Latest On Eddie Vanderdoes
By Andrew Hall
Feb 6, 2013; Auburn, CA, USA; Eddie Vanderdoes shown with his mother Behia on national signing day at Placer High School. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Davidson of the Sacramento Bee has been the reporter with the insider information on Eddie Vanderdoes’ recruitment. He was the only reporter that the Vanderdoes family would speak to during the final days of the recruiting process and he is one of the only ones that they are talking to now.
As many people know, Vanderdoes is expected to release some sort of statement soon. Until then, fans and media members can only speculate at the reasons for the change in choice for Vanderdoes.
Davidson addressed some of the speculation in his article from today. He wrote:
"We don’t know for certain if that’s true because Vanderdoes hasn’t spoken publicly about the matter, and that’s his right. Fans, and some national media and recruiting websites, tend to get antsy when they don’t get immediate answers. So speculation starts:• He’s flunking out (not true, according to Placer teachers).• He’s a character concern (not true, according to coaches, teammates, opponents and college recruiters).• He’s had a change of heart (it’s much deeper than that, his family has told me)."
These answers by Davidson would lead me to believe that this situation is about a promise that Notre Dame failed to come through on. What this is, no one knows. However, it is clear that he does not want to attend Notre Dame. UCLA seems to expect him to be on campus sometime this fall.
Notre Dame then has two options. Let Vanderdoes out of his scholarship or force him to sit out a year. It is really easy to say let him out of his scholarship and allow him to play for UCLA this season. Notre Dame does not compete against UCLA directly. However, this would create a dangerous precedent for Notre Dame and the rest of the NCAA. This would mean that every player would not be officially committed until they get on campus. They could sign on National Signing Day and then choose to get out of that binding contract before they enroll. For these reasons, Notre Dame needs to allow the transfer but ensure that he sticks to his letter of intent.
Remember, Vanderdoes was just icing on the cake in February.