Conner Rafferty OT Robinson HS Tampa

[DELdaBull]

I don't believe the kid's offer went anywhere. They just let him know he most likely would be a bench warmer. Nothing wrong with that.

[Gismo]

I don't believe the kid's offer went anywhere. They just let him know he most likely would be a bench warmer. Nothing wrong with that.

I think is likely the case and that there was some mis interpretation.

[Who'sYourData?]

Nothing reported has said that they actually rescinded the offer.  All it says it that he would be better off if he went somewhere else.

 

And I get accused of playing the semantics game .... If the offer was still there, nobody would be upset. 

 

If the offer was ever there.  Sometimes people assume and misunderstand.  Notice that once again the article says it would be in his best interest to look around.  Once again it does not state that his offer was pulled.  How hard would that be to write, if that is what happened?

[Who'sYourData?]

None of the quotes from the people involved who were quoted never said the kid no longer had a scholarship offer...remember that

 

I don't know why everyone is having such a hard time with this.  The parents clearly state that the coach said "It would be in your best interest to look elsewhere".  That means, we'll take you but you aren't going to get playing time.  The parents are upset that the situation changed and he is no longer prized as highly as he was.  This is clear if they returned the offer.

 

It wasn't pulled, the coaches told him he wasn't going to get playing time hoping he would return it and he did.  

 

The offer was not pulled.

 

Did I mention the offer was not pulled?

[Triple B]

None of the quotes from the people involved who were quoted never said the kid no longer had a scholarship offer...remember that

 

I don't know why everyone is having such a hard time with this.  The parents clearly state that the coach said "It would be in your best interest to look elsewhere".  That means, we'll take you but you aren't going to get playing time.  The parents are upset that the situation changed and he is no longer prized as highly as he was.  This is clear if they returned the offer.

 

It wasn't pulled, the coaches told him he wasn't going to get playing time hoping he would return it and he did.  

 

The offer was not pulled.

 

Did I mention the offer was not pulled?

 

 

There was the initial call the mom took and then the dad called Wells back, I'm sure to clarify. Were the words "the offer is pulled" said? Probably not .... just said everything but: "He said that they looked at film and they compared him with other offers they had, and that he was on the list but they didn't think they would get to him."

[Who'sYourData?]

None of the quotes from the people involved who were quoted never said the kid no longer had a scholarship offer...remember that

 

I don't know why everyone is having such a hard time with this.  The parents clearly state that the coach said "It would be in your best interest to look elsewhere".  That means, we'll take you but you aren't going to get playing time.  The parents are upset that the situation changed and he is no longer prized as highly as he was.  This is clear if they returned the offer.

 

It wasn't pulled, the coaches told him he wasn't going to get playing time hoping he would return it and he did.  

 

The offer was not pulled.

 

Did I mention the offer was not pulled?

 

 

There was the initial call the mom took and then the dad called Wells back, I'm sure to clarify. Were the words "the offer is pulled" said? Probably not .... just said everything but: "He said that they looked at film and they compared him with other offers they had, and that he was on the list but they didn't think they would get to him."

 

Then why did the parents return the offer?  It is painfully obvious to me that the conversation was designed to convince him that he wanted to look somewhere else.  

 

My conclusion is that the offer wasn't pulled.  This staff is better about convincing kids to leave on their own than the last staff.

[Buller64]

The mother of Robinson LT Connor Rafferty has confirmed that USF has rescinded its scholarship offer to her son, a first-team pick on the Times' 2012 all-Suncoast team.

 

Tracy Rafferty told the Times early Monday morning that new Bulls offensive coordinator Walt Wells informed Rafferty by phone around 10:30 on Sunday evening. Rafferty's dad, Robin, called Wells back and was told Connor wasn't in the plans of new Bulls coach Willie Taggart's staff, Tracy Rafferty said.

 

"He said it would be in Connor's best interest if he were to pursue other offers at this time," Tracy Rafferty said.

 

"He said that they looked at film and they compared him with other offers they had, and that he was on the list but they didn't think they would get to him. So he said in his professional opinion, it would be in his best interest to pursue any other offers he would have."

 

Tracy Rafferty said her son, an honors student who takes dual-enrollment courses at Hillsborough Community College, has no other offers. He even stopped attending camps after receiving the offer from USF last summer, when Skip Holtz was Bulls coach.

 

National Signing Day, the first day high school seniors may sign a National Letter of Intent, is Feb. 6.

 

"I feel we were blindsided here by this," said former Knights coach Mike DePue, who retired at the end of the '12 season.

 

"(Three) weeks 'til National Signing Day, and we're throwing his name out there again. Maybe this wasn't a good fit for him, but I'm not pleased with the direction this organization's taking. ... Right now, if I were the coach here, (USF) would not be welcome here right now."

