Rivals 5-star linebacker decommits due to facebook hits

[bamamarquettefan]

http://stanford.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1180878

See this Rivals 5-star linebacker who just destroyed the Alabama prep All-Stars decommitted from Mississippi State and went to Mississippi, ESPN is reporting because of negative Facebook posts?

I know we aren't hitting Facebooks when we post here, but that's a little scary if something one of us fans post could cause a 5-star to decommit.  He thanked the Mississippi State fans who posted for making his recruitment a living hell in announcing he was dropping Facebook and decommitting to go to their rival. 

Ouch.

[brewcity77]

I find that incredibly funny, and applaud the player for it. All the more reason that no one should be posting on the FB pages of high school athletes, even after they have committed. I'll admit that I'm friends with a few Marquette players on FB, and I was friends with some before they stepped onto campus. But the last thing I'm going to do is talk smack (or even rattle on positively) on their pages. No reason any of us should, as indicated in the Newbill incident when a Marquette alum followed a prospect around with a camera against NCAA rules.

It's all fun and games until someone loses a recruit. No reason any of us should try to make contact with these kids before they arrive, or we could be next.

[Rubie Q]

The story from the Clarion-Ledger paints a little different picture:

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110126/SPORTS030103/101260332/1109/SPORTS/State-s-top-prospect-Johnson-chooses-Rebs

In short: it says that he decommitted from MSU earlier this month after MSU's defensive coordinator left for a job at Texas.  The only reference to Facebook posts relates to the period after he decommitted:

"I saw rumors on the Internet with people saying I decommitted from Mississippi State because my momma has been working for this Ole Miss guy and she cleaned his house up for a year and she made $100,000," said Johnson. "If my momma made $100,000 a year, I wouldn't be driving the truck that I'm driving. I would have had a vehicle a long time ago. It's just the little stuff like that.

"I got a lot of trash talking by both schools on Facebook, but that didn't have a lot to do with it. But when you start getting my mom involved and my family involved, that takes it to a whole another level."

Still dumb to be talking to the kid on Facebook, no doubt, but this doesn't make it sound like the Facebooking (if that's a word) caused him to decommit.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

there were 1 or 2 people that got on Reggie Smith when he transferred on his FB.

[radome]

there were 1 or 2 people that got on Reggie Smith when he transferred on his FB.

I am truly embarassed for all of us if that happened (I don't doubt your seeing it Ziggy, but there is just no way to know that it was us). Wow. Sad.

[77ncaachamps]

The story from the Clarion-Ledger paints a little different picture:

http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110126/SPORTS030103/101260332/1109/SPORTS/State-s-top-prospect-Johnson-chooses-Rebs

In short: it says that he decommitted from MSU earlier this month after MSU's defensive coordinator left for a job at Texas.  The only reference to Facebook posts relates to the period after he decommitted:

"I saw rumors on the Internet with people saying I decommitted from Mississippi State because my momma has been working for this Ole Miss guy and she cleaned his house up for a year and she made $100,000," said Johnson. "If my momma made $100,000 a year, I wouldn't be driving the truck that I'm driving. I would have had a vehicle a long time ago. It's just the little stuff like that.

"I got a lot of trash talking by both schools on Facebook, but that didn't have a lot to do with it. But when you start getting my mom involved and my family involved, that takes it to a whole another level."

Still dumb to be talking to the kid on Facebook, no doubt, but this doesn't make it sound like the Facebooking (if that's a word) caused him to decommit.

Well, it is in the South.

Teal = sarcasm

[GGGG]

there were 1 or 2 people that got on Reggie Smith when he transferred on his FB.

That is terrible, but maybe the players should be a little more cautious about friending people they don't know.

[MU_Iceman]

Don't know if anyone saw this, but I found it pretty interesting:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Top-recruit-quits-Facebook-following-living-nig?urn=highschool-313954

I honestly think that social media gives too many people access to these kids...don't get me wrong I'm as intrigued as the next guy any time someone posts a thread on here showing our players and recruits' "fb status" and "twitter" updates...but actually reaching out to a player (active roster or recruit) in any capacity is over-stepping the boundaries in my opinion...

[TallTitan34]

I always wondered what keeps fans from one school from posing as fans of another just to cause trouble on the internet?

[T.V. Diener 34]

There ARE ways for people on facebook to block their profiles from people who aren't friends of theirs.... so I guess he shoulda done this or else not accepted everyone and anyone's friend requests....

[77ncaachamps]

I don't have any problem following or commenting about recruits, but I refrain from direct messaging and linking their accounts in my messages.

Also, I think this is a repost: http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=24002.0

[Aughnanure]

This post from Syracuse's Nunes Magician blog needs to be read by anyone who is following a recruit/scholarship player on Twitter or Facebook. If any our fans every do this, or have done this, they need to be publicly shamed.

http://www.nunesmagician.com/2011/1/30/1962963/this-week-in-stupid-some-of-us