Ainge was asked this morning if the tossing of stuff on the field and the 20-minute delay could negatively impact recruiting. He said it could. Here is his direct quote:
“I do think it’s a case-by-case basis. I have a hard time thinking any parental figure with a recruit that saw that would leave with real good vibes. It was literally our own fans making our own dance team and cheerleaders and mascot have to exit the field because of our fans. … We were hitting our own people. … If I had been on a recruiting visit and our fans would have been throwing stuff on the field, I don’t know that I would say ‘take it off the table,’ but I would definitely be like, ‘What?’ The last thing we want to do is have any recruit Googling things about Tennessee fans from the past 10 years and articles and about how we freak out and burn couches. … There’s no way that Heupel was excited, like, we had all those recruits there … and all their families and high school coaches are watching it on TV and our own people are getting escorted off.”
Thoughts?
“I do think it’s a case-by-case basis. I have a hard time thinking any parental figure with a recruit that saw that would leave with real good vibes. It was literally our own fans making our own dance team and cheerleaders and mascot have to exit the field because of our fans. … We were hitting our own people. … If I had been on a recruiting visit and our fans would have been throwing stuff on the field, I don’t know that I would say ‘take it off the table,’ but I would definitely be like, ‘What?’ The last thing we want to do is have any recruit Googling things about Tennessee fans from the past 10 years and articles and about how we freak out and burn couches. … There’s no way that Heupel was excited, like, we had all those recruits there … and all their families and high school coaches are watching it on TV and our own people are getting escorted off.”
Thoughts?
