Who was the "Worst Decommitment Ever"?

Submitted by Maize.Blue Wagner on

I realize this is a morose topic a few weeks out from signing day; however, as I prepare for This Month in MGoBlog History for January 2007, I came across the news of Indiana Safey Jerimy Finch decommiting. He was a 4 star and 37th nationally to Rivals and was set to join a young, untested Michigan secondary. On January 15 he decommitted and promptly committed to Indiana, though he would sign with Florida. Brian declared this the "worst decommitment ever". In hindsight, this wasn't that big a deal. Finch was later named the biggest recruiting bust for IU in the last ten years. 

This has made me wonder if Brian's statement is still true. Finch was a highly rated player at a position of need. Given what was to come in the next few years, it probably didn't matter much one way or another. Three others come to mind since then that are probably bigger: Dee Hart, Damien Harris, and George Campbell. Hart and Campbell for what they would have meant to to the coach who recruited them. Hart was supposed to finally be the super athlete to thrive in Rodriguez's backfield. Didn't Campbell refer to himself as the "mayor" and was going to put together a magnificent recruiting class. Harris might be the biggest talent of any of these for Michigan to lose. Interestly but probably not coincidentally, all four of these guys decommitted from a coach who was out the door. 

Are there any I am forgetting? Any who could have had a bigger impact on the program or had a lot of success at another program? 

EDIT: I should have checked out Touch the Banner right away, but here's a great list of decommits and transfers

Wolverheel

January 16th, 2017 at 12:55 AM ^

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic back to my sacrasm or you actually took me seriously? I'm sorry that I jokingly want the numbers to be worse when a running back who was once committed to us got over 1000 yards his sophomore year at 7.2 ypc?

I Like Burgers

January 16th, 2017 at 1:04 AM ^

If it makes you feel better, Alabama is going to have Damien Harris, Najee Harris, and Bo Scarborough in the backfield next year and it's going to be really really hard for fans to pick which is their favorite. Like super hard, guys.

The Fan in Fargo

January 16th, 2017 at 2:08 AM ^

Huge and darn good offensive line. No one ever expected him to get the ball when Scarborough was out of the game. I mean yeah he's a good runningback but for being the #1 at that position that recruiting year, I'd say he is kind of a bust. See what he does next year though because he is young. There really aren't that good of runningbacks out there anymore. The kids are a bunch of wimps and don't want that position or something.

Chalky White

January 16th, 2017 at 8:26 AM ^

George Campbell ran a 4.3 as a sophomore or junior at the opening. Everyone who saw him failed to mention that he couldn't catch. Sam Webb failed to mention that until after he decomitted. Funny how that works. That's why he dropped from a top 10 player regardless of position to a random 4*. Maybe he ends up being a better player of he played defense.

I always thought it was interesting that his profiles listed him as a possible safety, WR or DE. Seemed strange for a WR who ran a legit 4.3. It should have been obvious. Fans rarely use common sense during recruiting.

Eskimoan

January 15th, 2017 at 11:48 PM ^

IDK if biggest ecer, but Gareon Conley flipping to OSU sucked, he turned out pretty darn good. Thankfully we were fine at that position with JD and Strib

maize-blue

January 16th, 2017 at 9:21 AM ^

Along that line, there was a 2015 DT commit that I can't recall the name right now but would also be very helpful. He was pretty highly ranked and was part of Hoke's last class that kind of fell apart after we went 5-7. I think he ended up at NC State?

EDIT: This was mentioned below. Roseboro was the name.

BlueWolverine02

January 16th, 2017 at 12:14 AM ^

Think one was Johnson and he ended up in the SEC, either Arkansas or LSU.  I think the other was Graves and he ended up at Texas Tech.  I think both got PT for their schools so looking back at our DL with RR, yes they were pretty big losses.

This is all off the top of my head so I could be wrong.

Edit: Dequinta Jones and he ended up at Arkansas.  We had 7 decommits that year according to 24/7, though i'm not sure that's accurate as I think Shavodrick Beaver was also a decommit from that class though he isn't listed.