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AJC > Sports > UGA > Blog > Archives > 2008 > February > 26
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Recruiting doesn’t always pan out
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I see where tight end NaDerris Ward confirmed to the Athens Banner-Herald that the rumors about him transferring from UGA are true. His grandmother in California, with whom he used to live, is ill and he wants to be closer to her. He’s looking at Oregon or Arizona as schools he might transfer to.
I wish him luck, but this just reinforces why I don’t get all that wrought up about signing day and class rankings and such. Ward came in ranked as high as the No. 2 tight end in the country. But he redshirted his first year, during which he had to have surgery on his shoulder, and then last year played in only four games and didn’t have a catch.
OK, other players have had a slow start and then turned into All Americans and that certainly might have happened with Ward. Still might at another school. But the point is that just because you sign a bunch of blue-chippers out of high school doesn’t guarantee they’ll produce for you down the road. They might get hurt. They might be unhappy in school. They might leave for family reasons. They might not live up to their billing.
At the same time, UGA has a history of players who were not highly touted out of high school turning into top-notch performers.
All in all, it’s a crapshoot and I think a lot of fans (and media covering college football) spend WAY too much time on it. I mean, we’re worrying about whether juniors in high school who’ve “committed” verbally (which means nothing these days) are wavering. How ridiculous is that?
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