Published: Sunday, 8/2/2015 OSU takes MSU commit Cupp after camp BY DAVID BRIGGSBLADE SPORTS WRITER COLUMBUS — Gavin Cupp bet on himself in a big way when he traveled to Columbus last month to work out at the Ohio State football team’s annual prime time recruiting showcase. A three-star offensive tackle from Leipsic — a northwest Ohio village of 2,100 about 50 miles southwest of Toledo — Cupp coveted a scholarship offer from the home-state Buckeyes. On Twitter, he cheekily informed his followers he attended, “THE Leipsic High School.” Ohio State was his dream school. Cupp’s visit on July 23 came with a decided snag: He committed to Michigan State in May. Spartans coach Mark Dantonio and his staff were not amused by the foray into enemy lands. “I was at a 7-on-7 game with our [high school] team, and then all of the sudden I saw a bunch of calls from their coaches,” Leipsic coach Andy Mangas said. Cupp’s relationship with Michigan State was over. After learning that he attended the event at Ohio Stadium, Dantonio revoked the offer. Cupp was stunned, left without a scholarship from his top option on the table and still without an offer from Ohio State. Days of uncertainty followed before his gamble yielded the jackpot and the Buckeyes swooped in with a parachute. Cupp — who has remained mostly silent during the saga — confirmed Thursday that Ohio State offered him a scholarship. The 6-foot-4, 280-pound senior is expected to join the Buckeyes’ top-ranked 2016 recruiting class this week. “There was a lot of excitement,” Mangas said, “and, honestly, a lot of exhaling, once that offer came through.” The drama applied another splash of kerosene to the fire of the growing rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan State while casting a light on the varying ground rules for college prospects who are committed to one school but remain open to greener fields elsewhere. Call them commitment issues. While most would agree high school prospects should look out for their own interests — especially for something as important as choosing a college — restrictions placed on commits who are verbally committed to a school are not uncommon. Some programs have strict no-visit policies, similar to the one employed by former Michigan coach Brady Hoke. Most others frown on commits looking elsewhere but evaluate each case differently, including Dantonio. “I’d like not for a kid to visit another school,” Purdue coach Darrell Hazell said last week at Big Ten media days in Chicago. “Now when he does, he’s telling us that he is not committed. … We’ll have a conversation [saying] that, ‘If you are out there visiting and you’re saying you’re committed, that means we should be looking at other guys in the spot that we held for you.” Hazell said a commit must tell him of any plans to visit another campus. “That [situation] is different, because we’re having a dialogue,” he said. “I might say yes or no, and if he goes and I say yes, that’s fine. If I say no and he goes, that’s not fine.” Added Rutgers’ Kyle Flood: “We spend a loft of time before taking a commitment explaining to that person what it means. When you do it right, you don’t deal with those issues.” Still, every year, hundreds of FBS recruits commit to one school, only to decommit and pledge to another. Teenagers are allowed to change their minds, and even use a commitment as a fallback plan while pining for a more desired offer to arrive. A commitment doesn’t become binding until signing day in February. Mangas said he saw no problem with Cupp participating in the Buckeyes’ invite-only “Friday Night Lights” event. “I see both points of view on this,” Mangas said. “Looking at it from the kids’ standpoint, a kid wants to go out and compete and get better, especially a kid in Gavin’s situation where we’re playing Division VII football. …
Continue Reading: Recruits can have ‘commitment issues’
