2019 5* WR George Pickens Flips to UGA

[auskip07 930]

not exactly the splash i was hoping for but hardly melt down time.    3 OL commits which is better than 2 or 1. lol

[Mikey 16,545]

5 hours ago, gr82b4au said:

I have no problem with George going anywhere he wants to go But he sure did not handle it correctly. He Has a lot of growing up to do. 

But it is what it is. 

And nobody associated with the football program saw this coming. Major slap to the face.

Who else didn't see it coming is the players he has buddied up to over these past months. Guys that have befriended him, hosted him on campus and been in daily contact via twitter. If you missed some of the twitter comments our players posted about him, you'd be surprised at their reactions.(Some of those tweets are on the signee thread) They are totally shocked and hurt. Pickens is said to have been in Auburn, on campus and paling around with players and coaches Sunday afternoon. It takes a special kind of evil to do that to contemporaries who have called you their friend.

I think these players could have picked up any negative vibes easier than the coaches, but Pickens scammed everybody. He's very slimy. To hell with him.

[auburn4ever 1,266]

Well since George got away, was Kodi and Gus recruiting any other WR's just in case something like were to happen?

[twilli13 600]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

uga fans applaud all of their players and coaches for their character no matter what. They are the absolute worst.

bama fans at least have the sack to admit that they don't care. 

This. Their fans relentlessly talked about Cam Newton and how he was scum, yet defended Todd Gurley to the death placing all the blame for his suspension all on the memorabilia agent while not once mentioning Gurley is a grown ass man and willingly took money. They are terrible. That's why I'm extra pissed about this loss. That and Kirby is definitely paying players. But you know the NCAA will never look into him. Instead, he will get away with stuff for years while Auburn is thought of nationally as a dirty program due to the Cam year. Makes me absolutely sick. 

[TigerFanAU 586]

7 minutes ago, twilli13 said:

that and Kirby is definitely paying players. But you know the NCAA will never look into him.

I don't know. From several forums, it appears Kirby is really burning some bridges amongst some other coaches. I don't know the unwritten rules when it comes to coaches and recruiting, but it sounds like Kirby is breaking them.

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,641]

36 minutes ago, auburn4ever said:

Well since George got away, was Kodi and Gus recruiting any other WR's just in case something like were to happen?

They had no reason to believe they’d need to until probably the turn of the year at the earliest. That’s far too late to replace him with anybody even slightly comparable 

 

not to mention they had to tie up other prospects that were (assumedly) a lot more contested. 

[Mikey 16,545]

44 minutes ago, auburn4ever said:

Well since George got away, was Kodi and Gus recruiting any other WR's just in case something like were to happen?

They already signed two great WR prospects in the early period. The returners are solid. George was like a rose, pretty but not essential. Given the way he's handled things, we dodged a bullet by not signing him.

[twilli13 600]

39 minutes ago, TigerFanAU said:

I don't know. From several forums, it appears Kirby is really burning some bridges amongst some other coaches. I don't know the unwritten rules when it comes to coaches and recruiting, but it sounds like Kirby is breaking them.

Are these Auburn forums? Just curious. You're thinking maybe a Phillip Fulmer snitch session is coming Kirbys way? A man can dream, right. 

[TheBeachTigger 7]

7 hours ago, JBiGGiE said:

I have a problem with it. He can go blank himself. Shades of Reuben Foster.

Kirby Smart was involved in that one too.

[gr82b4au 5,568]

It will take a miracle or some changing of grades for him to qualify. This coming from people that would know. Even if we signed him, he was not going to get in...

[around4ever 4,139]

10 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

It will take a miracle or some changing of grades for him to qualify. This coming from people that would know. Even if we signed him, he was not going to get in...

Between Kirby and Niblett... miracles happen. 

[gr82b4au 5,568]

Just now, around4ever said:

Between Kirby and Niblett... miracles happen. 

then they are going to be investigated... 

[around4ever 4,139]

38 minutes ago, gr82b4au said:

then they are going to be investigated... 

I know a few admins and teachers at Hoover.  Not one thinks GP qualifies.   I was told this when it was thought he was going to sign with AU. 

[JWShewmake 78]

I think the fact that Niblet would not let Pickens do his announcement from the school speaks loudly about him.  My guess is that Niblet would not allow it because Pickens is an attention whore and Niblet felt like it would turn into a circus.  There were some folks on Scout saying that some of the AU players were saying that he got money to go to GA.  Some have indicated that he was told that he would qualify if he went anywhere but Auburn. I think we will look back on this and be thankful he did not come to Auburn.   I live in B'ham and y'all may not remember but 7 or 8 years ago there was an issue where an AL recruit's grades were found to have been changed by a counselor so that he would qualify.    There were indications that an AL assistant coach was involved, maybe paid the counselor to make the change or the counselor was an AL fan and did it as a favor.  Anyway, my recollection is that the counselor got a slap on the wrist and the kid wound up not going to AL likely to prevent any NCAA troubles from coming up.  Niblet is a straight up guy and even though he went to AL I don't think he would be involved in anything this shadey.  If Smart is cheating, which a lot of folks think he is, he is wrong if he thinks because he knows the inside on all the stuff that goes on at AL that the Red Elephant Club won't come after him.  He is sadly mistaken.. If he gets too big they will try their best to take him down.  

