🏈 "Behind the Scenes of recruiting-2014" Going back to the Under Armor game in January...

[TerryP]

When we were talking about the prospects Bama was considering and who would likely commit to the Tide there's one guy's announcement that came as a shock to me; Travis Rudolph. If you recall, he committed to Florida State.

In the game thread that day, I mentioned a few notes I'd received...

Word I got from the team hotel a few minutes ago...

Fournette called Burns and said he was headed to LSU. Brown to Bama along with Rudolph. Tabor? Staff is waiting on what he decides.

Bottom line, the five for five LSU fans have been bragging out...it's a three of five deal like discussed on the recruiting forum.
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I'm bringing this up today because there's an article that 247Sports published covering a few guys; one of those was Rudolph.

The staff, as I mentioned in that game thread, was expecting him to commit to the Tide that day. He didn't.

Could the Tide's football staff be one of those very ones that were trolled?

Read the following...

Travis Rudolph trolled college coaches and media alike to get his 15 seconds of fame when he announced at the Under Armour Game. He told several outlets Alabama led and he grew up liking Alabama weeks leading up to his decision. He even relayed that message to Alabama’s staff hours before announcing.


He sent a text message to one reporter who asked if he should keep his Crystal Ball prediction on Alabama, saying “keep it.”


After choosing Florida State, Rudolph was still pursued by the likes of Alabama and Florida. He told one SEC assistant the method behind his madness was to “the fool the media and other coaches.”

In the end, just another example of how aspects of the recruiting season are becoming tiresome...

 

[TerryP]

Another jewel from the article.

Five-star defensive tackle Gerald Willis called Florida’s staff on the Sunday night he returned from his official visit to Gainesville in November. That’s when he gave his word to Will Muschamp that he was going to be a Gator. Willis struck true to his word, surprising some in LSU when he publicly announced at the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan 3.


Willis’ mom April Justin (who also is the mother of Alabama safety Landon Collins and is one of the most notorious parents in the history of recruiting) and Willis’ step mom had a shoving contest on the stage before Gerald announced. April didn’t want her up on the stage during her son’s announcement.

Is this about the kids, or about the Mom?

I suggested a few weeks ago that I was led to believe these kids left Louisiana to get away from their mom...think I might have been right on that one?