Bad news today keeps getting worse.
pic.twitter.com/FCEN2ml6A6— alik Willis (@Willis_Malik7) December 29, 2016
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Bad news today keeps getting worse.
pic.twitter.com/FCEN2ml6A6— alik Willis (@Willis_Malik7) December 29, 2016
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Knew this awful game would have consequences on our recruiting but didn't expect it to happen this quickly
Post game edit: hopefully good consequences now
He must be watching the game /s
Woohoo! The first half has made me contemplate decommiting!
Relevant...
Please let me finish this masters from PSU and get a new rooting interest in the next three days...
Continue to collaborate?
Stop
Collaborate & Listen
Decomits because of a non NY6 1st quarter performance? Shut the front door. Don't want this kid.
I highly doubt this is because of the Belk Bowl lmao. You sound like one of those "fans" that tweets at recruits and attacks them for not picking their team...
For the record I have never tweeted at a recruit in a negative fashion. I don't like the look of doing this during the game.
You don't believe in coincidence as much as others on this board. Can't say I blame you, although someone was saying Auburn or some other school gave him an offer at his position of choice recently.
TIC? He is an elite level SEC recruit and someone is going to pay him to play.
Damn it
Fuck 2016
2016 is what we now hold onto as the glory days of Fuente... Sigh
lol..so true
Welcome to the inevitable conclusion of each and every fucking Virginia Tech football season. Different day, same bullshit.
I hope we can keep the rest of the class together. I hate losing recruits.
If kid is going to decommit based on one crappy performance, then he was probably never very solid in the 1st place.
But as for those that we are still pursing, this game could definitely have some negative impact.
I wish him well in failing in his career.
Before you blast me, he decommitted based on 1st half performance in a bowl game during a season we over achieved. You are not Hokie material.
Where did u see that this was the reason?
6:43 pm time stamp. Classy move. Right in the middle of the game when the coaches are doing other things.
Uh no, it's some new offers that have come in for him.
Okay. But he could've sent at 2:00 or tomorrow. This thing was on purpose.
Bama offered.
Auburn.
Are you kidding? Baka doesn't even have 3* players make Saban's coffee. Maybe he saw the epic comeback and realized he didn't have it in him. Maybe LolUVA is more his speed.
This take was so hot I had to use oven mits when clicking to offset your downvote.
Any causal link between the game and the decommit is premature. It's awful timing for us, but I seriously doubt a bad game made this kid flip. He may well be back (we're still going hard for Garbutt, after all), so let's be patient.
Well if he was thinking about looking at Tech again a lot of dumb shit fans tweeting at him will probably end that.
This, I was ashamed to be a Hokie with all the trash that our fan base threw at this kid on Twitter tonight. It's ridiculous how angry and ugly our fans were being. I wouldn't blame him one bit for putting an X over us.
There was a bit of manic drinking going on tonight. Especially during first half. You probably couldn't have picked a worse time to provoke the fan base. No excuses, but.... I would say it would have been better he silent committed to his choice and let the coaches know tomorrow.
As it is now it is a bit of a d*** move on his part. Your new coaches may be ok with that thinking its funny to f over VT... but in the back of their mind they know this kid has no loyalty / decency in his interactions with other men.
If you read some of his responses on Twitter, he wasn't watching the game, was obviously excited by the offer from Auburn and the chance to play with a lifelong friend from the team who is also an Auburn commit, so as much as our world revolves around all things Hokies, he was caught in his own stratosphere and was unaware the game was on. Many won't believe him on that but it still in no way excuses what was said to the kid on Twitter by our fan base.
He must not have ever really been too committed if he didn't even know that our bowl game was on especially with tv, social media and everything now a days...
A lot of these guys don't grow up true fans of any team, they value the team they are on currently above all else. For many guys, their loyalty and love for the school begins when they first put on the gear and lace up the cleats. Things that happen before they arrive are not a part of "their story." It's just a different perspective, but I can assure you that a lot of these guys have that mentality.
Exactly. Unless you're an absolute space case, or just don't care much about football, I think you'd realize what school you are currently committed to, and maybe have an interest in their game and seeing the players you may have met during your visit(s) and the players you'll be playing with during your college career. So just count it as a loss (or gain) and move on. In the end, CJF should get the players that he wants and that want to be Hokies.
I would argue that Twitter is evil and should be kept out of the hands of children, but apparently adults can't handle it either.
