The thing I don't understand about that line of thinking is Benton would have been "competition" for only two years at most. No matter what, the spot would be Randle's by the time he was a Junior, and that's plenty of time to make a splash for pro scouts. At most what we are talking about is 2 years of head to head competition between the two.
I do agree with that statement Red. I think we did give Benton plenty of changes to get his grades right, and we want smart players on the team. Not saying this is Benton, but we sure don't want a player that can't spell CAT.
Oh, I agree Randle forced the issue, I just don't think Les owed Benton any special allegiance, since they were both clearly "lookin". Some folks act like Benton got kicked off the team, when he never got himself qualified to play after two previous signings. No guarantee that he would have this time either. Les would have given him a third chance, but apparently Randle and Benton had some kind of private agreement not to attend the same school. Randle thought Benton was Auburn-bound. Les wasn't about to let this potential flunk-out steer his prize recruit to Oklahoma by his Monday LSU announcement. So he let Randle steer Benton to Auburn instead. Seems like a damn strong solution to me.
kind of reminds me of the bogus title holders in the WWE how they always try everything to get out of matches against the tougher competition.
Bingo. I think that this is the crux of the problem. No matter how many "fat-cats" people on here have talked to in PMs, none of us on this board know the dynamics of the relationship between Miles and Benton. For all we know, Benton might have been made aware of this sort of signing day scenario a long time ago (which might have prompted that trip to AU). Maybe Miles had a less than satifactory conversation with Benton on signing day which pushed him over the edge after the last three years of courting this kid. Who knows? Miles and Benton. No reason to get all high and mighty on a message board when you don't know. I prefer to keep my panties nice and spread out (as opposed to being in a wad) and trust Miles' judgment on this one since he has shown time and again to have good judgement and fairness when it comes to recruiting. Call it homerism, call it looking the other way, whatever. But I seriously think that some are just looking for an excuse to freak out because signing day was less than satisfactory.
Well, I've got mixed feelings on this one. Caution: Don't read if easily bored or on the verge of falling asleep already. First of all, Randle's dad sounds like a BIG PU$$Y. I can't blame it on Randle himself because most of the time it's the parents that are kind of nuts in these situations. If his son is the BEST, why is he acting like a big WIMP. This is what I would have told him (in front of his son) if I was Les: We are signing who we are signing and you or your son won't factor into that decision. That’s why they pay me to coach and why they give your son a free education to play. Do you believe in your son? Do you think he's the best? If you really do, then you already know that whoever we sign will not get in the way of your son’s future goals . If you don't believe in him as much as me and don’t feel like he will rise to the top no matter the competition, then I'm sorry, but at LSU we want players who are the best or want to be the best - players that want to compete on the highest level. I would love to have your son as a Tiger, but if you feel there are too many players to compete with, then there are many other schools he can go to where the competition is not near as great. However, he might not get noticed like all the other wide receivers that LSU has recently put into the NFL as 1st rounders. My offer is on the table though… No parent or coach should ever become more important that the team. PERIOD. You just tell them you don’t like how this is playing out and don’t need the player that bad because everyone else wants to come here and compete. Losing one player won’t kill you. As for Benton…I’m not sure what to think. LSU offers him a scholarship going on three years, and five days before signing day, he’s quoted as saying he’s undecided??? He took a trip to Auburn but was just talking to them. Are you serious? This guy should have left ZERO doubt. It’s an honor to have LSU (your home school) waiting on you. He failed to qualify for two years in a row and still isn’t confirmed as qualified? I saw a story on him about where he quit that one school after being so close to qualifying. One guy stated that he had never seen someone quit like that when they were so close. So the guy has a lot of question marks. He seems like a major risk. Especially since the guy is apparently telling everyone he will play one year of college and turn pro. Ultimately, this guy has himself to blame for ever getting screwed over because he didn’t take care of his responsibilities. However, if a scholarship was going to be pulled, it should have been done a lot sooner. It’s chicken $hit to pull it the night before. This guy has committed to LSU and LSU to him and you pull the offer hours before it’s finalized? That’s wrong. I would hope that there is more to the story than what I have read. But if there isn’t and it just went down because of pressure for Randle’s dad, then Les is 100% wrong. Sure, Benton has blown a few chances, but this guy was still trying to make it to LSU and we were entertaining his idea. Also, from what I’ve read, the guy has a nonexistent home life. That’s really sad because I’m sure that had a lot to do with him struggling with school and other issues. This is this guy’s life. It’s just another player for us, but our coaches could have been an example for this guy in his life. Instead, he gets more disappointment. That’s just not right if that’s how it happened. Winning is great, but winning with a class program and dignity is the best.
not sure there is even an iota of correlation with this. most that have replied against it are the ones who dont sweat recruiting. I think you have it completely backwards actually. you dont think he got word of randles dad somewhere along the line being they attended the same school? im pretty sure he didnt think Les would phuck him at the last minute, however. its a good thing he went.
Personally, I don't have a problem with what Miles did or how he did it ...... that's a real tough decision for any coach to make, but I think Mile's made the right decision for his team. It's the when that makes it look bad, IMHO. The night before NSD? .... that's some bad voodoo ...... I can say for certain that the AU coaches were surprised by Benton's decision.
thats the entire point. you clearly have a problem if you disagree with the timing of it. and what do you mean, they were surprised. surprised he chose auburn after LSU pulled his scholly? what were his other choices?
