Yianni D on colleges recruiting committed athletes

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

Sorry that I am unable to link his x post at the moment, but:

Yianni: Didn't realize how hard college coaches go after athletes that are already committed, I don't like that at all

Rob Koll: You've forgotten your recruiting experience.  I vividly recall one particular coach from Happy Valley continuing to pursue you up to the day you signed... and I really don't blame him! 

[Hammerlock3]

must have been that jerk brands....didn't know he was a PA guy.

[JeanGuy]

I think you have to keep recruiting "committed" guys. Until they sign they could change their mind at any moment so you have to be in regular contact with them.

[Le duke]

Commits flip all the time. That said, once someone has *signed* an NLI, hands off. 

See: Slumlord Bob offering a bag to Luke Lilledahl this summer while he was taking summer classes at Penn State. 

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

15 minutes ago, JeanGuy said:

I think you have to keep recruiting "committed" guys. Until they sign they could change their mind at any moment so you have to be in regular contact with them.

Totally unethical, and some coaches choose to back off at this point, while wishing the recruit well.

[wrestle87]

Yianni is from a different era.

Kids get paid nowadays, this is change your life money for many of these kids, and will completely overhaul the old narrative for what it meant to be a college athlete (broken and retired coaching at a high school because your dreams didn't pan out.)

Now it can be independent small landlord and entrepreneur...that's an amazing shift.  

Go pursue the kids coaches, do your thing!

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

1 minute ago, Le duke said:

Commits flip all the time. That said, once someone has *signed* an NLI, hands off. 

See: Slumlord Bob offering a bag to Luke Lilledahl this summer while he was taking summer classes at Penn State. 

Which school does he coach at? 

Is it anything like the recruitment of Kerk by PSU at U20 Worlds? Better? Worse?

Edited October 16 by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

4 minutes ago, wrestle87 said:

Yianni is from a different era.

Indeed, a different era.

It just shows how sneakily slimy some programs have been.  Very under the radar.  

At this point, it is a new game and there is a lot more sliminess. (ie PSU boosters contacting Keck after he was second in 2023)

Edited October 16 by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[Le duke]

6 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Which school does he coach at? 

Is it anything like the recruitment of Kerk by PSU at U20 Worlds? Better? Worse?

He's just the money man.

Did Penn State recruit Kyle Snyder at U20 Worlds that year, too?

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

Just now, Le duke said:

He's just the money man.

Did Penn State recruit Kyle Snyder at U20 Worlds that year, too?

Who was the money man from PSU who called Keckheisen? 

If PSU did not recruit Kerk, and Kerk approached them about transferring, the ethical response by the PSU staff would have been "Is Coach Ryan aware that you want to transfer to PSU?  Lets get him on the phone."  That's moral and ethical.  We know there is no way that happened.

[wrestle87]

29 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Indeed, a different era.

It just shows how sneakily slimy some programs have been.  Very under the radar.  

At this point, it is a new game and there is a lot more sliminess. (ie PSU boosters contacting Keck after he was second in 2023)

I understand that sort of a feeling, but at the same time, being a college athlete has real monetary market value.  It is an adjustment period, but I think the net positives for the athletes a far outweigh the negatives.

We’re not used to it, and I do not mean to dismiss the notion that this has brought out new levels of sliminess, but those sorts of gross people have always been in the sport (I was def coached by a few of them.)

It is weird to have wrestling be setting down its mantle as the “working man’s unsung rewardless gladiator sport”, which is an ethos it has carried for a century, but now kids can actually change their lives by being good at wrestling, instead of just getting injured, abused in the room, and having nothing to show for it.

Things will adjust, and some rules are probably warranted, but at the same time our memories of the vision of the sport are from a made up marketing pipe dream peddled by the NCAA to line their own pockets.

I love this sport dearly, and always will, but I have a hard time siding with NCAA institutions (the teams themselves) over individual athletes getting their fair and due at a market rate.  

Edited October 16 by wrestle87

[Le duke]

13 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Who was the money man from PSU who called Keckheisen? 

If PSU did not recruit Kerk, and Kerk approached them about transferring, the ethical response by the PSU staff would have been "Is Coach Ryan aware that you want to transfer to PSU?  Lets get him on the phone."  That's moral and ethical.  We know there is no way that happened.

 

Why would they recruit Keck? I genuinely doubt that happened.

[Jimmy Cinnabon]

16 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Who was the money man from PSU who called Keckheisen? 

If PSU did not recruit Kerk, and Kerk approached them about transferring, the ethical response by the PSU staff would have been "Is Coach Ryan aware that you want to transfer to PSU?  Lets get him on the phone."  That's moral and ethical.  We know there is no way that happened.

How do you know that something didn't happen?  It's impossible to prove a negative.

[JeanGuy]

31 minutes ago, Interviewed_at_Weehawken said:

Totally unethical, and some coaches choose to back off at this point, while wishing the recruit well.

