Riley Nelson - Page 2 - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

BYU71 · 05-27-2008, 01:38 PM

If BYU wants him and the kid wants to come, I have no problem with it. Just like I had no problem with Kaveinga committing and then changing his mind.

All this keeping your word and your honor and your committment is crap. Depends on whose shoes you are in when you should keep your committment and when you don't have to.

These committments aren't like marriage vows or even a committment to abide by the honor code. Their are no escape clauses from those committments.

jay santos · 05-27-2008, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BYU71

If BYU wants him and the kid wants to come, I have no problem with it. Just like I had no problem with Kaveinga committing and then changing his mind.

All this keeping your word and your honor and your committment is crap. Depends on whose shoes you are in when you should keep your committment and when you don't have to.

These committments aren't like marriage vows or even a committment to abide by the honor code. Their are no escape clauses from those committments.

I agree with Indy on this.

A freshman on scholarship is a resource consumer. They benefit from free school, housing, coaching, etc. They're learning and in training. The school is investing in a freshman for a return down the road. If missionaries get in the habit of going to school as a freshman and then switching while on a mission, that's a bad practice. Schools that invested in them actually have damages. It's not right. Besides that, these kids do represent the church and should act with integrity. I'm not going to go self-righteous and kill BO or anyone else, but it's not right.

That said, if they're coming to BYU and not leaving BYU, it's a lot easier for me to understand.

Indy Coug · 05-27-2008, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay santos

I agree with Indy on this.

A freshman on scholarship is a resource consumer. They benefit from free school, housing, coaching, etc. They're learning and in training. The school is investing in a freshman for a return down the road. If missionaries get in the habit of going to school as a freshman and then switching while on a mission, that's a bad practice. Schools that invested in them actually have damages. It's not right. Besides that, these kids do represent the church and should act with integrity. I'm not going to go self-righteous and kill BO or anyone else, but it's not right.

That said, if they're coming to BYU and not leaving BYU, it's a lot easier for me to understand.

At least Riley Nelson hasn't gone on a publicity tour first saying he was definitely returning to USU and then saying he wasn't sure where he would go, when in both instances he was lying because he had already decided to transfer.

BYU71 · 05-27-2008, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jay santos

I agree with Indy on this.

A freshman on scholarship is a resource consumer. They benefit from free school, housing, coaching, etc. They're learning and in training. The school is investing in a freshman for a return down the road. If missionaries get in the habit of going to school as a freshman and then switching while on a mission, that's a bad practice. Schools that invested in them actually have damages. It's not right. Besides that, these kids do represent the church and should act with integrity. I'm not going to go self-righteous and kill BO or anyone else, but it's not right.

That said, if they're coming to BYU and not leaving BYU, it's a lot easier for me to understand.

I can see the other side of the story, the one you talk about. However, bottom line for me is that it is a risk business, not a guarantee business. These schools, even BYU to a lesser degree, take a big risk when they sign up a kid who is going on a mission.

BYU, because of the honor code and academic standards, take a risk everytime they sign up a kid who doesn't look like he is on the fast track to be a general authority.

Anyway, that is how I look at it and why I don't get all upset when we lose a recruit who has verbaled to us.

Spaz · 05-27-2008, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Lebowski

The comments to that article are hilarious.

Riley had a terrific career at Logan HS. The knock on him was his size. I have no idea how strongly BYU pursued him.

Just listened to an interview with his dad. He said that BYU "recruited him heavily - as much as anyone else did". He chose USU primarily because BYU didn't have an offer for him, while USU did (note: he may have chosen USU even with a BYU offer).

I'm unsure of the reason behind his not being offered, but I suspect it was related to having limited scholarships available, and having already offered Lark more than a year previous.

Spaz · 05-27-2008, 03:09 PM

I have absolutely no problem with kids on missions being recruited, so long as that recruitment is handled in an appropriate way. The way BYU handled it seems appropriate to me:

1. Contacted coach to gauge interest.
2. Coach contacted parents, who were then in contact with the University.
3. University stays out of the process, and parents decide whether to contact athlete.
4. Parents contact mission president, who decides whether athlete is mature enough to consider the offer without it distracting from the mission work.
5. Athlete initiates direct contact with the University.

cougjunkie · 05-27-2008, 03:19 PM

Nelson imo is not a huge get for BYU. He is 5'10 at best, he lacks arm strength, and he ran primarily a spread offense that relied heavily on screens and YAC by the recievers. He is very athletic and has good scrambling ability which he showed in his freshman season at Utah state. I also think he is a gamer but in all honesty I think he will end up as a backup at BYU.

