Amauri Pesek-Hickson & Michigan Parting Ways
Josh Helmholdt (Rivals) has reported that Amauri will not sign his LOI. Amauri is from Overland Park, KS and is a 3 star athlete per Rivals. He was recently told by the staff that they are parting ways. Michigan intends to pursue DE and DT grad transfers instead. Michigan feels like that is in the best interest of the program. The DL could use some depth in 2019 and I am sure most of you will agree with the staff's decision.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^
Go away, Shawn.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:37 AM ^
...and the coaches let the roster sort itself out, and they've won 10 games in three out of the last four seasons.
"Trust the coaches" doesn't mean every low-rated kid they offer is going to be a star. It means they know what they're doing with roster management, etc. Maybe at the time they offered, they thought Khaleke Hudson was going to leave for the NFL. Maybe at the time they offered, they thought Aubrey Solomon was going to stay in Ann Arbor so they wouldn't have to look for a stopgap DT.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:39 AM ^
Sorry but this excuse isn't going to fly. Harbaugh's 3 stars have played exactly like 3 stars by and large since he's been here. We are so far behind programs like Clemson, Bama, UGA, OSU, OU, etc it's not even funny. Going 10-3 where we lose to everyone who recruits at or above our level isn't the goal when your head coach is making $7 million a year.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
I am so glad that I'm not the mother that has to clean the basement you live in...
February 4th, 2019 at 11:50 AM ^
Lol Maizen. Do you still think Michigan won’t be successful under Beilein because he can’t recruit?
February 4th, 2019 at 11:51 AM ^
Haha, someone is triggered this morning...who cares about this development...it’s current college football
February 4th, 2019 at 11:58 AM ^
Dude, why do you care so much? You’ve been saying the same thing for 2 years and 6 different accounts...no one agrees with you.
February 4th, 2019 at 12:04 PM ^
Since you're generally not interested in the opinions of others, why don't you buy maizen.com and start a michigan football recruiting blog where you can be the sole godlike authority and not have to experience thoughts different than your own. The posts would literally write themselves if you just copy and pasted "We are so far behind programs like Clemson, Bama, UGA, OSU, OU, etc it's not even funny." You might be happier. I know we all would be.
February 4th, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
With whom won’t it fly? We live in a country with a huge wealth gap, so I fail to see why one free scholarship is a big deal—unless, of course, we actually see the value in college degrees. That, for him, sucks. But if he still gets an education paid for by simply playing a sport somewhere else, is his life ruined?
February 4th, 2019 at 1:02 PM ^
Maybe the coaches should have waited for those things to sort them selves out before offering a low rated kid that had almost no quality offers and surely would have been available down the road if they still wanted him.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:25 AM ^
Yeesh isn’t the second signing day only two days away?
February 4th, 2019 at 11:26 AM ^
Baumgardner article: https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/university-michigan/wolverines/2019/02/04/michigan-football-amauri-pesek-hickson/2767007002/
Says they told him after the NFL draft entry deadline and they want him to do a semester at a prep school.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:33 AM ^
so go the Brad Hawkins route as opposed to not come at all
February 4th, 2019 at 11:37 AM ^
It's tough to swallow the pill of going to prep school when your grades are already in order...
February 4th, 2019 at 11:48 AM ^
agreed - although the fact that it was right after the NFL draft deadline declaration means they expected more people to declare and they didn't
February 4th, 2019 at 4:21 PM ^
And I'm assuming Prep Schools ain't cheap!
A crappy situation. There is always blame to place on both sides. Michigan should have communicated much better...that was just unacceptable...But if you are #785 in the state of Kansas and have played exactly one year of football and Michigan offers you and it seems too good to be true....it just might be.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:44 AM ^
It sounds like a tough situation but you have to give Harbaugh credit for handling it in person vs phoning it in or having a staffer phone it in.
I hope he takes the prep school route.
February 4th, 2019 at 12:21 PM ^
I give very little credit to Harbaugh for doing what any human being should do. Doubly so when it's Harbaugh's mis-management of the scholarship situation that he's in that spot to begin with.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:53 AM ^
So my uninformed opinion tells me that Harbaugh (or staff) had probably already discussed the possibility of this happening with him and his family. It's a tough situation, but I suspect that it's not a complete sucker punch...