Are you talking about an athlete signed somewhere or verbally committed. I am talking verbal commitment which means nothing. If you are talking about someone that has signed a letter of intent or is under scholarship somewhere than I completely agree. From this perspective I don't even think it is ok for a David Taylor to walk by a Levi Haines and say jokingly in passing say, "you sure would look good in orange."

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

Just now, Le duke said:

 

Why would they recruit Keck? I genuinely doubt that happened.

Because they knew Brooks was going up and they would have a hole.  When Keck chose to stay at UNI, they filled the hole with Truax.  I mean, that's pretty obvious.

This  was all alluded to by Mike Mal when he had Schwab on his show.  Mal brought it up and Schwab chose not to correct him... so I imagine that it is true.  I posted the link a few weeks ago.  

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

2 minutes ago, JeanGuy said:

Are you talking about an athlete signed somewhere or verbally committed. I am talking verbal commitment which means nothing. If you are talking about someone that has signed a letter of intent or is under scholarship somewhere than I completely agree. From this perspective I don't even think it is ok for a David Taylor to walk by a Levi Haines and say jokingly in passing say, "you sure would look good in orange."

You are confusing illegal with unethical.  I never said it was illegal to recruit a verbal commit.  It is, however, unethical.

[TNwrestling]

56 minutes ago, JeanGuy said:

I think you have to keep recruiting "committed" guys. Until they sign they could change their mind at any moment so you have to be in regular contact with them.

 

41 minutes ago, Le duke said:

Commits flip all the time. That said, once someone has *signed* an NLI, hands off. 

See: Slumlord Bob offering a bag to Luke Lilledahl this summer while he was taking summer classes at Penn State. 

Ncaa got rid of NLI's earlier this month. 

[mspart]

What is the purpose of committing to a college or university if you can easily sign with someone else?   It sounds to me like committing is not the final decision, signing is.   If committing actually meant something, then going after such a person would be unethical in my opinion.   Also unethical is committing and then backing out in my opinion.   But since it does happen and is fairly common, everyone is still in play.

mspart

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

15 minutes ago, mspart said:

What is the purpose of committing to a college or university if you can easily sign with someone else?   It sounds to me like committing is not the final decision, signing is.   If committing actually meant something, then going after such a person would be unethical in my opinion.   Also unethical is committing and then backing out in my opinion.   But since it does happen and is fairly common, everyone is still in play.

mspart

I didn't have my own D1 recruiting experience, but I would imagine that you verbal early for a number of reasons:  #1 to stop the constant barrage of texts and calls, but also probably to make sure everything is situated with your chosen destination (ie they don't recruit over you). 

It is  possible we may see some of this play out with one of the top recruits in the country who felt wronged by the B10 school that he verballed to.  (and now he has good reason to feel vindicated)

My understanding is some fires may need to be extinguished.

Edited October 16 by Interviewed_at_Weehawken

[Gus]

1 hour ago, Le duke said:

Commits flip all the time. That said, once someone has *signed* an NLI, hands off. 

See: Slumlord Bob offering a bag to Luke Lilledahl this summer while he was taking summer classes at Penn State. 

You cannot play the moral high ground on this when you are a PSU fan. Their hands are as dirty as anyone in the country. Who do you think Rob Koll's comment in the OP was directed towards? Some random folks from Happy Valley?

[Truzzcat]

This seems like a lot to be made about something everyone is aware of. I assume Sergio Vega is the guy thats being contacted hard, he just dominated super 32 and at who's 1 and committed to Cornell pretty early while he was very good but maybe not a household name. It makes sense that now coaches are trying to poach him. It is absolutely slimy but its definitely part of the game at this point and only becomes and issue to me if the kid wants no part of it and the coaches are essentially harassing them. 

I look at this instance (it could not be Sergio but thats my best guess) as something similar to an Olejnik or even Nasir Bailey this year. Im sure programs wanted them but then they showed they jumped levels and now everyone is banging down the door this time it just happened to occur during the high school season rather than during the collegiate season which I honestly would rather happen if it has to happen.

[Gus]

[WildTurk]

Yianni had to block a Penn State coaches number?  Did I read that correctly?

[Idaho]

There is a difference between Yianni being committed verbally and still being pursued until he actually signed  and  being signed and still being recruited by a 3rd party offering big money to go into the portal and switch schools. 

[BigRedFan]

1 minute ago, Idaho said:

There is a difference between Yianni being committed verbally and still being pursued until he actually signed  and  being signed and still being recruited by a 3rd party offering big money to go into the portal and switch schools. 

Are coaches considered "3rd parties"?  Yianni explicitly said it was a coach who he had to block due to excessive contact.  Also, Yianni did not say it was a Penn State coach:  Koll referenced a Happy Valley coach, who may not have been (and sounds like it wasn't) the same coach Yianni referenced.

Remember again that Ivy League schools don't have National Letters of Intent, so not sure what "signed" means in this context.