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Michigan loses football commitment over ill-advised thank you card
Jim Harbaugh is doing all he can to bring the nation's top college football recruits to Michigan. On top of the usual stuff like campus and home visits, phone calls and tours, Harbaugh is going the extra mile by making cameos in rap videos hyping the program.
But the UM coach may have actually done too much recently, causing a recruit to drop his commitment to the school. Aubrey Solomon, a four-star defensive tackle from Georgia, announced on Monday that he would be re-opening the recruitment process after previously agreeing to play for Michigan.
Why the change of heart? In his statement posted on Twitter, Solomon said that, while he still loves Michigan, he wants to give the opportunity to recruiters "not only to get it right but to get to know me."
Where Harbaugh and Michigan apparently did not "get it right" lies in what perhaps was a mail snafu involving a 'thank you' card.
"A day or two ago, they sent my mom a card thanking us for going to the Michigan bbq, but we never went," Solomon said, via 247Sports. "I do not know which recruit they were talking to, but it was not me. It was just a little heartbreaking, for me to supposedly be so high on their list, for them to confuse me with someone else. Plus they spelled both of my names wrong after I told them, but that was not the main issue. I guess they do not have tabs on me."
College athletic recruitment can sometimes feel like a disingenuous process. Some programs will put on a facade and tell a kid exactly what he wants to hear to get them in the stable, only to turn their back on them and move along to the next shiny conquest. And while that's what a lot of these bigger programs have to do to stay competitive, it's understandable that a young kid would feel disheartened to learn that maybe his school doesn't care about him as much as he thought they did.
A mistake 'thank you' may seem like a small gaff, but relationships are clearly important to Solomon. He's well within his right to reconsider his options (which include Georgia, Alabama, USC, Oregon, Clemson, and Florida) if he's not comfortable with his future at UM.
God Bless ? pic.twitter.com/Uub9inc0Da
— Aubrey Solomon (@AubreySolomon91) August 22, 2016
