Whenever you are dealing with young kids, you're going to experience some difficulties in decision-making. Plenty of adults have issues with commitment, so kids are bound to have the occasional change of heart. I've never thought it was a terribly big deal when it happened, but it seems to be grounds for assault when a teenage athlete changes his/her mind on a college choice. One of those who has made that change on Signing Day is Kraig Appleton, a wide receiver from East St. Louis, Illinois. YouTube of his skillz is after the jump.I'm not a scout, so I don't know how good Appleton is going to be at the next level. He looks like he has some wheels, and he uses his size pretty well for a young kid.
Anyway, Appleton had previously committed to Illinois. Somewhere along the line, however, he started to waver on his commitment, and he followed through on that wavering Wednesday.
Appleton has signed to play his college football at Wisconsin. Not surprisingly, Badger fans are a tad pleased with this.
Of course, as Jeff Potrykus points out, they're not so giddy when it goes the other way. That's the nature of fans, though. You expect that.
In cases like this, I've always felt that it's wrong for a school to continue recruiting someone who has already given a commitment elsewhere. That said, how do you stop it? The answer is that you don't. Good salespeople don't take "No" for an answer, and good recruiters are going to learn that mantra, too. It might not be right to put pressure on a teenager who had enough trouble making a decision, but if you don't do it, you can be certain someone else will.
FanHouse takes you into the belly of the college football beast that is recruiting. We'll be around before, during and after Signing Day '09.
