From Orlando Sentinel today

"Miami's top recruit was on probation for a felony burglary charge when he was named in three criminal complaints during a recruiting trip to the University of Florida last weekend. Willie Arthur Williams III signed a letter of intent to play for Miami on Wednesday, but the linebacker's legal problems could jeopardize his future with the Hurricanes. The Palm Beach Post reported in today's editions that Williams has been arrested 10 times in the past 5 years"

The previous day's issue had outlined what had happened in Gainesville, basically all in the same night-grabbing a female as she was going up some stairs, punching a male at a nightclub at 2:30AM, and discharging fire extinguishers at the hotel he was staying at(which is a felony).

A thread was started yesterday questioning why players back out of verbal committments. Could it be that allowing a player to play HS football after being arrested 10 times in 5 years and then becoming a number 1 recruit may not be sending the right message.

Sorry for being so wordy--But a UF baseball/football recruit verbally committed to them but told Zook that he STILL had two more official visits to take but not to worry because he was going to be a GATOR. He just felt like he EARNED the visits and was going just to have a good time! His highschool coach was quoted as saying that "Florida is getting an all-around athlete, on top of that he is a just an all-around good kid with a great character". ??????

What am I missing here?

Moc1

You aren't missing anything.

Apparently, from the gist of this posting, the University of Miami is now recruiting felons!

When is enough, enough? In a university setting? You condone the admission of a FELON! I hope the student section of the opposing teams wears striped shirts to the Miami games when this guy is on the field. I wonder if he puts his ACT or SAT scores next to the listing of his 10 arrests!



Happened to Janet and her pastie! Enough in public...

....

Next time this mope, WW, assaults and batters a young woman, I hope he gets his!

Just a little more info about the football/baseball recruit for University of Florida. He has signed with Florida for football but will also be on the baseball squad.

Maybe I'm wrong here, Does anyone think it is okay to verbally commit to a program and then tell the coach you will take the last
two official visits "just to have a good time"? What if you were the
coaches at those other 2 Div.1 schools?

Do highschool players "earn" official visits?

Moc1

quote:

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Originally posted by Moc1:
Just a little more info about the football/baseball recruit for University of Florida. He has signed with Florida for football but will also be on the baseball squad.

Maybe I'm wrong here, Does anyone think it is okay to verbally commit to a program and then tell the coach you will take the last
two official visits "just to have a good time"? What if you were the
coaches at those other 2 Div.1 schools?

Do highschool players "earn" official visits?

Moc1

---

A verbal is not a contract and are made all the time both ways. Duke basketball if I heard correctly last night, gave out more scholarships than they had. Our senior linebacker in football this year had a verbal on the table but signed with Miss State.
In defense of the player you mention above, maybe he wanted to make sure about his choices and who knows, maybe he always has a good time.

Knowledge is Power! Thank you Mavens and HSBBWEB!

The schools offering the visit can always cancel it and not bring a kid in. The offer to visit is not a contract either.

I personally think the kid should cancel the other visits. He didn't "earn" the visits, the university invited him! Once you have for all intense and purpose made up your mind to attend one school, I think you ought to do the right thing, call the other schools and respectfully decline their invitation to come to the school, and by all means tell the coach of your decision. As far as Miami "recruiting felons"...jeez I thought they always had, some just hadn't been caught. Nebraska has been in the "felon" business for years. I truly feel sorry for the good athlete who does well in school, stays out of trouble, and is an absolute "student/athlete", seems like more often than not, they get the shaft.

It's going on all over the place..

Just last week a complaint was filed against Marcus Vick (VA Tech) for contributing to the delinq. of a minor, a 15 year old (alcohol)and then having *** with her. (An investifation is continuing and he has not been charged yet, just accused by the victim and her family).

3 BB players on St. John's team were accused of raping a women earlier this week, these charges were later dropped when police were able to prove that the women lied, but the players remain suspended because they were in a bar at 3:30 a.m. while on a road trip. Why did they place themselves in this predicament.

A school in the mid-west (forget the name) has several of its players on suspension for destruction of property and other violations of recruiting, including allegations of players providing *** parties to recruits who were on official visits.

UNC's top BB recruit (who was also slated to play baseball) for 2004 was just charged with B/E of his high school and stealing thousands of dollars of computer equipment., the article I read quoted him as saying he needed a computer to do some school work.

Until children are taught that just because they are gifted athletes there are no special rules then this type of behavoir will continue.. When a talented young athlete is worshipped by his friends, family and teammates and made to feel as though he is the king and then has everything laid at his feet, they learn to expect anything they want and that there are special rules for them.

Yes these are young adults who are being accused of these actions but they are old enough to know better, they just were NOT taught better as they grew up.

Its an absolute shame that the actions of a few college players (in all sports) makes all our college players look bad as so many will just perceive that all college players act like this and think they are above the law.

