The biggest problem with satellite camps?

According to Kirby Smart, it’s that there are just too damned many of them.

“We have got a bunch of them that people are calling us about but we’ve got to be selective because our time is valuable and we want kids on our campus,” Smart said. “There’s a fine line.”

Georgia has a calendar that lists every satellite camp that the staff knows about on it. If you look at the dates of them and the amount of them, I think they’re going to get really diluted so you want your coaches to go where the players are. …They’ll be more than those two but I don’t know how many and I don’t know when and I don’t know where.”

The concept itself – including pairing up with Michigan – he’s okay with.

“Really it was more Cedar Grove,” Smart said about how he got together with Harbaugh. “They handled the whole thing. Coach (Jermaine) Smith called me and talked to me about it. I said it would be a great idea. I think it will be awesome. If they’re going to be in our state working it and evaluating talent, we want to be evaluating that talent, too. It gives an opportunity and it’s a good attraction. Both big-name schools. The idea is to get the best players, if you’re going to do it, let’s get the best players there. We’re going to want them on our campus, too, but if it gives us a chance for a kid that’s 90 miles away, 70 miles away for us to see them that they don’t have to come to campus, we’re good with that.”

This whole thing is turning into a giant yawner.  But not before Greg Sankey made sure Jim Harbaugh milked it for all it was worth.

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“So everybody is coming in to come get players.”

Kirby Smart has the perfect answer to the question why UGA can’t close the state borders in recruiting.

A few months ago at the Macon Touchdown Club, a fan asked Smart why so many Georgia natives were on rosters of other teams.

“You gonna give me extra scholarships?” Smart answered, pointing to the SEC signing limit that essentially is 25 players per year, as well as the overall 85-player scholarship limit.

Then Smart made a point to illustrate that Georgia will always be fertile recruiting ground, for many schools: While he was at Alabama, the staff there looked at the first and second string of every SEC school and found that the most players hailed from Georgia.

“Georgia’s No. 1. All right?” Smart said.

Math is hard.  Building a fence to keep Alabama, Auburn, FSU and Clemson out is even harder.

Mr. Conventional Wisdom is all thumbs.

Tony Barnhart’s doling out all sorts of wisdom for people today.  In the case of Bo Davis, here’s his career advice:  Tell the truth or you’re done.

Conventional, true, but solid.  Firm, even.  No backing off there whatsoever… wait, what?

Davis may have gotten fired anyway, but the rule of thumb to both coaches and players is that if you lie, you’re pretty much done.

So if you lie, you’re “pretty much” done.  Okay, maybe that’s not as strong as where he started, but bottom line, under no circumstances should you ever dissemble, because, whatever your situation, lying only makes it worse.  Always much worse… er, um, what’s that you say, Tony?

Another rule of thumb is that if the school knows you committed a violation, they have no choice: They have to throw you overboard in hopes of saving the ship.

How many opposable digits does the man have to make rules on, anyway?  I’m at three, which strikes me as a little weird.

Well then, to sum up, you may be done if you lie about a recruiting violation, but you’re done for sure if they know you screwed up, which means you should lie if you’re not completely certain they know you crossed the line because you might be just pretty much done instead of done for sure, except if they already know, then it doesn’t matter if you lie because…

Ah, screw this.  My head hurts.

Sometimes, it’s not the NCAA’s fault.

I always look for a good rant or two after draft day, and here comes Kevin Scarbinsky’s stay in school, kids! piece about how early entrants should be allowed to return to school if they’re not drafted to fill the bill.

You could argue that this could impact scholarship numbers because players declare in January and schools sign recruits in February knowing how many openings they have. If a school has a full complement of 85 players on scholarship, an undrafted underclassmen who wanted to return would put that school over the limit.

Truth is, few schools actually have 85 players on scholarship, and the NCAA could grant waivers for underdrafted underclassmen if they did.

Isn’t the NCAA all about athletes being students as well? Shouldn’t the NCAA want to give players every opportunity to continue their education? And why would the NFL care either way? NFL teams might get a more polished and mature prospect to consider the next year.

If you care about the players, as the NCAA and the NFL should, it just makes sense to give them a chance to continue their formal and football educations.

Uh, you done there?  Good.  Allow Jim Weber to retort.

First, let me give you a little bit of background information with an assist from John Infante of the Bylaw Blog. Contrary to popular belief, a player who declares early for the NFL draft and goes unpicked can return to school within 72 hours of the draft’s conclusion if he hasn’t signed with an agent. In college hockey and baseball, players can even return to school after being drafted (which happens after high school or their junior year) because they don’t declare early; all players except freshmen and sophomores are eligible to be drafted.

