Many of us have strong opinions on this topic for various reasons (prepare for my tome).
First, I want to point out that I'm not taking a side on the issue of should/should not Yuri continue to be recruited, I'm just showing that there is some legitimacy in a lot of points that have been made, and giving my opinion on some of them.
- We don't have a 4 or 5 star commit at this point, and this bugs many CU faithful. With us being among Yuri's top schools, this topic brings even more things to the surface, as it has the potential to increase the likelihood that we can land Yuri.
- CU has had scandal issues in the past, and while I don't think this would constitute a scandal at a college, there are the jerk writers who will make it out to be just that. This being said, I understand the apprehension that some CU fans have if CU was to get Yuri to commit.
- There is an age/cultural divide among adults and kids nowadays. However, there has ALWAYS been such a divide. The big difference is that social media has made the divide more apparent and the quick hitting "journalism" of today makes issues hit the headlines instantly, rather than having to wait for the next day's paper.
- A private school absolutely has the right to expel a student for behavior that may violate the school's policies or code of conduct. Just as a private school can refuse admission to anyone, they can also kick out anyone they want to, as there are many ways to legally defend a decision to do so. This being said, Yuri absolutely has the right to complete his education at the local public school. While such tweets would have probably gotten him called down to the dean's/principal's office, unless they could prove they were done during school hours or specific individuals at the school were named in the tweets, disciplinary action would not have been likely.
- Any school/coach has the right to decide that this issue was the tipping point for whether or not they pursue Yuri to come to their school. Who knows exactly what these coaches/schools were already thinking? They may have been split on the issue, and this was just the tipping point that caused them to decide that they no longer wanted to pursue this student athlete.
- Any school/coach has the right to decide that this issue was one of a teenage boy being a teenage boy, and not let it decide whether or not they are interested in Yuri coming to their school. In fact, some might see this as a chance to show that their school's environment is the perfect place for Yuri to spend his years growing into an adult. College admissions have long denied admissions to students based on inappropriate myspace and facebook pages and photos. High school students are constantly reminded of this by teachers and counselors, but since this is a student-athlete who has had his recruitment impacted, it has become headline news in the college sports recruiting world. From what I've read, Yuri was warned about this type of behavior.
- While someone may have felt it was important to make the tweets public, this was a d-bag move, and hopefully Yuri takes this as a learning experience for who he should "befriend" in the future.
- I don't know what Coach Embree is thinking, but I am level-headed enough to know that there isn't necessarily a right or wrong response as to whether or not CU continues to pursue Yuri. There will be some backlash either way, and I know that JE knows this. This is one of those tough decisions that must be made as a head coach, as he must weigh all the options and what impact each will have. It could turn out to be a moot point if Yuri decides he doesn't want to attend CU, but it's a choice that JE must make now. Who knows, support shown to Yuri during this time could result in a lifelong endearment to CU.
- I hope Yuri learns from this, and I wish him the best. If he wants to come to CU and JE decides that he wants him, I will welcome him with great enthusiasm. If JE decides that he is no longer interested in recruiting Yuri, I completely understand, and will fully support that.
- I just want people to realize that there isn't necessarily a right answer to this issue. Yuri made some bad choices (what to tweet, who to friend), but this wasn't a crime that was committed. I'm sure things will work out for him and I truly wish him the best with his recruitment and earning his high school diploma.