 

DePue said this is the second time in three seasons one of his players has had an offer withdrawn by a Taggart-coached program. J.J. Hubbard, leading rusher from the Knights' 2010 team, had his offer withdrawn from Western Kentucky, then coached by Taggart. Hubbard currently is a tailback/return specialist at Division I-AA Gardner-Webb.

 

NCAA rules prohibit colleges from commenting on recruits until they have signed. Rafferty's classmate, two-way Knights lineman Bruce Hector, remains a Bulls commitment but visited Buffalo two weekends ago.

 

Rafferty (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) was wideley considered the most physical player on the Knights' all-senior offensive line, which created lanes for a running game that averaged more than 215 pounds. Robinson (12-2) reached the Class 5A state semifinals.

 

"He's disappointed, but we sat down and prayed about it," Tracy Rafferty said. "We figured there was something else in his future. I want him to keep a positive attitude."

 

 

http://www.tampabay.com/hometeam/blog/usf-withdraws-scholarship-offer-connor-rafferty/16258/

 

Poor kid.

 

Strange, everyone is saying that USF pulled a schollie offer, but they actually didn't. They told the kid that he was very low on the list. But he is still on the list. Basically, the coach was saying that USF might run out of schollies before his name came up, it would be a good idea to have a back up plan. In other words, there may be more recruits than schollies and you are rated very low. I think the coach was just being honest.

[Triple B]

The mother of Robinson LT Connor Rafferty has confirmed that USF has rescinded its scholarship offer to her son, a first-team pick on the Times' 2012 all-Suncoast team.

 

Tracy Rafferty told the Times early Monday morning that new Bulls offensive coordinator Walt Wells informed Rafferty by phone around 10:30 on Sunday evening. Rafferty's dad, Robin, called Wells back and was told Connor wasn't in the plans of new Bulls coach Willie Taggart's staff, Tracy Rafferty said.

 

"He said it would be in Connor's best interest if he were to pursue other offers at this time," Tracy Rafferty said.

 

"He said that they looked at film and they compared him with other offers they had, and that he was on the list but they didn't think they would get to him. So he said in his professional opinion, it would be in his best interest to pursue any other offers he would have."

 

Tracy Rafferty said her son, an honors student who takes dual-enrollment courses at Hillsborough Community College, has no other offers. He even stopped attending camps after receiving the offer from USF last summer, when Skip Holtz was Bulls coach.

 

National Signing Day, the first day high school seniors may sign a National Letter of Intent, is Feb. 6.

 

"I feel we were blindsided here by this," said former Knights coach Mike DePue, who retired at the end of the '12 season.

 

"(Three) weeks 'til National Signing Day, and we're throwing his name out there again. Maybe this wasn't a good fit for him, but I'm not pleased with the direction this organization's taking. ... Right now, if I were the coach here, (USF) would not be welcome here right now."

 

DePue said this is the second time in three seasons one of his players has had an offer withdrawn by a Taggart-coached program. J.J. Hubbard, leading rusher from the Knights' 2010 team, had his offer withdrawn from Western Kentucky, then coached by Taggart. Hubbard currently is a tailback/return specialist at Division I-AA Gardner-Webb.

 

NCAA rules prohibit colleges from commenting on recruits until they have signed. Rafferty's classmate, two-way Knights lineman Bruce Hector, remains a Bulls commitment but visited Buffalo two weekends ago.

 

Rafferty (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) was wideley considered the most physical player on the Knights' all-senior offensive line, which created lanes for a running game that averaged more than 215 pounds. Robinson (12-2) reached the Class 5A state semifinals.

 

"He's disappointed, but we sat down and prayed about it," Tracy Rafferty said. "We figured there was something else in his future. I want him to keep a positive attitude."

 

 

http://www.tampabay.com/hometeam/blog/usf-withdraws-scholarship-offer-connor-rafferty/16258/

 

Poor kid.

 

Strange, everyone is saying that USF pulled a schollie offer, but they actually didn't. They told the kid that he was very low on the list. But he is still on the list. Basically, the coach was saying that USF might run out of schollies before his name came up, it would be a good idea to have a back up plan. In other words, there may be more recruits than schollies and you are rated very low. I think the coach was just being honest.

 

 

So if Wells said that there was a chance there wouldn't be a schollie available, even though Rafferty was one of the first commits, we lied about honoring commits, essentially puliing his schollie ... You guys can tap dance around that all you want.

[Who'sYourData?]

IF Wells said that.  Again, were on the phone conversation?  

 

I'm not in the habit of accusing people of doing something when they are unable to defend themselves. 

 

You seem to want to hang the staff out to dry even though they aren't allowed to comment.  Not really fair, is it?

[Gismo]

We don't know what exactly was said or if an offer was officially with drawn or if it was just a case of informing him he doesn't fit the scheme well and may be better off at another program, but the offer still stands. 

 

At the present, he has an offer, so we are keeping our word.