I had a tweet run in with one of these adults about Willis. He continued to demonstrate his maturity level was below Willis.
Oh and totally mentioned how he didn't care, after he sent all those tweets to the kid.
Yep, and if you're going to decommit, don't do it on social media, unless you're prepared for comments from others, which is kinda ironic, don't you think?
I doubt this kid really left because of the first half of Arky but if he did... he's got to be feeling dumb as shit right now.
Anyone who believes this kid left because of the 1st half (and agrees) can leave.
I want warriors that fight all 4Qs not people that want an easy route
Warriors blow 4Q leads though......
He probably wants to stay in state or it could be family related. He is a kid and has to do what is right for him. I cannot judge him because I have given up so many times this year and in the past when the team didn't. I love when they prove me wrong and losing this kid and Garbutt both hurt but whatever is good for them I can live with. I hope it all works out for him and us. We are in play for some good players and have a 10 win season and Belk Bowl win in the first year of the Fuente era.
was just offered tonight from auburn to play QB... can't embed tweet on phone.
GETTING SO CALLED LIT IN THE CLT
Yep some OT from GA was tweeting at him.
I read this wrong the first time.
All it takes is one time!
I read it wrong the first 5 times. : )
I don't think I can ever read this right
Auburn offering as a QB is a big deal. Everything suggests this kid wants to play QB.
Bingo...I think he wanted to play big boy P5 football for a contender. Was willing to move to WR/CB for the right school, but now that a big boy team wants him at QB, it's tough to turn down. Good for the kid.
Aaaaaaaaand THAT'S how a rational adult reacts to this news.
so we should return the torches, pitch forks and effigies....?
Seriously this kid posts this the day of our bowl game... sorry but that is low. Enjoy being 1 of 4 QB's in Auburn's rotation. Hey I heard UVA is doing that too... I think it worked out pretty good for them. Just sayin
SEE YA!
After reading through that crap on twitter from our fans, there is no way we get this kid back... disappointing
Wow. We just became everything we claim to hate.
"Hokie fans are a different breed." "We're better than this." Except when we aren't. Except when we're not.
Wish him well. Remember that he's in high school. & more important: remember that we are grown-ass adults.
There was no way he was coming back to VT anyway, his decision was made when he sent that tweet. That said, no excuse for the personal attacks against him.
this had nothing to do with the game tonight...
a. recieves ego-inflating Offensive Player of the Year for 6A Georgia HS Football (top division)
b. recieves offer from Auburn as QB
c. de-commits from VT who offered as WR/DB (and several guru types projected him as a DB)
pretty sure they were going to give him a shot at qb first just like fairley...
Apparently a guru at Auburn projects him as a QB (or is lying - it's been known to happen, even at 'ol VPI).
Auburn offered him at QB, which he plays now, but wouldn't at VT. Whether it's a ploy by Auburn or they're legitimately interested in giving him a shot at QB, it's a good move for them. He's a talented kid.
QB Jarrett Stidham who was at Baylor a year ago has already enrolled in classes and is able to participate in Spring Practice.. makes you wonder if the kid did his homework or was just happy to get the SEC offer.
either way good luck and wish the best
Calm down guys. It wasn't because the game. He probably wants to play quarterback. Probably wasn't going to do it here. If he does indeed leave, wish him well. People wanting young guys to fail is what's wrong with our society.
"People wanting young guys to fail is what's wrong with our society."
That's funny. Nothing about the decades of moral decay............
I'd probably put that under moral decay...idk though
What??
Let's be honest, he knew what we do with QB prospects... **cough** Bucky **cough**
But our tight ends turn up to be quarterbacks and then NFL quarterbacks and then NFL tight ends! All comes full circle!
Shout out to Kam Chancellor too. We'll never know what could have been. :)
Disappointing to lose any commit, but let's not freak out after THE BIGGEST COMEBACK IN SCHOOL HISTORY! If the young man wants a shot at QB, I wish him all the best in the world pursuing that endeavor. I think the future in Blacksburg is very bright either way
Some people need to stop taking shit so personally.
this should be the name of a new website for everything...
underreaction.com
And now we have another slot for all the recruiticorns we were promised! (?)
Haven't read the stuff on twitter but I really hope we can get him to reccommit. According to #sauces he is our second most coveted commit behind Hooker and was susr underrated until essentialt being named best offensive player in Georgia.
