Wolverine Wednesday: Are Players Really Committed if They Take Other Visits?

Rich Rodriguez answer was no, they are not.  Charlie Weiss had the same policy at ND.  If you take other visits your at best a "soft" commit.  Rich and Charlie considered them not committed at all.

The reason for the post today is that on twitter both Terry Richardson and Royce Jenkins-Stone have said they are going to take a few visits to other schools but they are solid with Michigan. 

Here are my pro's and con's for them or other "committed" players doing the same thing. 

Con's:

• Let's be honest, some schools don't play by the rules (yes, we assume Michigan does).  One of these kids could end up with a new car for their family or a $5000 hand shake.  There is a risk that could happen and that player de-commits and goes to another school. 

• The Miami sun or Oregon's Nike Money is a pretty nice draw for some players.

Anytime a player is on another schools campus there is a chance they will fall in love with the place, coaching staff or another student.  These are 17-18 year old kids and if they find the girl of their dreams, don't think they won't leave the Wolverines in a second to chase a young lady.  

Pro's:

• Many of these kids have not seen the United States and they have a chance to take an all expenses paid weekend trip with a parent to see a Miami or a Los Angeles.  They can really get out and see some parts of the United States they have never seen before.  Should we really take that away from them?

• They will have a chance to compare other schools to the Facilities and Tradition of Michigan.  It could make their commitment even stronger? Maybe even help stay off any  transfer thoughts if they don't play right away.

• If this was your son, wouldn't you want him to weigh his options?

As you can tell, I am sort of torn on the topic.  I don't like that Michigan's 2012 committed players taking other visits, but on the other hand they have every right to take them.  Let's just hope they are doing this to see the country instead of looking at other options.  Michigan lost a very good safety prospect in Sean Parker on signing day last year due to one of those type of visits to Washington.   Sean got a lot of playing time as a freshman and would of probably started for the Wolverines last year.  That is the risk you take when a player visits another school.