Blackwell exposing Dantonio on Auston Robertson recruitment in deposition
I remember there were quite a few eyebrows raised around here when MSU recruited this guy who had already had a checkered past with regards to sexual assault.
MSU slappies minimized the kid's troubles as high school shenanigans, so naturally that came back to bite em in the ass when he assaulted a fellow teammates' gf on campus.
I wonder how MSU will squirm out of this one.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:30 PM ^
What I'm doing is looking at the fact that we, among other schools, offered him a scholarship, and the fact that we were in his top three.
There is zero factual indication that any of these schools suddenly pulled his scholarship. Literally zero. It is a complete fabrication without even an ounce of factual support.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:31 PM ^
I'm doing is looking at the fact that we, among other schools, offered him a scholarship,
Well I mean, no one is disputing that MSU offered a scholarship...
September 19th, 2019 at 4:32 PM ^
There is zero evidence that they continued to recruit him after October. Like zero
September 19th, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
Great. So where's your evidence that we or any other school revoked his scholarship offer?
September 19th, 2019 at 4:39 PM ^
Where is yours that he still had a valid scholarship offer?
If he were still being recruited by Michigan, there would be evidence of articles covering it from Rivals, Scout or 247Sports. After he reopened his recruitment, why wouldn't he take an official visit if his scholarship were still valid?
There is supplementary evidence that backs up our position. There is ZERO evidence that supports yours.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:46 PM ^
Seriously? Where is the evidence that he still had a valid scholarship offer? Where is your evidence that Shea Patterson still has a scholarship offer? What a ridiculous question.
Where is the evidence that his offer had been revoked? It doesn't exist. If it did then I would've found it before you anyway.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:50 PM ^
Patterson took an official visit to Michigan. There were interviews with Patterson covering his recruitment to Michigan. Prospects who are actively recruited by Michigan usually tend to get covered by the Michigan recruiting websites, take official or unofficial visits, and tweet about those schools.
None of these things exist with Auston Robertson.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
You don’t appear to understand how recruiting works. They don’t need to officially revoke an offer. All they have to do is stop recruiting.
Facts show that pursuit of Robertson became a decidedly lopsided affair after October.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:48 PM ^
So that's what it is? After dozens of claims that we revoked his offer we're going to backpedal and say "well we didn't revoke his offer but we totally stopped recruiting"?
September 19th, 2019 at 5:52 PM ^
Schools do revoke offers. It's a stronger statement than only stopping recruiting someone. If they stop, things could change and they could start again. Also, a recruit who is losing his other options might just go ahead and commit to you publicly. That can get messy. Much better to revoke an offer when the kid has done something seriously wrong like Robertson.
Schools really can't talk about recruits in public. The only way to know for sure if an offer was revoked is if the recruit says so. They have reason not to. Someone at Michigan might leak it to someone like Sam Webb, but Sam's more likely to say something vague in his reporting, like he's no longer an option. He doesn't like giving specific information that could have only come from his source on the staff.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:55 PM ^
Quick question. Why is this the hill you are planting your flag and choosing to die on?
September 19th, 2019 at 5:06 PM ^
Well, to be frank, I'm all about giving guys second chances and, having family from Fort Wayne, wanted Robertson. Saban has a great speech about giving his athletes second chances.
But I also can't help but get a little fired up when my opinion, based entirely on fact, is confronted by people who have come to an opposite opinion based entirely on emotion. But hey, it's the internet, and we're dealing with fans, and I shouldn't expect people to be particularly smart or informed or to have reasonable opinions.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:16 PM ^
Your first paragraph is fair. Your second one though, I don't know if anyone one has all the facts about how each individual school recruited him both before and after he assaulted a classmate in high school.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
Didn’t he already get his second chance? That didn’t particularly work out well.
Also I don’t think it is fair to say it is “emotion” to take the opposite side of you. There is actually not enough data to say what actually happened. Your lack of evidence that he had at the time he committed to MSU a fully committable offer from Michigan is no different from not being able to prove that he didn’t have one. You are essentially relying on the fact that we for sure no at one point he had an offer, which no one is disputing, while ignoring the fact that evidence that any offer was pulled is very unlikely to occur unless the recruit brings it up.
Basically, your evidence is just as weak as the other side’s evidence and you are being just as “emotional” as everyone else.
September 19th, 2019 at 8:08 PM ^
I didn't say he had a fully "committable" offer. I said he had an offer. You're correct that nobody is disputing it. That's what makes this whole thread so amusing -- nobody is even disputing the basic facts that I brought up. They're just angry that I brought them up. Because the facts don't tend to support their worldview.
