04-11-2013, 05:14 PM
I think it's best to take any comments made by any of these recruits immediately after a visit with large doses of salt. Unless the student just hated the place, the general rules of polite behavior would probably lead them to say nice things about the visit; add to that slanted reporting from local members of the media who might be open boosters of the school ("So, Jabrill, what did you think of those new facilities? Aren't they great?" "Um, yeah, they were nice" becomes "Peppers was particularly impressed by the new facilities"); the desire for the recruit to keep strong relations with the program rather than burn bridges; the emotional high of being courted and fawned over during the visit, which has got to fade with a little time and distance. The stories are interesting, but I'm not sure how much we can really learn from them. I know a couple of years ago, I was absolutely certain Josh Garnett was heading to Michigan, and a lot of his public comments hinted as much, but he still ended up with us. I won't flip out about Peppers comments regarding Michigan.Â