Tex · 05-27-2008, 03:36 PM

I'm told he wasn't really recruited by BYU and that in the end, his decision came down to USU or Utah. Can anyone confirm?

I actually don't know much about the kid (heck, if I can't get BYU games, how should I ever see a USU game?) but the reaction over on Ute fans seems to indicate this is a fairly big get for the Y. Would they really be up-in-arms over a recruiter contacting some no-name in the mission field and getting him to change his mind?

His size is an issue, but one that can be overcome if he has other skills, IMO.

I'm curious ... does this open the box for other colleges to contact and recruit actively serving missionaries? Can UCLA or ASU or whoever call up a mission president and get permission to recruit?

Interesting story ...

BYU71 · 05-27-2008, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cougjunkie

Nelson imo is not a huge get for BYU. He is 5'10 at best, he lacks arm strength, and he ran primarily a spread offense that relied heavily on screens and YAC by the recievers. He is very athletic and has good scrambling ability which he showed in his freshman season at Utah state. I also think he is a gamer but in all honesty I think he will end up as a backup at BYU.

there is going to be some fall out. Munns, Lark, Nelson. I have my doubts any of them are going to turn out any better than Cade ? or Bowers.

cougjunkie · 05-27-2008, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BYU71

there is going to be some fall out. Munns, Lark, Nelson. I have my doubts any of them are going to turn out any better than Cade ? or Bowers.

BYU is obviously not sold on one of them.

05-27-2008, 03:09 PM	#16
Spaz Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1,371	I have absolutely no problem with kids on missions being recruited, so long as that recruitment is handled in an appropriate way. The way BYU handled it seems appropriate to me: 1. Contacted coach to gauge interest. 2. Coach contacted parents, who were then in contact with the University. 3. University stays out of the process, and parents decide whether to contact athlete. 4. Parents contact mission president, who decides whether athlete is mature enough to consider the offer without it distracting from the mission work. 5. Athlete initiates direct contact with the University. __________________ "My days of not respecting you are certainly coming to a middle." -Malcolm Reynolds "It doesn't mean that if we lose a game or when we lose a game people won't then jump on and say the quest is over. Because they will. But they've missed the point." -Bronco Mendenhall on "The Quest"

05-27-2008, 03:19 PM	#17
cougjunkie Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Utah Posts: 5,741	Nelson imo is not a huge get for BYU. He is 5'10 at best, he lacks arm strength, and he ran primarily a spread offense that relied heavily on screens and YAC by the recievers. He is very athletic and has good scrambling ability which he showed in his freshman season at Utah state. I also think he is a gamer but in all honesty I think he will end up as a backup at BYU. __________________ LINCECUM!

05-27-2008, 03:36 PM	#18
Tex Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 8,596	I'm told he wasn't really recruited by BYU and that in the end, his decision came down to USU or Utah. Can anyone confirm? I actually don't know much about the kid (heck, if I can't get BYU games, how should I ever see a USU game?) but the reaction over on Ute fans seems to indicate this is a fairly big get for the Y. Would they really be up-in-arms over a recruiter contacting some no-name in the mission field and getting him to change his mind? His size is an issue, but one that can be overcome if he has other skills, IMO. I'm curious ... does this open the box for other colleges to contact and recruit actively serving missionaries? Can UCLA or ASU or whoever call up a mission president and get permission to recruit? Interesting story ... __________________ "Have we been commanded not to call a prophet an insular racist? Link?" "And yes, [2010] is a very good year to be a Democrat. Perhaps the best year in decades ..." - Cali Coug "Oh dear, granny, what a long tail our puss has got." - Brigham Young

05-27-2008, 01:38 PM	#11
BYU71 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 5,084	If BYU wants him and the kid wants to come, I have no problem with it. Just like I had no problem with Kaveinga committing and then changing his mind. All this keeping your word and your honor and your committment is crap. Depends on whose shoes you are in when you should keep your committment and when you don't have to. These committments aren't like marriage vows or even a committment to abide by the honor code. Their are no escape clauses from those committments.