If he wants go pursue that QB spot, I wish him the best of luck but the kid is an elite Athlete and hope we can turn him and Garbutt back to the good guys.
That was in response to me telling the guy to leave him alone
It goes on and on
Jeez that's rough, even for drunk, dumb and angry Tech fans. Saw all the crystal balls flip to Auburn, hoping thats a premature reaction but hopefully Fuente can get an in-home with him once the dead period ends.
Yeah, I had a feeling he was more prized than his rankings indicated. I hope we can get him back.
the way i see it, it means we have an open scholarship for a position in need and if any kids saw our gutsy performance and wants to be a part of that, then we're happy to have you.
as for Willis, i wish him the best in his future, no hard feelings. after following recruiting, succumbing to the fickleness of 17/18 year-olds gets old very fast especially when you're wearing your O&M glasses and that coveted recruit goes somewhere else.
to quote Coach Buzz Williams, i want "OKG ("our kind of guys")"-type players who are proud to commit and wear the maroon and orange.
Whatev...meh
If you read his twitter posts, this was a double whammy move by Auburn. They apparently already have one of his lifelong friends committed and they are now offering him to play QB, which was his dream to do in the first place. Kind of hard to turn down that kind of logic, especially from an 18 year old with dreams in front of him. Sucks for us that he garnered all this late attention for his performance but we have to be ready to fight if we want to bring in top talent, fight for him, not fight him on Twitter.
Also Auburn is way closer than Blacksburg, I don't know where in Georgia he lives off the top of my head, but it's probably not a bad trip to Auburn. Most places in Georgia aren't, and that's part of why Georgia and Auburn are rivals.
edit: He's from Atlanta, very close to Auburn.
Of course I'd like to have seen him remain committed to VT, but good luck to him.
We need players at VT who want to be at VT. The kind of results we got last night only come from athletes who love where they are and have some fight in them.
As for fans who blast recruits on twitter for not choosing to play for their team, give us all a break already. Players should go where they want to go. As far as committing/decommitting, you have to remember they're teenagers.
That's really too bad.....for Malik Willis.
It's not good mojo to decommit from VT.
especially for quarterbacks
That's unfortunate. Kid is a great athlete. Hope we use that scholarship on more lineman though. Have enough athletes for this class.
The timing of the tweet wasn't great, but as it's been stated above, this kid (and let's remember that he is a kid) is living in his own space. I guarantee the timing didn't even cross his mind. Recruiting is a fun process to watch, but damn do I wish fans would stop tweeting at them. Reading through some of the garbage thrown his way makes me angry.
Truly unbelievable the things grown men will say over the internet, often behind anonymous type accounts (no pictures, unclear username)
It's commentary like discussed above that keeps me from getting too excited about recruiting. I don't care to read stuff that makes me embarrassed about the Hokies family. I realize some of our fan base has a lot in common with our Cousins, but prefer not to be reminded of it. Legs to everyone who would rather see a recruit do what is best for the recruit than for a fan they never met.
Unfortunately, every fanbase has people like this, even more unfortunate, they are often the very outspoken minority.
I believe it is the very nature of communication by Twitter. Emboldens the idiots, adds little or nothing positive to the actual conversation.
It's not just Twitter; it's anything online. Any platform that allows partial or full anonymity makes people feel free to say anything they want without the belief that there will be repercussions.
In contrast, the only reason I joined Twitter (previously believing it had no value) was that it's a great source of news and information in real time. If you follow the right accounts, you can learn a lot. News breaks on Twitter first.
Actually one of the more obscure reasons I TKP. No interest in "joining" twitter, only partly because of what vtfish said and my comments above, but do enjoy being able to get a filtered "best of" version here from those here who do.
The few people tweeting negative things to him was definitely unacceptable, but I think he handled his decommitment very poorly. I don't think the first half of the game had anything to do with it, more to do with the late Auburn offer as a QB. But it is incredibly disrespectful to tweet your decommitment publicly during the bowl game without notifying the coaches at all. And if he truly didn't know the bowl game was happening as he later tweeted, then that makes me really question how onboard he truly was with VT. Just handled this really, really poorly.
No bad feelings here, and best of luck to him. But to me it seems like he was just using VT as a placeholder until something else came along. We need guys who want to be a part of this program. Let's close out strong and fill his spot with someone who can fill a need elsewhere.
apparently he told the VT coaches earlier this week so he knew all week he was going to decommit and decided to do it when we were down 24-0.
yeah that's a dick move IMO.. typical Auburn though some of the shadiest recruiting I've ever seen.
