Recruiting makes strange bedfellows.

Following up on yesterday’s discussion about the end of satellite camps, it’s a little interesting to see how the voting reportedly broke down.

According to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy the votes on the proposal were split as such. The SEC, ACC, Pac-12, Big 12, Mountain West and Sun Belt all voted in favor of the rule change. The Big Ten, AAC, Conference USA and MAC all voted against the rule change (in favor of continuing to allow satellite camps).

As Kalland writes, the Mountain West’s vote is the strange one.

The Mountain West figured to be one of the potential beneficiaries of satellite camps by sending coaches to camps at other schools. The Sun Belt’s vote for the rule change is a little less surprising, considering they are the school’s that benefit the most from players being overlooked by SEC and ACC schools, and can often land quality recruits that don’t get the exposure needed to receive offers from bigger programs.

Jim Harbaugh’s showboating aside, and as some of you noted in the comments yesterday, this change will have zero impact on the kids who are in the upper tier of recruits.  They’ve already been noticed and the coaches will find their way to them, satellite camps or no satellite camps.

It’s the below the radar guys who will take the hit.

That is where the NCAA misses its mark with this rule change. In the fervor to stop Harbaugh, Urban Meyer and anyone else in the Big Ten from invading the southeast and expanding its recruiting footprint into an area long dominated by the SEC and ACC, the NCAA punishes a huge number of potential recruits that use those satellite camps to gain exposure they cannot otherwise get.

Most recruits can’t afford to travel to camps across the country, and for a two-star or three-star looking to get noticed, a satellite camp in their area may be the best chance they have at getting a look from schools outside of their area.

Can’t blame the Sun Belt coaches for looking out for themselves, I suppose.  But there’s nothing about this rule change that can be construed as helping recruits become student-athletes.

Advertisements

Out of the goodness of their hearts

Well, this just quietly slipped out.

Big East commissioner Val Ackerman told SI Now’s Maggie Gray on Friday that the NCAA is reconsidering allowing student athletes to sign endorsement deals.

Under the current rules, student athletes may not be paid for the use of their image or likeness or they would forfeit their amateur status and their collegiate eligibility could be affected. When Gray asked Ackerman why students shouldn’t be able to capitalize on the value they bring to their university, Ackerman responded that the NCAA is considering changing that rule.

“That’s one that’s actually under consideration I believe by the NCAA,” Ackerman said. “It’s actually a time right now where student athlete interests are being closely examined. I don’t have an answer for you on that one today but I will say that and a number of other topics are under review, and I think rightly by the NCAA and it’s very possible that over the course of the next year or two as these these ideas work their way through the legislative system you could see changes.”

Once again, behold the awesome power of the law suit.

While I have no idea what the final version of what the NCAA will propose would look like, it’s an easy move, in that it’s one that won’t cost the schools anything.  It’s just too bad they didn’t face up to their stupidity and greed a few years ago, so they could have saved themselves a few bucks and a ton of embarrassment.

Not to mention saving a little more of the careers of AJ Green and Todd Gurley for Georgia fans.  Schmucks, every one of ’em.

Round the horn, SEC spring game edition

I spent Friday night and Saturday afternoon flipping between watching the Masters and four SEC spring games:  Florida, South Carolina, Auburn and Texas A&M.  Given my bopping around and that these were glorified scrimmages, my impressions are superficial at best, but anyway, I do have a few.

• Florida.  The Gators will have a good defense again, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise.  Unlike last spring, there are a decent number of bodies on the offensive line.  Eddy Pineiro appears to be ready to fix the gaping open sore that was Florida’s place kicking last season.  Maybe the biggest news from the game was that transfer Luke Del Rio looked competent running the offense.  Bottom line:  were I Jim McElwain, I wouldn’t feel too bad about how my team looks right now.
• South Carolina.  I don’t think much more needs to be said than that there’s a decent chance Boom chooses to start a true freshman at quarterback this season.  Maybe the motto for the ‘Cocks this season should be “Starting Over”.
• Auburn.  As my mother might say, oy, vey.  Auburn’s quarterback situation is every bit the steaming pile we thought (hoped?) it might be.  And if Malzahn really isn’t “concerned with anyone separating themselves on a day like today,” then he’s fooling himself as much as he is the rest of us.  Carl Lawson clearly looked like the best player on the field.  Unfortunately, “on the field” has been the operative key phrase for his career so far.
• Texas A&M.  Much like Florida, the pleasant surprise for Kevin Sumlin’s program has to be the way Oklahoma transfer Trevor Knight performed.  But the other thing I couldn’t help but notice was the way the Aggies’ defense continues to improve under Chavis.  Those defensive ends are nasty.

If any of you watched, feel free to chime in with your observations.

***********************************************************************

UPDATE:  And for what it’s worth…

Early spring attendance leaders:

1 @ClemsonFB 50000
2 @FSU_Football 49913
3 @GatorsFB 46000
4 @AuburnTigers 45723
5 @OU_Athletics 42436

— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) April 10, 2016