Kind of annoyed...
I just read an article that basically trashed Erik Swenson (
link) with comments like
...Swenson, a four-star recruit, "played not to get hurt instead of playing to show that he was dominant and the best player in the state."
Swenson's high school coach told the Detroit Free Press that the scholarship offer's disappearance wasn't abrupt. Perhaps this situation is simply another example of how leaping to judgment without all the facts isn't a good idea.
According to The Wolverine, there were rumblings for some time that Swenson would not be heading to Michigan.
These quotes imply that Swenson has known for a long time that Michigan was going to rescind the offer and that his stating that he and his family were surprised is a lie.
But his high school coach's
actual quote (
link) is:
Mark Molinari, Swenson’s coach at Downers Grove South, told The Detroit News on Thursday he knew something was not right with Swenson’s Michigan relationship within the last month.
“It didn’t just happen yesterday,” Molinari said. “We got some red flags three weeks ago, just comments made from coach encouraging Erik to make all five official visits (to other schools). That was the first indication it wasn’t heading in the direction we thought it was going.”
Molinari said he told Drevno, who he described as a “nice man” Swenson was not planning to make any official visits. But Molinari has since called other schools only to find that with so little time before signing day, there are few openings and Swenson has no relationships with other coaches because he has been committed to Michigan. Molinari said the situation did not become clear until Monday.
The fact that there were hints from the UM coach three weeks ago (roughly early January 2016) after Swenson had been committed since 2013 is a LOT different from the implication that he has known for a long time and is responsible himself due to his
refusal (their word) to attend a camp last summer. This article also says that there were "hints" given to him in November.
Pulling the scholarship was low but something I accepted as being a part of the win-at-all-costs attitude of those programs that tout win percentage above integrity. But by participating in trashing this young man's reputation with a very careful crafting of words means that they have transcended the Alabama/Ohio State level of bottom feeder.
