'14 NC RB Elijah Hood (UNC Verbal)

[irishff1014]

Except for the fact that we won a lot last year.... And yet here we are.

They don't want to be Irish fine. The coaching staff is very good at getting the best talent for our system. We got 2 great backs last class so the 15 cycle could be good for us.

 

[Irishnuke]

Thoughts on what it could be that "he saw"?

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

Nothing. I think it's total BS. Knocking up a chick seems likely. I don't think this had anything to do with his visit.

 

[Jimmy3Putt]

Sucks to lose him, but prefer it happen now to after signing day.

This is the main reason why I limit my recruiting knowledge.

 

[Irish#1]

I wasn't real comfortable with Hood when he commited, given his previous preference of UNC and his parents wanting him close to home. Everytime I saw his thread updated I always thought the latest comments would be that he changed his mind.

While he's still open, I seriously doubt we can reel him back in. Distance and parents are two major hurdles and then throw in the "meow". 19 year old kids think with the wrong head. Even if he did knock up some chick, he doesn't understand that while he may want to do the right thing and be a good father, he can do that much easier if he has an ND diploma in his back pocket.

Let the "what he saw" speculation begin.

 

[dublinirish]

Nothing. I think it's total BS. Knocking up a chick seems likely. I don't think this had anything to do with his visit.

did he go to ND..see a text message saying he was gonna be a baby daddy and then decide to go home? By saying "I saw something at ND" makes it sound like he saw drugs being taken or something seedy. Why is it so hard just for kids to say "I just want to go to a different school" instead of saying "oh theres reasons but I cant tell yoU".

 

[rikkitikki08]

Look on the bright side guys, at least he didn't sign his letter of intent and then not show up using some fabricated story to walk his way out of having to sit out a year....its all about perspective in life

 

[nd1989]

did he go to ND..see a text message saying he was gonna be a baby daddy and then decide to go home? By saying "I saw something at ND" makes it sound like he saw drugs being taken or something seedy. Why is it so hard just for kids to say "I just want to go to a different school" instead of saying "oh theres reasons but I cant tell yoU".

I didn't hear the "I saw something at ND", I read "something happened at ND". I thought maybe he knocked up the girlfriend that weekend or soemthing like that.

 

[rikkitikki08]

Its life, it happens and it sucks but lets move on. The 2013 calender year for ND has been a nightmare

 

[Kingbish01]

Any truth to him finding out he couldn't enroll early during his 2nd visit?

 

[stlnd01]

Any truth to him finding out he couldn't enroll early during his 2nd visit?

His statement did specifically say it's not related to academics. And even if it was about EE'ing, decommitting seems a little extreme a response, no?
Distance and family were always going to be an issue here. Kids change their mind. And if that's all it is, who knows, he might change it back.

 

[koonja]

With Hood's decommitment, I'm just really glad Folston stayed on board through NSD. Hood was an unbelievable talent and we'd be better with him, but we have two solid freshman RBs. So we're set for a few years.

 

[SouthernComfort]

Do you think it was an academic thing? As in him missing required classes and found out that he couldnt early qualify and/or would have to take additional entry classes?

I can see this happening. ND cant send offers with a big list of mandatory classes or it would turn a ton of these "student athletes" off. I think they have to play a bit of smoking mirrors to bait the hook for the prime recruits. I can understand their approach considering the circumstances if it is indeed the case.

Of course it could also be the case of a hometown honey too.

 

[tko]

Hopefully we'll get some clarity sooner rather than later b/c this endless speculation is mind-numbing.

 

[stlnd01]

Do you think it was an academic thing? As in him missing required classes and found out that he couldnt early qualify and/or would have to take additional entry classes?

I can see this happening. ND cant send offers with a big list of mandatory classes or it would turn a ton of these "student athletes" off. I think they have to play a bit of smoking mirrors to bait the hook for the prime recruits. I can understand their approach considering the circumstances if it is indeed the case.

Of course it could also be the case of a hometown honey too.

The required classes are sometimes an issue for sure, but this guy goes to what appears to be a pretty good college prep school (that by the way has sent basketball players to Duke, Wake Forest and Davidson), and he still has a full senior year ahead of him.
Unless he's really not that bright - which doesn't appear to be the case - it doesn't look like academics from the outside anyway.

 

[tko]

The required classes are sometimes an issue for sure, but this guy goes to what appears to be a pretty good college prep school (that by the way has sent basketball players to Duke, Wake Forest and Davidson), and he still has a full senior year ahead of him.
Unless he's really not that bright - which doesn't appear to be the case - it doesn't look like academics from the outside anyway.

Wonder if Harrell has some insight?

 

[leprechaun4life]

Thoughts on what it could be that "he saw"?

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A positive pregnancy test happened....and he was "scared" to tell his parents about it. Makes sense to me.

 

[SouthernComfort]

I see. I dont understand what he could have seen (except for two stud true freshmen running backs that just arrived on campus but that doesnt seem to impact Bama or LSU who always have stables of RBs) that would have turned him off. The weather is as good as it gets that time of year. And distance? That has never changed since day 1.

This just sucks because this guy is going to be a monster whereever he goes and this is the big loss of the class. Hate to see this guy wind up at NC, play for a crap 7-6 team year in, year out and then go to the pros when he could help make some magic ND years.

Im sure other teams lose out their star recruit but I sure dont recall seeing it much with the big names. OSU doesnt seem to have this problem. Bama recruits nationwide now and kids from PA go to AL which has to be a huge lifestyle change not to mention a very far trip back home.