September 19th, 2019 at 9:48 PM ^
Actually, going strictly off the record established in this thread, most people agree with you that he had an offer and then that after his actions he didn’t have a committable offer from anyone but State and then you disputed that and demanded proof that his offer was pulled with also providing zero proof that he was still being recruited. I was just pointing out that your logic has the same flaws.
Anyways, good luck with your debate and have fun dying on that hill.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:36 PM ^
You're not very good at deductive reasoning. No one is arguing that schools offered him scholarships before he got in trouble. But there is NO evidence of any school recruiting him after he got in trouble EXCEPT MSU. When was this report that Michigan was in his top three? If Michigan was so high on him, why weren't they recruiting him after he reopened his recruitment after Signing Day? Where is your evidence that Michigan was still recruiting him? There isn't one recruiting article from Rivals, Scout, or 247Sports that mentions Michigan or any other school for that matter EXCEPT MSU.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^
LOL, there's some classic projection.
I didn't say Michigan was "so high on him." You don't know that Michigan wasn't recruiting him after he reopened his recruitment -- you're assuming that. The fact of the matter is that we offered him a scholarship. We were in his top three. We clearly wanted him and you don't have even a modicum of evidence suggesting otherwise.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:45 PM ^
Where is your evidence that UM was still pursuing him after October?
September 19th, 2019 at 4:55 PM ^
You're the one making the claim that Michigan suddenly stopped pursuing him. You have no evidence of that -- none at all. There is evidence that we offered him a scholarship. There is evidence that we were in his top three. There is no evidence whatever that we suddenly decided we didn't want him anymore.
September 19th, 2019 at 4:58 PM ^
keep going, slappy. you're good at this!
September 19th, 2019 at 5:35 PM ^
Michigan would be in my top 3 if I were a HS kid looking to play football. That DOES not mean that Michigan gave me a scholarship. Same possibly applies here. UM offered him, he wanted to play here, but UM could have changed course and no longer wanted him but he still wanted to play at UM. Your argument about top 3 holds no weight so stop pushing it please. That is HIS top 3, nothing to do with the school wanting to sign him.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:14 PM ^
You're not answering anyone's question. You will continue to lose your argument if you refuse to answer anyone's question. Where is your proof that Michigan continued to recruit him?
September 19th, 2019 at 8:13 PM ^
I'm not making an argument. I'm observing facts. I will continue to "lose" no matter what I say -- because people here literally do not give one shit about the facts. They have a fantasy and they'd like to keep that fantasy intact.
I'm not answering the question because it's a deflection. I didn't say that Michigan continued to recruit him after the incident. I said that Michigan wanted him -- and, clearly and indisputably, Michigan did want him. What everybody else is doing is *assuming* that at some point we decided we didn't want him. That is not based on fact. It's pure unsubstantiated opinion fueled entirely by disdain for a rival.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:19 PM ^
The evidence is he ended up at MSU. You said every school in the country wanted him, and then he chose MSU. Sure.
September 20th, 2019 at 6:30 AM ^
“There is no evidence whatever that we suddenly decided we didn't want him anymore.”
There is no evidence whatever that JFK Jr. isn’t alive and directing an army of lizard people.
September 20th, 2019 at 1:08 PM ^
Completely incoherent attempt to draw an equivalence. Nice try though.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:28 PM ^
How do you propose we find said evidence of pulled offers? By your logic no kids in the history of NCAA football has ever had an offer pulled because there is no documented proof.
September 19th, 2019 at 5:47 PM ^
That's weird, it took me literally a quarter of a second to search "scholarship offer pulled" to find this result at literally the very top of the page: "After Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh pulled scholarship offers to two prospects, ESPN National Recruiting Director Tom Luginbill explains how often and why coaches do this."
It's almost like people here don't even care how dumb their comments are.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:20 PM ^
I don’t see any paperwork or statement regarding a pulled offer. Just kids comments. Look I’m sure there are statements by schools if offers are rescinded, but it’s extremely rare. The point is, they don’t have to make public that an offer has been pulled. Your asking for things that simply do not exist in recruiting, and ignoring all the details that point to Michigan cooling. The fact is MSU sent him an LOI. You’re just not making the connection because you refuse to admit that you’re wrong.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:42 PM ^
Lol, yeah, *I'm* the one who's refusing to admit being wrong here. Right. I'm literally relying entirely on undisputed facts and everybody else is making assumptions that fit their preconceived opinions.
