Gordon was a Wisconsin kid that chose Wisconsin over Iowa. Hard to fathom isn't it.
Eno Benjamin 3rd Team AP All American
- Thread starter westender
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Gordon was a Wisconsin kid that chose Wisconsin over Iowa. Hard to fathom isn't it.
mopkins
King Kong
Right but was initially an Iowa commit until Bielema flipped him...and then Bielema flipped himself to Arkansas 2 years later
C'mon people, use a little common sense. If he really truly wanted to come to Iowa, he'd be here now.
Its like if your girlfriend says she doesn't want to break up, but she wants to be free to see other people too. If she was really into you, she wouldn't be interested in anybody else. Eno lost interest in Iowa or he wouldn't have wanted to look around in the first place.
Its like if your girlfriend says she doesn't want to break up, but she wants to be free to see other people too. If she was really into you, she wouldn't be interested in anybody else. Eno lost interest in Iowa or he wouldn't have wanted to look around in the first place.
And Bert gradually morphed/ballooned into looking like the Arkansas mascot.
mopkins
King Kong
I'm not sure its that simple...especially considering Kirk didn't renew the contracts of the two coaches involved in Eno's recruitment soon after.
homes
Well-Known Member
As I understand it, he asked about visiting other schools (ASU) and was told by White and Kennedy to do so, just don't tell the head coach, so away he goes on his visit, knowing he's complicit in the secret visit. I put most of this on White and Kennedy, and a little on him. He didn't have the maturity to properly assess the situation, like White and Kennedy should have - they should have said, let's talk to Ferentz and see what he says. They didn't, stupid move. Ferentz then finds out about it after the fact, and then pulls the offer.
White and Kennedy are rightfully shown the door (in essence). Benjamin was in on the secret visit, so it can become a matter of trust, which I've interpreted over the years is a significant issue for Ferentz. Breach it early on in the relationship, it sends the wrong message to the rest of the team, which is paramount to all in Ferentz's world.
My guess is that if they all had come to Ferentz up front they may have come to an understanding, or if he was told you go, you're out, then he would have known squarely what the consequences were by taking the trip.
White and Kennedy are rightfully shown the door (in essence). Benjamin was in on the secret visit, so it can become a matter of trust, which I've interpreted over the years is a significant issue for Ferentz. Breach it early on in the relationship, it sends the wrong message to the rest of the team, which is paramount to all in Ferentz's world.
My guess is that if they all had come to Ferentz up front they may have come to an understanding, or if he was told you go, you're out, then he would have known squarely what the consequences were by taking the trip.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
Maybe, but all we can go off of is what we know. Eno was very vocal and wanted to be a Hawk. The two assistants who "mislead" him are no longer with the program. And his offer was revoked. I don't think its completely fair to say that a player "lost interest" because he wanted to visit another school. If I'm a 17 or 18 year old kid and I have the opportunity to visit one of the hottest party school's in the nation, its hard to turn down, regardless of how committed I am to a program.
So sure it's easy to say he may have lost interest, but IMO if it were such a clear cut answer, then 2 coaches wouldn't have been cut loose as a result of what happened.
24KobeKinnick
Member
Long time lurker here but have not signed on in years.
I went to ASU and do some writing for the ASU team. Growing up a Hawkeye created a college sports passion that is significantly missing out west. However, I root for the team my degree is on. I do LOVE coming back to Iowa City when I can. It is such a special place. My goal is to make it back once a year.
I have seen a lot of the banter regarding Eno and decided to chime in. I know most people have moved on but I am writing this just for those that are curious.
I know this for a fact, as I have talked to Eno about Iowa...He has incredible respect for the Iowa program. While I know some Iowa fans root against him, I am 100% sure he roots for Iowa. He has many friends still on the team and he really loved the fans and program. I can't speak for what happened in the past, but Eno is a sincere & mature young man today. He is on track to graduate a year early in one of the top honors programs in America and is well regarded for his character/work ethic amongst the coaches and higher ups in the athletic department.
Secondly, he is the 2nd beat RB I have ever seen up close in college (Iowa & ASU) after Shonn Greene. This includes many great Iowa backs and the last three ASU RB's that all at least played one NFL season. The Pac 12 sucks but it can still produce special talents. From day 1 of his first spring practice, Eno was the best RB at ASU. He just has "it" and you can't miss that, especially being on the field. We had two very accomplished SR's at the time, so my friends laughed at me for 18 months or so. He is a guy that will play on Sundays.
Anyway, I just wanted to drop off information that I have. I hope it didn't come across as gloating because that is not my intention. Following another teams lack of development has given me such a great appreciation for what Iowa does. I can't wait to come back for the PSU game next season!
Go Hawks & Go Devils!
I went to ASU and do some writing for the ASU team. Growing up a Hawkeye created a college sports passion that is significantly missing out west. However, I root for the team my degree is on. I do LOVE coming back to Iowa City when I can. It is such a special place. My goal is to make it back once a year.
I have seen a lot of the banter regarding Eno and decided to chime in. I know most people have moved on but I am writing this just for those that are curious.