_______________
"Baseball, it is said, is only a game. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole."

"JustMom"

My Dad used to work on and off in Miami (while living in Boston) for the better part of 20 years and he would often bring newspapers home with articles on the athletic programs at Miami, well articles on the football program.

Needless to say, the stuff that used to go on there a few years ago by the football team was often much worse in the local papers than what the national media heard about. Now that we are in the ditigal age, stuff gets out more and faster these days. But I remember plenty of stories of players bringing guns to bars and starting fights left and right every week.

"But I remember plenty of stories......"

That is the problem 99.9 % of the time it is just that --a story--- I agree that the players are wrong putting themselves in the situations they do but then it all escalates and all sorts of innuendo begins

The only one hurt is the player who actually did nothing wrong except perhaps break curfew and drink a bit--a brief suspension can rectify that if the behavior is not an ongoing thing--the kids life is ruined by whomever tells or writes the story--- and the one who tells the story gets off scott free.

Sadly nobody tells "stories" about the good things these atheletes do-- that won't sell newspaper or strike the imagination

TRhit

Hey I am just glad my Seminoles didn't sign Willie. Talk about a PR nightmare!

Tom, the stories were in the ******* paper after the players were arrested at the bars and clubs.

Knowing you love to disect every word people use in their posts and try to summize their moods and feelings, I guess I should have said, I remember reading plenty of articles. But I thought I made that clear when I said, my Dad used to bring home articles about the players in the Newspaper.

It wasn't like my grandpa telling a story that he heard from some guy on the street who knew a friend of a player on the team.

And the original "story" in the newspapers about the St Johns kids yelled rape--now the "story" is it was not rape she was a prostitute--big difference !!!

Point being-- newspapers do not have it right all the time--they love sensationalism and print stories that ruin peoples lives before the writer has all the facts.


Why do you think many pro athletes spurn the media? Very simple-- the media prints only portions what a player says --look at what Kurt Warner is going thru right--who knows if what was printed was taken out of context or not? I would bet that it was

I only read stats in the newspapers--the rest of it means nothing when it comes to sports individuals

TRhit

What?

Now we're defending 20 year old punks who were involved with a 38 year old prostitute!

In my opinion,someone "reached" her and "walla!" she was a willing participant for more money than she was supposed to charge.

As an aside, where do "poor" basketball players (4 of them) get $250.00 apiece to deal with a hooker? That $20.00/per week for pizza must have been saved up!

BEENTHERE

You miss the point completely--not defending but you as a lawyer should know they are entitled to certain things one of which is not being called rapists when there is no proof just allegations

And do you know they are "punks", whatever that word means in your vocabulary ?

Perhaps also they never had the 1K to begin with --perhaps they played her.

Not defending just looking at things ---to begin with they were wrong being where they were at 2:30 Am in the morning.

TRhit

Wow, good example, scholarship athletes engaging in prostition! Good thing they didn't do anything illegal or immoral.

Education bye, bye, scholarship, bye, bye!

TR....Why don't you just tell everyone that you are a St. John's alum and you will "defend to the death" anyone that attends the school"...

..no matter what they do!

BEENTHERE

You are so far off base you make me laugh !!!

You and ghouse read my post again !!!!

I am not condoning what they did nor did I say that I did.

I am only saying the media took it an ran before they had the entire story-- Rape is by far a different crime than hiring a hooker or drinking and breaking curfew.

TRhit

TR...I suppose you didn't believe the story in SI some time ago that spoke about NBA players fathering children, including one moron that fathered 7 children in 7 different cities. That moron likely couldn't spell "condom"...If he couldn't identify words starting with c, then perhaps he could identify words starting with r, as in rubber!

What, pray tell, have all of these "lovely" athletes that were in a strip joint on the road dealing with a prostitute at 3:30 a.m., contributed to St. John's except for basketball points and bad publicity....deserved or undeserved?

St. John's is a Catholic university. I went to a small Catholic college. If we had embarrassed the school as these players did, our luggage would have been at the curb and the coach would have sent us home and we would have been thrown out of school. Catholic, as in Catholic and private. They are no beholden to the same standard as a public university. They are judged by a "higher standard". Or, have all Catholic schools sold out?

Being a Catholic school has nothing to do with it--why should it?

The same stuff happens all over


Some points for the Barrister:

NBA players are not college players

Coach cannot be with the players 24 hrs a day

SJU did exactly as you noted-- they are gone --the President is now inferring it was all the fault of Mike Jarvis because he recruited them.

You have strayed from my point regarding the media and how they sensationalize all things for athletes and coaches because it sells.

TRhit

I guess coach Jarvis should have asked the recruits if they liked hiring prostitutes on his recruiting visits before he made offers.