I don't expect you to change your mind any more than I expect to go to an Ohio State board and convince their fans that Michigan is the premiere program in the B1G. Your brain is unwilling to think rationally when rival programs are involved. That's fine. It's what I expect from this board.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:20 PM ^
Your facts; based on many unknowns (defining them as not facts), said "facts" indisputability being indisputably disputable due to an NCAA rule that schools cannot comment on recruits; are not undisputed.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:46 PM ^
You didn't even watch the video. Nowhere on there does it say that Michigan or Jim Harbaugh publicly pulled the offer. The kid reported the offer being pulled. And the video specifically points out that, in fact, Michigan and Jim Harbaugh CANNOT talk about the offer being pulled. It also points out that offers are frequently conditional or not commitable.
This video is evidence against your own argument, which is deeply flawed.
September 19th, 2019 at 6:49 PM ^
Nope, nice try. The commenter said there wouldn't be any evidence if an offer was pulled -- the video shows indisputably that there was in fact evidence that offers were pulled. Game, set, match.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:10 PM ^
Wow. This will be my last post with you since you are so completely and sadly lost, and now you are straight up lying. Are you just lying to the board or also yourself?
The video CLEARLY states that the school and coach cannot communicate about pulled offers. And the only evidence of a pulled offer is from the recruit who had the offer pulled.
September 19th, 2019 at 8:17 PM ^
The video states that offers were pulled. Literally. Verbatim.
September 20th, 2019 at 12:37 AM ^
HAHAHAHAHA! You don't even respond to what I wrote, just spout more blather. You still haven't watched, have you? The video talks about a recruit who said publicly that his offer was pulled. The video also states verbatim that the school can't comment on it. The only way we know if an offer is pulled is if the recruit tells us.
But please, keep digging your logic hole and pretending the rest us, standing way, way above you, are the one ignoring facts.
Serious question: are you Zach Smith? This is starting to feel like one of his twitter rants.
September 20th, 2019 at 8:56 AM ^
Gotta hand it to you, this was a top notch troll job. I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt on the first pg of comments, oh naive me...
Congrats, I suppose. Here's a dollar, enjoy the arcade.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:13 PM ^
Try again. Not evidence. Evidence is what you’ve been asking for.
September 19th, 2019 at 7:37 PM ^
Bruh your like a 19 year old MSU sycophant who can’t handle this is happening and that athletic program is gonna go to shit
September 19th, 2019 at 7:05 PM ^
Those were prospects that were ALREADY VERBALLY COMMITTED to Michigan. There is a difference. Michigan was not going to send them a LOI when they were verbally committed to Michigan. Technically, no offer is official until you get an LOI on Signing Day. The same thing happened to Auston Roberston at MSU when he did not sign on Signing Day, but MSU changed their mind a couple months later. These are the only scenarios where a prospect is going to come out to the media and tell you that an offer was pulled.
Auston Robertson was NOT verbally committed to Michigan at any point. No prospect is going to tell you that a school stopped recruiting them when there is no commitment. But you can figure that out from the coverage by the recruiting sites. Based on my interaction with you previously in this conversation, I am guessing you are not going to understand the difference.
And you have been peddling false information after looking at a couple of the Robertson recruiting writeups. Recruiting sites reported that MSU and OSU were Robertson's final two, and ND was most likely ahead of Michigan as well based on the reports. Where are these reports where Michigan was in the top three as you claim?
September 19th, 2019 at 8:31 PM ^
Link.
"Robertson has Michigan in his top three along with Michigan State (the heavy favorite) and Notre Dame[]
'Going to Michigan changed the whole game,' he said. 'It was better than what I expected. They just popped in my top-three right then and there.'
Once again I'm going off of facts. You don't have to apologize. Just stop claiming that I'm peddling false information when literally every single thing I've said so far has been substantiated.
September 19th, 2019 at 10:09 PM ^
My god. Do you even know how to read?
1. The post you quoted is from MAY 26TH, 2015. THIS IS BEFORE HE WAS IN LEGAL TROUBLE AND KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL. The question that is important is who was recruiting him AFTER he got in trouble.
2. And did you bother to read the updates that followed? Did you bother to read any other reports about him? Or did you ignore them because they don't fit your ridiculous narrative. The reports that followed on that same link actually show you are wrong.
The very NEXT report on the link you posted from MAY 28th, 2015. Robertson visited ND instead of Michigan like he had planned. ND was higher on his list than Michigan or Michigan backed off. Michigan had replaced OSU in his final 3 temporarily, but it was clear here that Michigan was no longer in the running.