JWShewmake

[CameronCrazy 1,057]

If we would have kept Pickens, we would have had 280+ points for only the 2nd time in history. We would have also finished at #6 instead of #11. 

[drush 31]

To be committed for over 500 days and flip at the last moment speaks volumes of his character. This my friends is exactly why he belongs in Athens. If is was remotely compelled to do something other than commit to AU he should have de-committed at some point. Good riddance to this young man, we have avoided a plague. He is certainly not worthy of being an Auburn man. War Eagle!

[aujeff11 6,243]

I still can’t let this go. I’m smitten with butthurt and malicious thoughts about him. Maybe the mods should look away for a couple days. 

[Newbomb 193]

Story on the interwebs that some of our current players and some of our signees are saying they know George took the money and ran....

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 minutes ago, Newbomb said:

Story on the interwebs that some of our current players and some of our signees are saying they know George took the money and ran....

Our players were saying it outright on twitter. 

[abw0004 10,104]

1 hour ago, aujeff11 said:

I still can’t let this go. I’m smitten with butthurt and malicious thoughts about him. Maybe the mods should look away for a couple days. 

Just look forward to the day the news breaks out that Pickens did not qualify and does not enroll at UGA.  Then he has to go the JUCO route where no one cares about him or his antics anymore.  The next time they will maybe care about him is when he can go to a D1 school.  It would be fun to see him on Last Chance U pitching fits, and being a drama queen like the Florida State QB was this past year.

[McLoofus 35,182]

14 minutes ago, abw0004 said:

Just look forward to the day the news breaks out that Pickens did not qualify and does not enroll at UGA.  Then he has to go the JUCO route where no one cares about him or his antics anymore.  The next time they will maybe care about him is when he can go to a D1 school.  It would be fun to see him on Last Chance U pitching fits, and being a drama queen like the Florida State QB was this past year.

Yeah. I'm surprised that so many folks are melting over this. 

We all know that numerous high profile players have failed to succeed here. That's not a shot at Gus. Just is what it is. The thing that almost all of them have had in common is that they were mercurial, which might be putting it kindly with some of them. Byron Cowart had signing day drama. Kyle Davis had... issues. Jovon Robinson and Duke Williams had clinical emotional issues. Elijah Daniel (remember him?) was literally a criminal. Calvin Ashley may or may not return for strictly personal reasons. I'm sure I'm leaving some out.

Now, some of the blue chip guys that didn't work out were very solid young men and it was purely a football issue. We've had some recently who qualify as such. But I can't think of a single guy who had a... challenging?... personality and also had a full college career under Gus. Even Nick Marshall and Tray Matthews were fantastic citizens and locker room heroes after coming here. 

Anyway. A guy like Pickens wasn't going to work as long as Gus is here. Now, for those operating under the assumption that a new coach would be able to keep a guy like Pickens in line and make use of his talents starting in 2020... well... yeah. You got me there. 

[Mikey 16,545]

2 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Anyway. A guy like Pickens wasn't going to work as long as Gus is here. Now, for those operating under the assumption that a new coach would be able to keep a guy like Pickens in line and make use of his talents starting in 2020... well... yeah. You got me there. 

This "drama queen not working out at Auburn" didn't start with Gus. Coach Jordan seemed to be mostly able to avoid signing that type. Coach Dye would sign 'em but he put several on the road in short order. I do think we're better off without them hanging around and messing things up.

[Mikey 16,545]

11 hours ago, CameronCrazy said:

If we would have kept Pickens, we would have had 280+ points for only the 2nd time in history. We would have also finished at #6 instead of #11. 

This is one of those odd happenings when a team lost 280 points and as a result, the recruiting class was improved.

[TigerFanAU 586]

16 hours ago, twilli13 said:

Are these Auburn forums?

Some Auburn and some from other schools (UT, FL). The chatter is Kirby negatively recruits his ball$ off. Makes up lies and talks crap about other programs. 

I don't think it's hard to believe either. In no way, shape or form, should Justin Fields have signed with UGA. Fromm was a Freshman and Jacob Eason failed to beat him out, Fields wasn't going to either. But $omehow Kirby convinced Fields that UGA was right for him. It failed and its already backfiring and making the conference look bad (racism, unfair treatment of athletes, Al Sharpton getting involved).

Like someone else said, it depends on how many toes Kirby steps on, but it doesn't appear that Kirby is earning the trust of the power brokers like Saban has. It has a very wild feel to it, similar to Freeze and Ole Miss. Juvenile. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

18 minutes ago, Mikey said:

This "drama queen not working out at Auburn" didn't start with Gus. Coach Jordan seemed to be mostly able to avoid signing that type. Coach Dye would sign 'em but he put several on the road in short order. I do think we're better off without them hanging around and messing things up.

I agree. Only keeping things under the Gus umbrella since he's our current coach.

That said, I'm not optimistic that Pickens is going to work out anywhere. Not unless he is somehow confronted with retribution for the way he handled this and genuinely learns from it.