'12 AZ WR Davonte Neal (Arizona Transfer)

[irishpat183]

Wow. First I've heard. This sucks.

 

[Cackalacky]

I think doing what he thinks is right for his new family makes him man enough. We all have to make tough choices.

As one who works full time, and also finishing up 5 years of night school for an engineering degree, I get to see the two people I love most in the world for about 20 hours a week for the last 5 years. Not a day goes by that I do not think about all the time I missed with my kid and wife in hopes that I did the right thing in pursuing this degree. That also includes being able to go home every night and if I am lucky read to my son before he goes to bed and ask my wife how her day was before I shove food in my mouth and do my homework while they go to sleep. There is absolutely nothing easy about this choice. I am sure he did what he thought he needed to.

 

[Grahambo]

I think he legitimately wants to be closer to his baby and I can understand that. I think the plan was also to have her move here (heard it numerous places) all along which is why he came back after spring break. Obviously there was a breakdown in the plan...

Having said that though, he did attend three different high schools in 4 years and we all know what happened with his announcement and the "family issues." I just hope he can pull it all together and he lands somewhere that he can be successful.

I'm not doubting the legitimacy of it but feel theres more to it that we will never know.

 

[PANDFAN]

 

[kmoose]

It makes me wonder....

There's a lot of noise from a segment of ND fans, about the University doing more to give the football team the opportunity to recruit on an even plane with other schools, for the top athletes. Well, maybe this is the result? Maybe the University and others involved in the program have known something, all along, that none of us considered: that many of these top athletes are fickle and unreliable. I get the idea of being close to your baby. But maybe that is just a convenient excuse? Maybe he was told that he wasn't going to get much PT this year, and so the baby provided a plausible reason for him to bail? I admit that I'm completely speculating here, but I do find it odd that ND has had a spike in transfers, coincident with it hauling in some seriously talented recruiting classes.

 

[mriguy]

I am proud of Davonte for wanting to be a good father and wanting be there for his baby. Any man can make a baby but it takes a real man to love and raise a baby. If this is the true reason he is leaving then I am a bigger fan of Davonte even if he is not wearing Irish colors.

Good luck and may God bless you and your family!

 

[jimmymac]

Ferguson too...

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Ferguson too...

I was going to ask about him... He and Davonte were connected at the hip.

 

[Kingbish01]

In Kelly I trust. Neal and Kiel must have seen the writting on the wall. They probably weren't going to see much playing time in their careers. ND has some straight up talent now, and it's only going to get harder to see the field for some of these kids. JMO

 

[Grahambo]

Ferguson too...

NVM.

 

[ShakeDown]

I wonder how many more WR offers we see go out the next month or so.

 

[ThePiombino]

Instead of retiring the #19, maybe we can just burn it? Seriously though, losing a kid so that he can be closer to his child is a #NDkindofproblem. You think this sucks? Compare to SEC fans who lose kids to incarceration.

 

[dublinirish]

is Ferguson a baby daddy too?

 

[Ultimate Penn St. Hater]

That is just the numb-nuts, amoral thinking of today. Nothing against you UPenn, I like and respect you. How many successful ND athletes impregnate women without having a plan to take care of them? How many ND men impregnate women before having a committed relationship in place? Or before achieving their goals? Students, athletes, anyone? Not the norm, not even a blip on the screen.

And this is not a moralistic conversation; it is all about having a plan. You know, pregnancy is 100% preventable. All of the time. It is all about what you want. This as every other case is not about pregnancy. I would agree totally if your statement if it said, "Getting a girl pregnant has nothing to do with this case." This case is about having a plan, and seeing it through.

I get what you're saying. I agree with almost all of it. I'm just saying that these things do happen. It doesn't make him a bad or a kid not worthy of being called an "ND Man."

 

[gkautz10]

Just going to leave my 2 cents here:
I am sad to see all these transfers from ND's football team, but these kids are doing what is best for them and you can't blame them for it. Some of these "adults" that are bashing these kids for making responsible decisions should reevaluate their lives. Why bash a kid who got himself into an unideal situation and is now manning up and taking responsibility for it? How many people do you know that have impregnated a woman and was not in the child's life? Davonte stepping up at such a young age shows he is a ND man.

 

[rikkitikki08]

If he doesn't want to be at ND that's fine, i got not qualms with the kid for that. Sucks because he is a hell of a talent but that's life, lets move on

 

[Cackalacky]

I am gonna go and have one of these for lunch....