February 4th, 2019 at 1:41 PM ^
are you kidding? They very much said it was ONLY IF HE DIDN"T GET HIS GRADES UP. He did and was told by us that everything was good to go, then for us to only back track after a newer and shinier toy needed to be on the team. None of this is the kids fault and it's Harbaughs mismanagement of the scholarship situation that is at fault. this is a complete sucker punch, like I said in my post, had Urban Meyer done this or Dabo, or Nick Saban we would be screaming how they were liars and were shitty people for doing this.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:32 AM ^
Bummer. Hopefully they feel near 100% that they can get one of those D line transfers.
February 4th, 2019 at 11:53 AM ^
Damn! Thought he could really develop into something. Sucks for him to have this happen, apparently at such a late hour, but I am sure he'll find a good landing spot. Still not my favorite decision making process.
February 4th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
This offer, and particularly the timing of it never made any sense to me. If they were that on the fence about him, why not wait until the late signing period to see if you had the room? It is not like this kid was getting anything close to comparable offers.
I think the original offer was the mistake, not the parting of ways.
February 4th, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
sounds to me the incoming coach Campanile reviewed the film and decided to pass... If I could bet money on what happened, this would be it...
February 4th, 2019 at 1:07 PM ^
For every situation like this there are at least 4-5 kids that leave us high and dry by flipping last minute.
February 4th, 2019 at 1:47 PM ^
Fun fact (not really): I was in the Meijer in Monroe, MI over weekend and, in their seasonal section, they had dozens and dozens of Illinois folding outdoor tables. I swear I am still wondering why in the hell this Meijer (located in the heart of UM/MSU/OSU/ND country) would even buy tables for a distant school that is very not-good in football (and many other sports).
February 4th, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
Store manager is probably an alum.
February 4th, 2019 at 1:36 PM ^
It's amazing what we will do to support this BS and justify it. . They told the kid they wanted him but needed to get his grades up, he did and was told everything is good. At that point all the other schools drop out (or before that) I mean it's Michigan, the smaller schools know they won't win this battle. The parents are completely forthright in the fact that his need to get his grades up put's him on the line but again are told you are all good. Then Harbaugh says they want him to go to prep school...but he has a 30 on his ACT, and let's not act like this is some shit score, that get's him in A LOT of Universities and as a student athlete it's fucking ridiculously good. You can't tell me that every kid on our team has a higher score than 30. So now that we need a defensive linemen his grades aren't good enough? Harbaugh deserves all the shit he should catch for this, They let every opportunity to be forthright with the family but weren't. Again, his ACT score was good, hell damn near good enough to be a normal student, and got his GPA up to where he was told , everything is good. Why the fuck does Harbaugh make it so easy for people to make him look like a bumbling fool. he basically sabotaged this kids college career by now forcing them to scramble and find somewhere else to play that probably wasn't high on his list. Everyone that is saying "I'm good with whatever coach needs to do to make us champions". classy, go back on what you told a kid. This kid did everything he was asked of to have the rug pulled out from under him. Had Urban Meyer or Nick Saban done this this site would have been in full on flame mode decrying them of their lack of honesty and lying. Saying they are sleazy and full of shit. They told him prep school was a potential IF he didn't get his grades up but he did and was told everything was good. I'm getting tired of Harbaugh, this moving the goal posts on someone doesn't sit well with me. He didn't find a better recruit for that position who was smarter, he changed his mind on what he needed and concocted a story to make it seem more appetizing. I hope he signs somewhere else
February 4th, 2019 at 2:04 PM ^
I'm with you. This kid got lied to and the impact for him is pretty shitty. And his GPA and ACT as a football player gets him into any program including Northwestern and Stanford.
This is what we signed up for with Harbaugh, I gave him the benefit of the doubt with the first couple kids, but it's no longer a situation where he gets the benefit of the doubt. There are too many kids and families who say they were lied to and misled.
This one seems especially egregious since it seems like it cost him an opportunity for a scholarship at another program at least for now.
It's pretty simple really, don't offer kids a scholarship if you're not sure you are going to honor the offer. If you do make an offer like this, be clear it's not an acceptable offer until X, Y, and Z happens and then when X, Y, and Z happen honor your word.
It is what it is, Harbaugh is trying to win at all costs. Bama and OSU have done similar things, but it seems now the frequency we do it with has surpassed those 2.