I know this for a fact, as I have talked to Eno about Iowa...He has incredible respect for the Iowa program. While I know some Iowa fans root against him, I am 100% sure he roots for Iowa. He has many friends still on the team and he really loved the fans and program. I can't speak for what happened in the past, but Eno is a sincere & mature young man today. He is on track to graduate a year early in one of the top honors programs in America and is well regarded for his character/work ethic amongst the coaches and higher ups in the athletic department.
Secondly, he is the 2nd beat RB I have ever seen up close in college (Iowa & ASU) after Shonn Greene. This includes many great Iowa backs and the last three ASU RB's that all at least played one NFL season. The Pac 12 sucks but it can still produce special talents. From day 1 of his first spring practice, Eno was the best RB at ASU. He just has "it" and you can't miss that, especially being on the field. We had two very accomplished SR's at the time, so my friends laughed at me for 18 months or so. He is a guy that will play on Sundays.
Anyway, I just wanted to drop off information that I have. I hope it didn't come across as gloating because that is not my intention. Following another teams lack of development has given me such a great appreciation for what Iowa does. I can't wait to come back for the PSU game next season!
Go Hawks & Go Devils!
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HuckFinn
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the thoughtful post. Gloating? No way. Nice to hear that this young man is a quality football player and person. Sure wish he had come to Iowa.
Agreed. That hurt way more than Eno.
Also its funny that Higdon is mentioned in this since the no visit policy seemed to be a big deal after he flipped on signing day and left Iowa out in the cold with no plan B.
Good for Eno but honestly I couldn't care less. He is not, never was, and will never be a Hawkeye. Plus, he has no association to the state of Iowa. Ross Pierschbacher was an all American and it sucked MORE in my opinion to lose out on him. But he's from iowa so I'm happy for the kid.
24KobeKinnick
Member
Absolutely. Getting to know some of the players and people in the athletic department has certainly changed my view on how I follow the sport. Makes me more passionate yet less angry at athletes and in their play & choices.
It is not hypocritical, it is simply practical. If you are committed, you are committed. If you say you want to look around, then you are no longer committed, and hence your spot is no longer guaranteed.
There have been plenty of examples of Iowa verbal commits who have wanted to look around a little, who Iowa stayed in contact with, and who ended up at Iowa (Jestin Jacobs being the most recent).
Iowa will contact other team's verbal recruits if they have a sense that said recruit is not truly committed. There is nothing hypocritical about this.
Hypocritical would be Iowa telling a recruit they cannot look around, and then withdrawing their offer to said recruit because someone better came along. I don't think that has happened.
Hypocritical would be if Iowa made a huge public stink about other teams poaching their recruits, and then went out and poached themselves. I have never heard Iowa coaches do such a thing.
The Benjamin case has been pretty well documented. Iowa did NOT withdraw an offer because Benjamin wanted to look around, they withdrew because he seemingly was sneaking around behind their back. It turns out that he was only doing that because several Iowa assistant coaches (since removed from staff) intimated to him that he should keep things on the down-low. So Benjamin did nothing wrong, Iowa withdraws the offer because it thinks he did something wrong, and by the time the whole story comes out, it is too much of a mess to fix. It sucks, but there is not a thing about that story that smacks of hypocritical behavior.
Or to put it more plainly, Iowa tells a recruit, "If you commit to us and give every indication that you mean to stand by that, we promise that your scholarship offer will be there and is commitable."
They do not tell a recruit, "If you commit to us and give every indication that you mean to stand by that, we promise that we will not contact any of Rutger's verbal commitments."
They do not tell a recruit, "If you commit to us and give every indication that you mean to stand by that, we promise that we will not contact any of Rutger's verbal commitments."
tksirius
HN's Love Doctor
This has happened. All the Ferentz huggers said it was ok because Brian told the recruit in person rather than via a phone call, etc.
MoseSchrute
Well-Known Member
I don't think there's too many who are rooting against him. Just a whole lot of people wishing our staff hadn't botched the whole thing.
MoseSchrute
Well-Known Member
It's possible you(and everyone else) will be thinking this about Brock in a few years.
ShockHawk22
Well-Known Member
Little different situation. He had every chance to commit and never pulled the trigger. Could have very well been a Oliver Martin type situation where he kept dragging us along and then leave at the last minute. Iowa went with Goodson, who I believe will be very good. Brock was never a commit so it won’t hurt because we didn’t “lose” him. Mevin and eno were verbals and then we “lost” them.
Not saying I wouldn’t want Brock as well, or that Brock isn’t good. It just won’t hurt the same way
This always comes to my mind too. The fact with this situation is that Iowa obviously scouted this kid wrong. He also lost the starting job at his own high school as a senior.
Brock could end up being similar to Gordon in pain level since he went to a rival and we play them every year. Iowa had 2 RB spots at the time and they wanted Goodson more. Then Sargent became available and was willing to commit. Sargent playing as well as he did last year actually worked out better for Iowa because they really needed another back that could play this year.
Everything I've been reading about Goodson is that he is the real deal and a similar player to Easley only a little bigger.
