For three days, there was a flurry of reports from South Carolina news outlets that offensive lineman Eric Mack had said his commitment to the Gamecocks was firm. They were widely greeted with joy and celebration in Gamecock country.
Then, on Tuesday night, Mack said he was de-committing from South Carolina and would choose either Auburn or Florida.
Message boards lit up, as you would expect, with posts saying all kinds of vile things about Mack and about Auburn. But it wasn't just message boards. Supposed professional reporters, even a blogger for a reputable newspaper, threw around vague accusations that somehow South Carolina didn't really want Mack. Without specifics or reporting any evidence of any kind, they questioned his character, his work ethic and most everything else.
It's unfortunate when adults who pay for access to message boards trash a teen-ager because he doesn't do what they want him to do. When people who call themselves professional reporters do it, that's downright sad.
We all know that the word "commitment" is thrown around loosely in recruiting. The term "soft commitment" is laughable. Either you're committed to something or somebody or you're not. You can't be kind of committed.
There's no doubt Mack told South Carolina coaches he was committed, and no doubt he backed out on that. But it was obvious almost from the time he made that commitment that he was still looking around, and looking hard at Auburn.
It would be nice if all these kids would know for sure what they want to do before they say what they want to do, but you have to remember that you have 17- and 18-year-old, some with good family support and some not, dealing with coaches who are very skilled salesmen.
The same coaches who tell one player he should be a man of his word will quickly try to poach a player who is committed to another school. Rightly or wrongly, that's the way the game is played
Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson criticized Dontae Aycock for switching to Auburn last year, then a player who was committed to Virginia Tech signed with Georgia Tech. Johnson didn't criticize him.
We'll find out today what Mack is going to do. What we know for sure is that he won't sign with South Carolina, the school 30 minutes from his hometown.
But we found out just tonight that, even though they've recruited him hard for months and even though he is widely considered one of the nation's top offensive line prospects, they didn't want him anyway.
Whatever.
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