The loophole that college baseball and hockey players have used in order to maintain their eligibility and keep the option of returning to school open is using agents only as “advisors” who they pay at their going rates for their services as opposed to signing a contract. Case in point: Baseball super agent Scott Boras is an “advisor” to many high school and college baseball players with the idea he will become their agent once they turn pro.

Because football players who get selected in the NFL draft must leave school, a market has never really developed for college football “advisors.” But with around 30% of early entries going undrafted the last two years, it’s clear those with late-round grades would be wise to choose this route instead.

Weber’s post is from 2013.  The NCAA provision he links to has been on the books in one form or fashion since 2002.  Really.

In football, an enrolled student-athlete (as opposed to a prospective student-athlete) may enter the National Football League draft one time during his collegiate career without jeopardizing eligibility in that sport, provided the student-athlete is not drafted by any team in that league and the student-athlete declares his intention to resume intercollegiate participation within 72 hours following the National Football League draft declaration date.  The student-athlete’s declaration of intent shall be in writing to the institution’s director of athletics.  (Adopted: 10/31/02, Revised: 4/14/03, 12/15/06)

How many kids take advantage of that rule?  Hell, how many of ’em know about the rule?  Weber suggests one reason few, if any, do is because undergrads sign with agents before the draft, instead of merely seeking advisory assistance, and I have no doubt that’s just how agents like it.

But what’s the schools’ excuse?  What about Scarbinsky’s noble sentiment?  Someone more cynical than me might suggest the current format makes it easier for coaches to scare student-athletes into staying by painting a decision to leave early as an one-way ticket with no return, whereas if college players chose to follow the guidelines the NCAA laid down and preserve a right to return, then they would have a much safer means of testing the waters.  Which might very well make it tempting for more kids to test the waters than we already see doing so.  Again, that would be something coming from someone more cynical than me.  Me?  I’m just sayin’.

“I told him I was leaving and I said, ‘I have a guy for you.'”

Man, talk about a long time in the making…  Chicago Tribune interviews Leonard Floyd’s coaching chain at Georgia, from Jon Fabris, who first recruited him, all the way to Jeremy Pruitt, who last coached him, with stops in between from Todd Grantham and Mark Richt.  All told, an eight-year story.

It takes a village to produce a top-10 recruit.

Okay, so maybe there’s something to this silent commitment stuff after all.

I’ve always been a little skeptical about the concept.  If you have an offer and you want to go to the school, why stay silent about it?  (Trent Thompson, the exception that proves the rule, differs.)  But…

There have been rumors swirling that Kirby has a bunch of silent commitments for the 2017 class sitting in his pocket, cards that he intends to play as he needs them for momentum purposes.  And maybe that’s what we just saw happen yesterday.

Georgia didn’t strike out completely in receiver recruiting Sunday.

The Bulldogs picked up a verbal commitment from Pace Academy wideout Trey Blount. Blount is considered a four-star receiver, according to the 247Sports.com composite, and holds offers from at least 27 college programs…

Blount’s news came a few hours after the nation’s No. 1 receiver in the class of 2016, Savannah Christian Prep’s Demetris Robertson, announced he would play for California over Georgia and Notre Dame.

Good timing.  Blount says he was a silent commitment for a couple of weeks before announcing:  “I have been silently committed to Georgia for a while now, since the Wednesday after G-Day.”

The truly impressive thing here isn’t that these silent commitments exist; it’s that Smart is evidently able to impose enough discipline on the process to control the timing of when the public announcements are made.  Maybe that’s the best indication of all that these teenagers are buying in to what’s happening at Georgia.

Musical palate cleanser, lie to me edition

In honor of Bo Davis compounding his Joker Phillips mistake into a guaranteed departure by “being dishonest” about it, here’s the sixteen-year old (!) Jonny Lang bringing it with “Lie To Me”.

Oh, and don’t cry for Tuscaloosa, peeps.  Saban’s reportedly already found a replacement and as far as any potential problems with the NCAA go, “In similar cases, a coach’s resignation could be enough to avoid future punishment for the violation for ‘impermissible contact.'”

Tunsil lawyers up.

If for some strange reason you were wondering if Laremy Tunsil’s shocking burst of honesty was actually going to lead the NCAA’s investigation of Ole Miss somewhere, you can stop now.  Tunsil’s attorney assured everyone this weekend that those social media images posted on draft night were “taken out of context” and “once it is found out what this is all about, it will be much to do about nothing.”

Yeah, that’s worth a chuckle, but the real message there is that you won’t hear any more coming from Tunsil’s direction.