 

[KyfightingIrish36]

In Kelly I trust. Neal and Kiel must have seen the writting on the wall. They probably weren't going to see much playing time in their careers. ND has some straight up talent now, and it's only going to get harder to see the field for some of these kids. JMO

Neal would have contributed this year at least. No telling what kind of PR guy he could have been with a real ST unit

 

[koonja]

Look on the bright side. Kelly hasn't had a great deal of success recruiting besides the 2013 class and it looks like the 2014 class will also be a success. And those classes which are primarily made up up 4/5 star guys, will both end with 22-25 recruits. That's a lot of talent in back to back years.

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

WTF did I just walk into????

 

[PANDFAN]

“A school in California would most likely be a better fit for Davonte’ because of my relationships there and being from there,” Luke said.


now i am perplexed

 

[NDFANnSouthWest]

So he is from AZ and now a CA school is a better fit....something stinks.

 

[Mr. McGibblets]

Just coming accross this news now. Nothing surprises me anymore although I am disappointed.

Other schools recruit kids who want to get farther from their girlfriend and new born baby. We get the ones who want to move closer.

Guess it speaks to the character of the athletes ND recruits.

 

[AdmiralBackhand]

Allow him to transfer to UCLA only.

 

[Cackalacky]

How did this happen when just last week Zaire, Nix and Moore were out there with him training.....?

 

[UmphreakDomer]

How did this happen when just last week Zaire, Nix and Moore were out there with him training.....?

pure speculation would be:

his baby's mom got used to him being around for a week. i'm sure he saw her and the kid every night. she got spoiled with him around (not spoiled in a negative way) and has since blown his phone up. every 5 minutes. he made the plea--she could come to the bend. and she said, if im going anywhere outside of AZ it'll CA.

 

[Bogtrotter07]

I think he legitimately wants to be closer to his baby and I can understand that. I think the plan was also to have her move here (heard it numerous places) all along which is why he came back after spring break. Obviously there was a breakdown in the plan...

Having said that though, he did attend three different high schools in 4 years and we all know what happened with his announcement and the "family issues." I just hope he can pull it all together and he lands somewhere that he can be successful.

This is the kind of thing I am talking about. I know pregancy happens when you least expect it in real life. Though I believe it is 100% avoidable, (maybe I should add, without abstenance.)

Just going to leave my 2 cents here:
I am sad to see all these transfers from ND's football team, but these kids are doing what is best for them and you can't blame them for it. Some of these "adults" that are bashing these kids for making responsible decisions should reevaluate their lives. Why bash a kid who got himself into an unideal situation and is now manning up and taking responsibility for it? How many people do you know that have impregnated a woman and was not in the child's life? Davonte stepping up at such a young age shows he is a ND man.

You don't know if there is a bit of truth in anything you are saying. Because everything about this situation is suposition or repetition. The only thing we know is that his father says is that a school in California, is closer to home, in otherwords a better fit! Excuse me, a school from California is a better fit. LOL!

Forgive my ignorance (haven't been to mass in years so stance may have changed) but now we are ripping a kid for not using birth control that attended a Catholic university?

*this of course disregards the Church's whole view of premarital sex

IrishSteel, don't even go there. I have too much respect for you. I am purposly not getting rapped up into the morality of things. This is just about making things work. Jamoris did it. Cierre did it, and got his degree! My feeling is, and I would tell my sons this, if you are going to put yourself behind, come up with a new plan to dig yourself out! If your origninal plan was good enough, and you are letting something like this knock you off, then you are on your way down. If your old plan wasn't what you wanted, be honest.

Does anyone know how school was going for him? Isn't this about that time?

 

[Emcee77]

How did this happen when just last week Zaire, Nix and Moore were out there with him training.....?

I was wondering the same thing. The timing, for both J Ferg and Davonte, make me wonder if transferring was more a football decision than either is letting on. Maybe after the first few days or week of spring practice these guys realized they just weren't going to be as big a part of the offense as they wanted and they decided to split. Just speculating.

 

[Luckylucci]

I was wondering the same thing. The timing, for both J Ferg and Davonte, make me wonder if transferring was more a football decision than either is letting on. Maybe after the first few days or week of spring practice these guys realized they just weren't going to be as big a part of the offense as they wanted and they decided to split. Just speculating.

I agree, I think for both it was more about football than anything else. The fathers can say what they want and respect their views but I still think that it was football related.

 

[Oberon]

I agree, I think for both it was more about football than anything else. The fathers can say what they want and respect their views but I still think that it was football related.

What are the odds Davonte is cleared to play immediately upon transferring? Does the NCAA often approve hardship waivers in these types of cases (transferring to be close to child)?