Bye Felicia!
Do these players tell the coaches in person or over the phone prior to tweeting their decommitment?
They're under 50 years old, so my guess would be probably not.
Damn, that's like ending an engagement over twitter,... kinda immature.
My coach in high school would have hit his whistle over my helmet like 1,000 times non stop if I did something like that...
Ehhh, more like a Vegas engagement.
That is what the latest generations have learned to do. Hide behind social media.
The coaching staff knew.... by the end of January we might need that spot he opened up for something shinier.
He wants an opportunity to play QB and he would not have been given a chance in Blacksburg because Josh Jackson and Hendon Hooker are the future at that position. He was recruited solely as a defensive back and never as a QB. Auburn is going to give him a chance to play QB so he's going to give it a shot there. End of story. And forget this kid anyways... he's got a bad offer list besides Auburn and VT. If he had offers from a bunch of ACC/SEC schools, then I'd be bummed, but he doesn't.
Piece of advice get over the offer list real fast with Fuente and Co. they offer who they want and who fits period.
That's not true. Tech's coaches said they would get him and Farley a shot at QB but feel might Farley is better suited for the next level ans either DB or WR for Willis. I agree that JJ and Hooker are the best future options after Evans, but Tech coaches were going to give him a shot to prove himself at QB because he's an elite athlete.
Willis' tweet was timed. There is no way he is unaware when 'his school' is playing their bowl game. Don't need him.
My thoughts:
1) intentional or not, timing was pretty poor.
2) no excuse for fans to bash a kid on twitter or elsewhere.
3) still hopeful our coaches can talk some sense into him and get him to come back.
4) if we do lose him that sucks, but not the end of the world. I'm more concerned about closing on Proctor, Hunter, Garbutt, and Speed.
Anyone not an official Tech coach who twitters a recruit should have their fingers super glued to their phone. These are teenage boys making one of the most important decisions of their young lives. They don't need to be harassed by a bunch of nitwits.
Barely 24 hours after he decommits during our bowl game when we were down 24-0 to an SEC team he commits to another SEC team.
Best of luck to him, but there's something rotten in the garbage can about this one.
Out of respect, I hope that what I've seen that he contacted the VT coaches prior to the game to let them know is true and only posted the news last night. He saw a better opportunity to pursue the position he wants to play, so good luck to him.
First couple of replies to this were from Pimpleton and Rayshard Ashby, congratulating him and wishing him the best.
Difference between fans and players. Much more respect and not horrible insults.
Also, between people who know him and people on the internet.
Good luck to Malik. It's probably for the best.
Can't imagine what's going through people's heads when they tweet recruits. I'm only a few years removed from high school and I think that shits creepy as hell
Given our QB depth, with Evans now declaring, is it likely Fuente and Cornelson will reach out to Malik about playing QB and flip him back to the good guys?
I would be absolutely shocked if that happened. This is very different than the Tyjuan Garbutt situation. He, Garbutt, simply was not ready to make a decision so he backed off early on in the cycle. Willis waited until a month out from NSD and then formally decomitted during our bowl game. Fuente might reach out to him, but I would be shocked.
He said he had a high school friend that plays at Auburn and it is closer for his family and he gets a shot at qb. He is gone for good unfortunately.
by spring practice 2 he will be moved to db once he see's he will never see the field behind Stidham. Auburn knew he wanted to play with his buddy so why not tell a white lie to get him to commit.
Dirty recruiting by an SEC school? Say it ain't so!
Ehhhhh, we essentially did exactly this with McMillian so. It's really not that egregious at all.
I used the same example when talking to a few friends. Our coaches pretty much lied to McMillian's face when they said he would get a shot at QB. Yeah sure, technically he got to take a few days of reps with the QB's, but it wasn't an honest shot. He was getting moved to RB by the second week of practice no matter how well he performed. This isn't really blasphemous or anything. I'm not saying "THE OLD COACHES WEREN'T GOOD, HONEST MEN!" This is pretty much how recruiting athletes goes. You sell them on the position they want to play regardless of where you, the coach, envision them playing.
Same thing happened with Nijman. He got about half a practice at DE.
... and then was also made aware what a 6-8, 310 athletic OT can make in the NFL
Hey, I'm not saying it was wrong. I'm just saying it happened.
Absolutely- we all want the player to be happy with his spot.