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Cummins, Dickens, Byzcko...decommits...transfers

the Blades

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Jan 20, 2003
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Article by USC Writer Mike Piellucci at VICE Sports :

Recruit Got His Scholarship Pulled, And That's More Common Than You Think

" But this story is an anomaly only in the sense that Edsall was up front about his intentions not to fax Dickens a National Letter of Intent. The far more prevalent method of ghosting on recruits—as in, happens at every single program, all throughout the year, and will definitely happen a lot more prior to Signing Dayis to simply pull as much contact as possible from a recruit the school has soured on, until they take the hint and withdraw their commitment. The player then announces that his recruitment is open, and that he or she is open to new suitors. Rarely, if ever, is the actual reason discussed. "


" Case in point, here's a tweet from Jake Byczko, who like Dickens was a longtime commit to UConn's old coach coaching staff and just happened to decommit yesterday, and, oh, yep, this is probably a total coincidence........in message board parlance, this is called "making room" or "processing." USC fans even have a term for it-—Mickens-ed, in reference to Jaydon Mickens, a slot receiver who had been committed for months and was pushed out to free up another scholarship. That's how ubiquitous the process is and how desensitized those who actually pay attention to the recruiting landscape are to situations like Ryan Dickens': They assigned a proper name to it. "
 
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Jacobs: Unseemly Action By Edsall, Or Business As Usual In College Football?

" Billy Crocker was officially hired Saturday as UConn defensive coordinator. Let's assume as Villanova DC he was familiar with a Jersey high school standout like Dickens. Let's assume he even talked to Edsall about the defensive recruits in advance of taking the job. Chances are excellent he then reviewed video. Here's the big thing. The 3-3-5 defensive scheme Crocker runs is different than what Diaco ran. It demands different skills, etc."

"What if Crocker, after due diligence, told Edsall over the weekend, look, there's no way this kid, reportedly with a 4.9-second 40, can help UConn win in his system. What is UConn supposed to do at that point? Bring Dickens in anyway, tell him he has no future, burn his redshirt and then run him off after one year? Is that more humane, more responsible than being up front? It's certainly not as dramatic in the media as recruiting horror stories, but it sure figures to be worse long term for the young man "

" Benedict also confirmed that Diaco, who just signed for $825,000 this year as defensive coordinator for Nebraska, would not have to pay back any of the $3.4 million buyout he got from UConn. To be clear, Diaco will get $5.925 million over 2016 and 2017. Maybe he can use some of that money to help pay tuition for the guys he recruited who don't end up with a scholarship."
 
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TMG Sports - Edsall did nothing wrong

" It was a simple transaction, but it created a fire storm. New UConn football coach Randy Edsall was in the headlines again on Tuesday when word filtered out that the Huskies had pulled a scholarship offer from a recruit who had verbally agreed to come to UConn last summer. The twitter world when viral with moral indignation about how Edsall was destroying the dream of a deserving athlete."

Let’s cut to the chase on this one very quickly. First, former UConn coach Bob Diaco offered the scholarship to Ryan Dickens, a 6-foot-2 inch 210 pound linebacker from Raritan, New Jersey, not Edsall. Diaco was fired last month for a variety of reasons, including a lack of enough talent to compete. The nice thing to do, of course, would be for Edsall to honor the commitment, but that doesn’t win games if the player doesn’t fit the system. This is not flag or intramural football.

Edsall’s new defensive coordinator Billy Crocker came to UConn from Villanova. He also recruited New Jersey and was aware of what Dickens could and could not do. He DIDN’T recruit him at Villanova, which is an FCS school. When he came to UConn, he talked to Edsall and it was determined that Dickens would not be a good fit for the system and the level of competition UConn was playing.

Still, it is always a tough call to make. Edsall made it and explained that with the change in systems and coaches, UConn was going in another direction. Dickens was devastated. So was his family. But stuff happens. Edsall could have honored the scholarship and then a year from now, Dickens probably would have been talking about transferring because he wasn’t getting playing time."

" In the final analysis this is a better situation for both UConn and for Ryan Dickens, who by every indication is a great kid, with ambitions to play college football. That can still happen. Just not at UConn and spare us the criticism of Edsall for being the heartless ogre. The same critics who are ripping Edsall now, would be criticizing him next fall if Dickens turned out to be a bust as a recruit. Edsall did the right thing-for UConn and for Ryan Dickens."


 
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In another version of the door swings both ways with CFB recruiting:
 
Your great coach, Edsall, just f**ked him. He deserves to be fired by UCONN. What high school recruit could ever trust him? Congrats on hiring that douchb

You sound bitter. That stuff happens all the time. A regime change means different philosophies and different personnel. Edsall decided he didn't fit the new scheme. Edsall didn't recruit him so the how can any high school recruit trust him remark holds no water

He got an offer at URI all is not over for the kid. If Diaco wasn't so looney and actually won games he'd be here.
 
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It is interesting to see those who never posted here now to come out of the woodwork, why because they just hate UConn. I don't care what other fans think, especially when their schools have done the same things in the past and will in the future.
I wish all five players well wherever they end up, but I am a UConn fan first and foremost and that is who I care about.

Go Huskies!
 
Well this just shows how clueless Diaco was with his 11-26 record (have fun Nebraska with his vampires, trophy games and fishcakes, LOL !) Some of the offers he gave out were to recruits who should never be playing at the FBS level. I'm sure they're all great kids and it's nice to see that one of Diaco's RKG's...... Dickens landed on his feet:
 
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