AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 16
Friday, November 16, 2007
Thompkins not nearly a Yellow Jacket
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Paul Hewitt is not finished adding players.
Iman Shumpert, the guard from Chicago, signed his letter of intent Thursday, and from what I know he’s the only player expected to sign with Tech on the dotted line in this one-week earlying signing period. Forward Trey Thompkins of Wesleyan, by the way, was not nearly a Yellow Jacket.
Tech, which of course will lose scholarship seniors Ra’Sean Dickey, Anthony Morrow and Matt Causey, will add more players in the spring period.
I don’t follow basketball recruiting nearly like I do football recruiting. Both baffle me occasionally, or make me wonder, like when the father of Howard Thompkins said a couple days ago after his son signed with Georgia that Tech, Kentucky and Florida had continued to recruit his son after he’d committed to Georgia.
So I called dad, Howard Thompkins II. I asked if Tech and the other schools kept recruiting his son after he had committed to Georgia some time ago. He paused, and then said, “No, not at all.”
In some of Mr. Thompkins’ comments this week, that wasn’t clear. So I asked another way. After your son commited, did anyone from Tech contact Trey or your family? The guy is one of the very highest-rated forwards in the nation, after all, so …
“It all came down to Florida, Georgia Tech and Georgia [what about Kentucky?] in the final analysis,” dad said. “After all was said and done, no one called after Georgia was picked.”
It may not seem like a big deal to some, and there’s no NCAA rule against one school continuing to recruit a kid after he’s committed to a different school. It might not even qualify as an unwritten rule.
But plenty of people consider it unethical, and I was curious where Hewitt and Tech fell on this issue, especially since some comments by Mr. Thompkins could have been interpreted to suggest that his son’s recruitment never stopped.
Oh well, another peculiar chapter in the recruiting world.
I’ll blog again later today from the tournament in St. Thomas, where it’s mid- to high-80s and very humid. Man, are the streets congested, too. Zack Peacock (right foot) did not make the trip, and PG Maurice Miller (back) will not start, and may not play. Matt Causey will start at PG.
Matt
