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This doesn't read right to me (from Rivals):

"After pulling the scholarship from offensive line commitment Chris Hall, who later ended up at Oklahoma State, the SMU Mustangs got back on the commitment board with a local prospect that has the potential to be a very solid prospect for the Ponies."

Gotta move on. Chris decided he didn't want to play for SMU, so why tie up a scholarship? Obviously, SMU would have loved for him to honor his original commitment, but he's made his decision and now it's time to fill our numbers with guys we know want to be here.

Let's don't split hairs and make assumptions.

His brother still plays for SMU, and he may yet change his mind back to SMU - who knows. Or maybe his first shot at the SAT yielded a 550 or somesuch.

Let's let the coaches recruit and make our case for some of the better talent - we have Dallas, hot women on campus, and a great degree. And hot women on Campus - if that means anything to young men going to college. And we have TWO airports that make spring break easily accessible for taking hot women to cancun and stuff like that.

mmm...SMU

It doesn't surprise me. Bennett is what you call, well, let's just say he's pretty intense. He sees this team as being on a mission, and he doesn't have much patience for people who aren't 100% committed to the program.

That being said, I bet Wardog could probably get his scholarship back if he wanted it bad enough. The question is (and a very key question when you think about who you want to line up beside you for the next 4-5 years): Does he want it bad enough?

PerunaPunch wrote:It doesn't surprise me. Bennett is what you call, well, let's just say he's pretty intense. He sees this team as being on a mission, and he doesn't have much patience for people who aren't 100% committed to the program.

That being said, I bet Wardog could probably get his scholarship back if he wanted it bad enough. The question is (and a very key question when you think about who you want to line up beside you for the next 4-5 years): Does he want it bad enough?

Exactly.

Let's let the kid look around. If he is happy elsewhere, then so be it. But let's leave the door open for now. He may have a change of heart.

Hell, he's 17 years old! This is a big decision for him.

OSU may suck this year anyway (maybe) and he may not want to go to a 4-7 OSU team. Who's to know.

Maybe it's good to pull the offer-- you can always re-offer should a player change his mind. In the meantime, Coach Bennett is showing he desires players who want to make a difference @ SMU. That's good. Recruiting is like dating-- there is someone else around the corner...

Tom Lemming indicated that Wardog had a 3.9 GPA and 1170 SAT. He EASILY qualified to get into SMU.

By the way, Lemming rated him as the 3rd best offensive line prospect in the State and gave him 4 stars.

If that is true, why in the world would this kid attend Okie State? Any student who scored an 1170 would make a more intelligent decision than that! This only proves "the wardog" has a character flaw, and to that I say good riddens!!!!!!!

To me it shows that he's young, and that's it. We all made some curious choices at that age. Hopefully he'll realize before February that SMU remains the best place for him, and he'll give the coaches a call, saying he wants to get back on board. And when he does, I hope there's still space for him.

[quote="PerunaPunch"]
That being said, I bet Wardog could probably get his scholarship back if he wanted it bad enough. The question is (and a very key question when you think about who you want to line up beside you for the next 4-5 years): Does he want it bad enough?[/quote]

Bad enough? How bad is bad enough? What would the kid have to do to make you happy, and show he wanted it bad enough? This is almost laughable, the real question is why would he want it back at all? Seriously, why? You act like the guy doesnt have other options or something, when he has scholarship offers to a dozen schools. A dozen programs better than SMU. So, to take back this kid who is a top recruit, SMU and Phil would make him come begging? Thats crazy.

Uncle M.,

I understand what you're saying, and I certainly wasn't involved in Mr. Hall's decision or Coach Bennett's reaction.

But factor this thought in: How many great athletes (at least in terms of physical specimens) have you seen that quite simply didn't have the heart to play at the college or pro levels? Just with the Mustangs and just in the last few years, how many kids have you seen recruited that use up a scholarship and never contribute: who quit, who transfer, or go join a band?

So maybe it's not so laughable. Maybe, given where SMU is now, they're needing kids (and fans for that matter) who are committed for the long haul.

By "wanting it bad enough" I mean that our coaches aren't stupid either. If Chris gets his head on straight and sits down with Coach Bennett, I'd be willing to bet that he could manage to get his scholarship back. But I get the sense that Chris has his nose out of joint after being dropped, so I doubt that will ever happen. 18-yr-olds aren't usually mature enough to work through something like that. I certainly wasn't.

PerunaPunch wrote:Uncle M.,

I understand what you're saying, and I certainly wasn't involved in Mr. Hall's decision or Coach Bennett's reaction.

But factor this thought in: How many great athletes (at least in terms of physical specimens) have you seen that quite simply didn't have the heart to play at the college or pro levels? Just with the Mustangs and just in the last few years, how many kids have you seen recruited that use up a scholarship and never contribute: who quit, who transfer, or go join a band?

So maybe it's not so laughable. Maybe, given where SMU is now, they're needing kids (and fans for that matter) who are committed for the long haul.

By "wanting it bad enough" I mean that our coaches aren't stupid either. If Chris gets his head on straight and sits down with Coach Bennett, I'd be willing to bet that he could manage to get his scholarship back. But I get the sense that Chris has his nose out of joint after being dropped, so I doubt that will ever happen. 18-yr-olds aren't usually mature enough to work through something like that. I certainly wasn't.

Just because he opted to go to a better football program doesn;t mean that his head isn't on straight. I doubt the offer was pulled before he decided not to go to SMU.

In recruiting, since we only have a limited number of scholarships each year (and that number is a moving target), it may be necessary to 'pull' a scholarship so that you can make another offer. You can't leave offers out ad infinitum or you could look up have too many players accepting thqan you scholarships ( great problem to have).

More likely, when the recruiters have to go back to the 'board' after a player de-commits, they may want to 'pull' the offer so as to impress the #2 recruit that he is the man they want.

Geez! some of you all are hilarious!

At first I thought some of you were being sarcastic - but I think you are serious - If Hall wants to come back to SMU he gets a schororship in about half a nanosecond. Please don't pull that we didn't want him BS - you start sounding like froggies. He decommitted - it is very simple - we will be there if he changes his mind - the only way he changes his mind is if we surprise some of the tougher teams early on our schedule, and even then it is not likely.