, etc. (I learned that MI and OHIO have different laws regarding juvenile records than most states).
As I posted earlier, this kid was not a 4 star recruit who mysteriously fell to WMU as a gift. He was a walk-on. No school on earth would take a big chance on a walk-on.
A term used in statistics and research appears to apply here: "Outlier".
Very unfortunate, hopefully rare, situation yet it doesn't appear WMU was negligent.
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OT: Two Western Michigan Football Players Arrested, Allegedly Held Up Student In Dorm