 

[irishff1014]

I see. I dont understand what he could have seen (except for two stud true freshmen running backs that just arrived on campus but that doesnt seem to impact Bama or LSU who always have stables of RBs) that would have turned him off. The weather is as good as it gets that time of year. And distance? That has never changed since day 1.

This just sucks because this guy is going to be a monster whereever he goes and this is the big loss of the class. Hate to see this guy wind up at NC, play for a crap 7-6 team year in, year out and then go to the pros when he could help make some magic ND years.

Im sure other teams lose out their star recruit but I sure dont recall seeing it much with the big names. OSU doesnt seem to have this problem. Bama recruits nationwide now and kids from PA go to AL which has to be a huge lifestyle change not to mention a very far trip back home.

He needs to say what happened because i don't want this unknown incident to hurt us in recruiting. Because other recruits are gonna know what happened.

 

[md_bennett]

Im sure other teams lose out their star recruit but I sure dont recall seeing it much with the big names. OSU doesnt seem to have this problem. Bama recruits nationwide now and kids from PA go to AL which has to be a huge lifestyle change not to mention a very far trip back home.

To me it comes down to the difference in the type of player recruited. We all love the kids that have their crap together, but this is a response to that type of kid. They have almost universally been raised by two great parents, and they have open communication with them about what is best for everybody. With some other programs you don't always get that kind of player. If there is nothing to hold them back from just going wherever, whenever, then you don't generally end up with these kind of issues. Family will always matter, but when you have very active, large, close families it will always give us fits on the recruiting trail with distance.

 

[Irishnuke]

So since this made from page news on ESPN.com I decided to read through the comments which is always a bad idea. I came across this nugget.

Melica Patterson Hood
I am his mother their not kid on the way.
59 minutes ago · Like · 1

That's really his mom. I don't believe anything that comes out of these kids or their parents' mouths though. Who knows.

 

[stlnd01]

Im sure other teams lose out their star recruit but I sure dont recall seeing it much with the big names. OSU doesnt seem to have this problem. Bama recruits nationwide now and kids from PA go to AL which has to be a huge lifestyle change not to mention a very far trip back home.

Remember when Alex Anzalone went to Ohio State's spring game and wound up being photographed with a sex offender? Not saying something like that happened here, but, it's college and strange, random, things can go down that might turn a kid off, especially if he's already worried about being far from home/family/girlfriend/etc. There's a reason these visits are so tightly scripted.
I agree with IrishFF, though. Some clarity would be helpful, at least for other recruits. And Hood's dad making vague ominous rumblings is the opposite of helpful.

 

[Irishnuke]

Here's the context

Don Hashey
sounds like this kid is going to have a kid, so he needs to be closer to home.
2 hours ago
1 person
Herb Shaughnessy
That would make sense but from the way the article is written I took it to mean something bad happened on… See More
2 hours ago · Like
Melica Patterson Hood
I am his mother their not kid on the way.
1 hour ago · Like · 1

 

[koonja]

With EV and now Hood, I'm getting really sick of recruits saying 'something happened' at/with ND.

This can obviously be a red flag for other recruits.

A) Either something weird is going on with ND and these kids are doing the noble thing by not spelling it out and giving ND time to fix it, OR,

B) It's a cop out.

Leaning towards the latter.

 

[tko]

I guess the UNC payroll is still intact after the investigation?

 

[irishff1014]

With EV and now Hood, I'm getting really sick of recruits saying 'something happened' at/with ND.

This can obviously be a red flag for other recruits.

A) Either something weird is going on with ND and these kids are doing the noble thing by not spelling it out and giving ND time to fix it, OR,

B) It's a cop out.

Leaning towards the latter.

I am going with answer B

 

[Old North State Irish]

In my humble opinion, I think it was the fact that UNC is thin at the running back position. They stayed in his ear about early playing time v. sitting the bench early in his career. ND's running back stable is full with very good to great backs in front of him. I think over time, this kept coming back into his thought process. FWIW

 

[Kak7304]

With EV and now Hood, I'm getting really sick of recruits saying 'something happened' at/with ND.

This can obviously be a red flag for other recruits.

A) Either something weird is going on with ND and these kids are doing the noble thing by not spelling it out and giving ND time to fix it, OR,

B) It's a cop out.

Leaning towards the latter.

Maybe Hood caught Autism too.


(Disclaimer: This is a jab at Vanderdoes, not those with Autism. If EV really used that as an excuse and doesn't have it, it's an insult to those who really suffer from a debilitating disorder.)

 

[drayer54]

With EV and now Hood, I'm getting really sick of recruits saying 'something happened' at/with ND.

This can obviously be a red flag for other recruits.

A) Either something weird is going on with ND and these kids are doing the noble thing by not spelling it out and giving ND time to fix it, OR,

B) It's a cop out.

Leaning towards the latter.

I'm leaning towards the first. I'm afraid something is going on that we can't see.

 

[koonja]

I'm leaning towards the first. I'm afraid something is going on that we can't see.

The strongest argument for that is the fact that the NCAA cleared EV's waiver. Admitted, I gave up following that months ago, so maybe I'm behind on the facts, too (i.e., maybe it was a class? I literally don't know, so sorry if this is inaccurate).

 

[Buster Bluth]

Remember when Alex Anzalone went to Ohio State's spring game and wound up being photographed with a sex offender? Not saying something like that happened here, but, it's college and strange, random, things can go down that might turn a kid off, especially if he's already worried about being far from home/family/girlfriend/etc. There's a reason these visits are so tightly scripted.

He met Grubl. Case closed.