I knew it was only do time, lets keep early recruiting
Georgia drops three recruits (8/12)
Aug 12, 2014
Ninety-nine percent of the time when we cover recruiting on this site, it’s happy news.
Recruiting, in most cases, culminates with the announcement of which university or college a player has decided to attend and the excitement that comes with knowing that not only will she be getting to play a sport she loves at the collegiate level, but likely get paid in some way to compete.
Then, there’s that one percent of the time when recruiting isn’t so pleasant, when it resembles a sport like football where it’s estimated that 10-15% of committed players either decommit or get dropped for whatever reason.
Unfortunately, that’s the situation that’s happened in the SEC within the last couple of days.
What we know
Last Friday, three recruits that had been offered and committed to the University of Georgia were told they no longer would be able to sign with the SEC school. In essence, their scholarship offers were withdrawn.
I’ve talked to no less than six sources close to the situation, including club and college coaches as well as people within the Georgia athletic administration, and there are differing opinions as to why the offers were rescinded.
What is agreed by almost all is who the three talented prospects are: a 2015 shortstop ; a 2015 pitcher/infielder) and , a 2016 catcher
None of those I spoke to, not surprisingly, want to be quoted on record because of the delicate situation facing both sides.
For the athletes, their families and club coaches, they want to try to find a new school as quickly as possible and fear speaking out will hurt these chances.
On the Georgia side, the sources I spoke to knowledgeable about the softball situation say the athletic administration is concerned about privacy issues and legal concerns and has instructions for higher ups to not discuss publicly.
Plus, whenever recruits are dropped, it draws criticism and the hope is that all parties can move on from this as seamlessly as possible and everyone will be able to move on.
Without dispute are the changes that have happened within the Georgia softball program this summer.
Assistant coach Gerry Glasco left to take a similar position at Texas A&M after being in charge of the Bulldogs’ recruiting efforts for several years. Shortly after, his daughter Geri Ann Glasco transferred to Oregon after hitting .297 with 10 homers and 42 RBI while going 16-5 as a pitcher.
Georgia Head Coach Lu Harris-Champer finished her 14th season at the helm of the SEC program highlighted by a 12th consecutive trips to the NCAA Championship.
The head coach has produced 20 All-Americans and 65 All-SEC honorees in her time at Athens, but as of early July found herself needed to overhaul her staff.
On July 16 Tony Baldwin was announced as an assistant, returning to Georgia where he was a volunteer coach in 2011 and 2012 followed by a stint at North Carolina the last two years.
One week ago, on August 4, Rick Pauly was also named as an assistant after serving as a volunteer assistant at USC Upstate for the three previous years.
That much is pretty black and white… the rest of it is in dispute.