Mailbag QUESTIONS (24 of them to be exact): In regards to Will Campbell …

Okay E-Bloggers,

I have been getting many e-mails concerned about Will Campbell’s recruitment.

First off, this blog does not follow the day-to-day recruiting, giving daily updates like many bloggers do, because we have too much respect for the people that actually do, such as GBW (www.michigan.scout.com) to steal their information, put a spin on it then and try to find a newspaper article about the kid talking about Michigan, and finally passing it off as our own.

We have our own sources which we follow, and believe is the best recruiting site out there — GBW. I have helped GBW with calling kids, calling coaches, getting inside information, attended practices, etc… Therefore, I have made a point to stay away from this and not be a “one of those bloggers”.

Now, I do answer questions about kids from e-mails we get. Overnight I have received 24 e-mails all asking about Will Campbell and what went wrong.

It is not over yet, but, so far, this is what I know:

I believe this all started when people (posters on message boards) went to the University of Michigan’s directory and found out there was a William Campbell enrolled in January. The kid did not even commit to any school yet and was planning to do it on national television during the Army All-American bowl.

I believe this is a kid taking back control of his recruitment and not letting fans break any news on where he might go. Going on a University web site to see if his name is on the directory yet is crossing the line. These acts by fans who need to know what the kid eats, what color of shirt he wore today, etc., is getting kind of stalker-ish.

I actually kind of like what “Big Will” did.

I was on several message boards on Sunday and could not believe some of the actions of some Michigan fans. Maybe they are twelve years old or something, I do not know, but to bash a seventeen-year-old kid for probably the most important decision in his lifetime? Going to Will Campbell’s Facebook or Myspace account (not sure which one he has) and ripping on him and telling him what school he should choose is totally classless. By the way, that is a gray area in NCAA rules.

What a shame how some posters were acting on Sunday, no matter what happens with him when he announces during the AA game. It is not very classy: ripping on the kid for making a life choice, whether or not he chooses it Michigan.

I have seen message boards, as well, question me about why he did this, and why he dropped Michigan. Well, even before the directory incident, people thought he was committing to Michigan and only de-committed in order to take his official visits to other schools. (Coach Rod does not want committed kids taking trips).

At the AA game, it would not have been a big surprise for him to pull out a Michigan hat. I actually like it when kids do not spill the beans too soon and make it interesting … it makes it exciting to actually watch the “Hat dance,” with people cheering, or getting ticked off, about which twenty-dollar hat a seventeen-year-old kid decides to put on.

Other posters on message boards are asking if Will Campbell is lying about taking Michigan off the list. I’m not saying he is lying, at all. He might have taken Michigan off the list and chose a different school, but I believe Michigan is still in it.

It’s his life, his choice.

This year with all the commits and de-commits, none of this bothers me anymore. Sure, I want the elite talent and the best we can get, but it does not bother me as it obviously bothers some on message boards. It is what it is. I look at it like this: there is nothing we can do about any decision a seventeen-year-old kid makes (unless you have your own kid and even that is hard enough).

So many people, in Ohio — where I live — and across the country are struggling with much bigger problems like losing their homes, their jobs, etc… Where a player decides to play, or not play, football is a small matter. Let’s try to keep things in perspective.

Fans are too emotionally tied to some of these kids. It is unbelievable. The thing is, that most on these message boards, who don’t even know these kids personally, are so emotionally attached because they have been following these kids since they were freshmen or sophomores.

My advice is to wait until they sign (Letter of Intent) before getting to emotionally invested with these kids.

Some people mentioned that they “join web sites to know everything about these kids.” Like many people that follow Michigan recruiting, we (Myself, CoachBt, and MaizeMan) pay for information the GBW staff compiles, who are known to make calls to coaches, players, etc. They can always say “NO” when GBW calls them or asks to do an interview.

The problem I have is when “fans” are taking it upon themselves to be the first to “scoop” the recruiting of a kid. I have heard of fans following recruits around campus trying to listen in on conversations. Now I see why kids are choosing earlier and earlier … it is so much easier not to deal with these kinds of NUTS.

After the message boards exploded — thinking that Will Campbell had enrolled at Michigan — people got “worried” about other committed kids that are not listed on the directory yet, that were supposed to enroll this January. That is what I am talking about when I refer to these people as stalkers.

I’m not sure the school can block access to a name on a directory to protect the privacy of a student/athlete, but it’s sad to even think there would be a need to, even before he starts one day of class at Michigan.

This is just my 2 cents worth. I will now get off my high horse and stop with the soapbox talk. Back to your regular scheduled programming.

Written by ErocWolverine