This drama goes back years between Crowell and Michigan (particularly Harbaugh). I was pretty upset when they seemed to stop recruiting him. Diehard UM family, Best kid in the state, 5* talent, etc. All of that should equal a UM lock but I said at the very beginning when he started showing out at camps a few years back that Crowell was going to be an issue. If I remember correctly, when his initial ranking came out Payne was ranked the 3rd best prospect in the state but even still he was a clear target.
The article makes it seem as if they stopped recruiting him sometime after the new year but I think it really started to fall apart a few months before. I was hearing on other forums that Nua wasn't allowed access or was having a more difficult time than others gaining access to him during the in person periods of the recruiting cycle. I can't confirm that but fast forward 10 months and it's all starting to look like it may have been true.
Crowell is a good coach and has been for a while going back to his days at CT. I think that's where it all started between him and UM but I can't say for sure. Crowell publicly questioning UM players (former players he coached at CT) on twitter certainly didn't help.
I did read a few random comments (from random people) about how the Payne family was shopping him around and UM wanted no part of that but I can't confirm any of that and I don't want any part of that narrative. We all know that the SEC is bagman country, moreso than the other conferences, so you draw your conclusions accordingly but I won't say it because to me it's just sour grapes.
I would love for UM to get back into the recruitment and make a serious push because UM can always use talent like Payne especially in a Don Brown Defense. I know UM is currently going after another BAMA commit and if UM could flip two top 50 kids from them then that would really make my day.
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Sometimes people standing on third base think they hit a triple, but they didn't - Jim Harbaugh
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Mon Aug 03, 2020 1:25 am