There's a notable omission: Four-star IN DE Auston Robertson previously planned to visit with Austin Mack, but his mother told 247's Steve Wiltfong that he'll be at Notre Dame on Saturday ($). Robertson is considered a Michigan State lean, and with his decision coming up on June 7th, Michigan's chances are slim at best without getting a final chance to impress him.
And then this report on AUGUST 26TH, 2015 from the ND 247Sports site that it was going to come down to MSU or OSU for Robertson.
—————On if Notre Dame will attempt to get back in it with 4-star DE Auston Robertson, who is committed to Michigan State…
“It will be Michigan State or Ohio State for Robertson.”
https://247sports.com/Article/RECAP-Notre-Dame-Recruiting-Chat-38954296/
But like I pointed out in point #1, all of this is a moot point because no one cares what happened in his recruitment in the summer of 2015 PRIOR to Robertson getting in trouble.
September 20th, 2019 at 12:29 AM ^
Just so we’re clear, you asked for proof that we were in his top three, I provided undeniable proof ***from Mgo*** that we were in his top three, and you’re seriously here insinuating that *I’m* the one with a reading problem?
Sorry bud. Hold this giant L that you worked so hard for.
September 20th, 2019 at 9:12 AM ^
And his top three changed after that. Who cares what the old version of his top three was? There were multiple reports after the one you posted that show Michigan had dropped behind MSU, OSU, and ND. And who cares what his top three was BEFORE he got in trouble? That doesn't matter.
Why do you keep avoiding addressing the important point? The only thing that matters in his recruitment AFTER he got arrested and banned from his high school.
September 20th, 2019 at 10:35 AM ^
Lol /makes claim
/gets proven wrong
/backpedals saying that wasn’t the important point and moved goalposts
September 20th, 2019 at 10:43 AM ^
The irony that this is a concise summary of your activity is hilarious. Why are you focused on some side irrelevant point about Robertson's OUT-OF-DATE top three BEFORE he got in trouble with the law? Two articles after the one you cited show THREE schools above Michigan: MSU, OSU, and ND. Not very good at logic are you?
Besides, it is not important to the main discussion about Robertson's recruitment AFTER he got in trouble which you keep avoiding because there is no evidence to support you. The part of his recruitment you should be focused on is his recruitment after he got in trouble. Especially his recruitment after Signing Day when he reopened his recruitment.
September 20th, 2019 at 1:17 PM ^
Why am I concerned about facts? Because they're facts. The better question is why are you completely disregarding facts? Clearly, it's so that you can hold onto your preconceived opinions.
"Not very good at logic" aptly describes virtually every single one of your posts. It's like reading the enraged ramblings of a mentally challenged individual with severe dementia. You can't even coherently follow your own arguments, let alone address my comments in a way that doesn't immediately indicate that you have no plausible response.
The part of his recruitment that I'm focused on is the part that is well substantiated with undisputed facts. It is not surprising that you want to deflect from these facts and raise questions about a period of his recruitment where we have virtually no evidence to support any contentions. If you want to continue to live in your fantasy world where everything is made up and facts don't matter, by all means, go for it. I'm not stopping you. But don't get mad at me for sticking to the facts and getting a good chuckle out of your nonsense.
September 20th, 2019 at 1:23 PM ^
What facts? You still have not been able to cite one instance showing Michigan was recruiting Robertson after he got in trouble or after he decommitted from MSU after Signing Day 2016?
Did he visit? No, but he did take an official visit to MSU after Signing Day.
Did the coaches visit his school or give him an in-home visit? No.
Were there any reports of any contact from the coaches? No, but there was contact from coaches at MSU after Signing Day. In fact, Mark Dantonio and his staff kept in touch with him weekly after Signing Day despite the fact he was in such serious legal trouble.
Zero. Every article you have cited is old and outdated and have been invalidated or contradicted by the reporting that followed. There are only articles showing that MSU continued to recruit him after Signing Day, after he was in trouble.
September 20th, 2019 at 1:32 PM ^
You're zero for about 25 on your attempts at creating a straw man. Gonna keep relying on that tired and repeatedly defeated tactic?
Every claim I have made has been undeniably substantiated. Everyone agrees with this - there is no dispute whatever about the truth of my contentions. The only controversy here is the controversy you've repeatedly drummed up over assertions I didn't make.
If you want to believe we stopped recruiting him because of his legal issues even though there is absolutely zero evidence of that, feel free. I'm not here to convince you to step out of your made up fantasy world. I'm just pointing out the facts. I'm sorry that it is so deeply troubling to you that somebody cares to point out the facts.