February 4th, 2019 at 2:07 PM ^
Agreed. It's an awful look and I hate how Harbaugh (and some other schools) do this. And spare me anyone that says "but, but but kids decommit all the time!". That doesn't remotely justify a school screwing over a different kid. Terrible.
February 4th, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^
Bama and OSU have done similar things, but it seems now the frequency we do it with has surpassed those 2
Complete horseshit.
February 4th, 2019 at 3:04 PM ^
Sad but 100% true. It's a favorite saying of mine but people will defend anything they have a personal attachment to. The practice of accepting commitments from these types of prospects needs to end asap.
February 4th, 2019 at 5:26 PM ^
You don't know Michigan's side of the story because they can't tell it. The kid was not sent an LoI at early signing period and was told he no longer had an offer almost a month ago. He now has offers from Kansas and KSU..a lot better than the Missouri State one he had before Michigan offered him. Yeah, if Michigan simply said grades were the only issue that kinda sucks. But he got a heads up on early signing day and the definitive word with a month to look around. In that time he has two much better offers than he had pre-michigan. You're just choosing outrage for whatever personal reason.
February 4th, 2019 at 2:25 PM ^
Who cares?! Oh wait, you guys do because you are obsessed with finding fault with Harbaugh & Co.
Here’s a helpful hint : get over it and realize this is an ultra-competitive environment and that means some unfortunate people get the short end of the stick. It sucks if it happens to you, but all this “bad look” hand wringing is such sanctimonious crap.
February 4th, 2019 at 2:35 PM ^
In a nutshell..."Screw integrity, just win!"?
February 4th, 2019 at 3:06 PM ^
The same people justifying this are the same people who are the first to point out Michigan doesn't pay players and therefore that's the reason they can't sign recruiting classes like OSU, Bama, and Georgia. The irony is amazing.
February 4th, 2019 at 3:35 PM ^
No. In a nut shell, what I am saying is that I don't know what happened, nor do I really care. In an ultra-competitive environment like D1 CFB these things happen all the time at pretty much every school whose recruiting is competitive. Further, I am saying that too many Michigan fans wring their hands at EVERYTHING that Harbaugh does, or doesn't do, and seem obsessed with finding fault with him. Whether it's something like this, or giving walk-on's scholarships, players leaving, etc. there's always something wrong. It's all bullshit.
It sucks for the kid, but some article written by a hack anti-Michigan writer is far from the definitive word on the matter. Unfortunately, coaches are forbidden from commenting on the matter so all we'll ever know is then one "side" of the story. As far as integrity goes, I would wager that if Harbaugh were to have given this kid a scholarship and didn't have room for a grad-transfer DT the very same people who are up in arms about this would be her lambasting him for THAT decision.
Personally, I am sick of it.
February 4th, 2019 at 5:09 PM ^
The hypocrisy on this board is hilarious. Sten you are 100% correct on this. Since we are all speculating throwing on this, how about this scenario. Dax decommits, Coaches then tell APH he has a spot. Then Dax wants to re-commit. Sorry Dax, no spots left. Can you imagine the absolute melt down on this board? We don’t know the whole story and probably never will. I do know that next November, if M doesn’t bolster the D line, it will be another ass kicking.
February 4th, 2019 at 2:50 PM ^
I can still use our recruiting moral high ground as an excuse though right?
February 4th, 2019 at 5:34 PM ^
Get a grip people. Saban does this and worse every year. He has let kids sign their LOI's and then told them in the middle of the summer they need to greyshirt because he doesn't have room for them.
This and worse happens at all the top schools, people just like to jump on JH every chance they get. It is getting harder to read the BS people are posting on this blog everyday.
February 4th, 2019 at 6:11 PM ^
Ok...but that still doesn’t make it right! Flat out the kid sounds like he was misled. I could care less if this happened at Bama, Clemson, Dayton or Lehigh. Wrong is wrong, and when it needs to be called out I’m hopeful that good people regardless of their fan allegiance would call it out.
February 4th, 2019 at 5:38 PM ^
When will the Benny Hill music stop playing for this football program?
February 4th, 2019 at 6:25 PM ^
Really?!
This is a tiny ember of nothingness. Yet there you are, fanning, blowing, at the ready with the gas can.
MUST
FIND
FAULT
February 4th, 2019 at 6:39 PM ^