D’Angelo Ponds JMU CB (via Chaminade) Commits to Indiana

[Samoan Souljah]

His players love him and he’s a great dude. I had a feeling this would happen. The kid was loyal to who brought him to the dance when nobody else really wanted him. I get it and respect it.

I am interested to see if his loyalty brings him back to the portal next year lol.

 

[PineCo.]

Why?

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Doesn’t seem that his ex coach being at Indiana was on anyone’s radar.

It was.

Miami still felt confident.

 

[A1cane]

I for one didn't take the threat seriously enough. The warning signs were there if anyone wanted to see them.



There was also a post in Portal DB thread that said since he didn't follow his coach into the portal this winter, we were clear of that threat. Alas, that wasn't the case.

Potential Portal DB’s (CB’s & S’s only)

Phillip Dunnam - 6’1 190lbs Sophomore Safety at Indiana, from Miami (went to North Miami Beach HS). Finished this season with 53tks 6PD’s & 3INT’s Jamari Sharpe - 6’1 190lbs Freshman CB at Indiana, from Miami (went to Northwestern). Finished this season with 22tks 2PD’s & 1INT. Long armed...

www.canesinsight.com

Rumor is jmu was pushing him to Indiana once he said he was leaving

 

[Shogungts]

JMU is located in Harrisonburg, VA about 2 hours southwest from Fairfax, Va. Nowhere near Missouri.

I originally saw his missouri comment and was going to post that JMU is not anywhere near Missouri, but as someone that lives in DC (and has lived in Northern VA)... no one that is not from this area has any idea where Fairfax is

 

[mlw352]

I’m glad for the kid it’s a good fit tbh

 

[lindend]

Miami still felt confident.

Now the question is are they going to just move on or try to flip him before he enrolls?

Mario already flipped Alston after he committed to A&M.

Some recruits Mario simply refuses to give up on. Others he moves on w/o missing a beat.

 

[lindend]

Rumor is jmu was pushing him to Indiana once he said he was leaving

We have to bend over backwards to even avoid the appearance of tampering and backchanneling. Other schools can be more open about it.

Tulane threw a hissy fit last portal cycle with Sam due Guidry tampering/backchannel rumors and L$U swooped in and took advantage of it.

 

[TheOriginalCane]

Now the question is are they going to just move on or try to flip him before he enrolls?

Mario already flipped Alston after he committed to A&M.

Some recruits Mario simply refuses to give up on. Others he moves on w/o missing a beat.

Depends on others.

 

[Udynasty]

I hope this is not true

 

[grover]

He was one of the very few recruits @DMoney mentioned by name. That should put this question to rest once and for all. I sure hope we keep working this one until he enrolls.

How does that work? Final exams end 5/9 at JMU.

I am interested to see if his loyalty brings him back to the portal next year lol.

We need him now. Doubt we’ll bring him back next year .

 

[lindend]

How does that work? Final exams end 5/9 at JMU.

The bigger question is when do the summer IU sessions begin.

 

[lindend]

I hope this is not true

This would seem completely out of character with everything that we've heard about him and what @gogeta4 said about his previous interactions with him.

 

[LuCane]

Top 4 corners right now are Porter, Brown, Hill and Richard.

Top 4 safeties are Meesh, Harris, Williams and Zay.

So no, none of the guys you mentioned are in the two deep.

Even assuming perfect health, that is simply concerning. We better pray teams’ best players are TEs and they want to come out in 12 personnel. I’d have taken a Safety and another Corner. Even over a 3rd/4th DE.

 

[Number1CanesFan]

We have to bend over backwards to even avoid the appearance of tampering and backchanneling. Other schools can be more open about it.

Tulane threw a hissy fit last portal cycle with Sam due Guidry tampering/backchannel rumors and L$U swooped in and took advantage of it.

Why? What is tampering? The young man is a student who is in the transfer portal. There is no letter of intent to sign. Other than signing an NIL deal, there is no paperwork to sign. Just enrollment at the new school. My understanding is the "commitment" is basically the same as a "commitment" from a high school athlete.

I could be wrong, but my understanding is that tampering would be communicating with a player when he/she is enrolled at a school and not in the transfer portal. A student athlete must be in the portal before coaches can contact the student athlete. Perhaps a "commitment" by the athlete is followed by him/her being removed from the portal. I would think that an athlete would only be removed from the portal when he/she is enrolled at a school. Either removal after enrolling in the new school or the student athlete staying at the current school and removing their name from the portal.

Can they remove their name from the portal after a commitment? I don't know.

 

[lindend]

Why? What is tampering?

The allegations are/were that Guidry convinced Sam to portal out right after he (Guidry) left Tulane and while Sam was still at Tulane. To that point, Sam had followed him at every stop. Exact same scenario with Ponds, except this is first time following for Ponds.

IU coach moves on, Ponds follows him and nary a peep about tampering. I just know that if this was one of our coaches, NCAA investigators would already have plane reservations for an on campus inspection.

Now it could be that Ponds waited until the Spring portal session to give the appearance that there was no tampering. If so, its the kind of stuff you do to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Theoretically, it could also be possible that he just so happened to decide to go Indiana w/o any back channeling.

 

[Miami04]

Even assuming perfect health, that is simply concerning. We better pray teams’ best players are TEs and they want to come out in 12 personnel. I’d have taken a Safety and another Corner. Even over a 3rd/4th DE.

It’s a huge mistake if we don’t land a starting safety. It’s the worst room in the building and if we were considering moving the Washington kid to nickel then we should have always been trying to sign two starting safeties .

 

[Number1CanesFan]

The allegations are/were that Guidry convinced Sam to portal out right after he (Guidry) left Tulane and while Sam was still at Tulane. To that point, Sam had followed him at every stop. Exact same scenario with Ponds, except this is first time following for Ponds.

IU coach moves on, Ponds follows him and nary a peep about tampering. I just know that if this was one of our coaches, NCAA investigators would already have plane reservations for an on campus inspection.

Now it could be that Ponds waited until the Spring portal session to give the appearance that there was no tampering. If so, its the kind of stuff you do to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Theoretically, it could also be possible that he just so happened to decide to go Indiana w/o any back channeling.

You answered your own question. You said Guidry allegedly "convinced Sam to portal out." Sam was not already in the portal. Nothing wrong with secondary communication, but no coach should be directing.

OP's reference is to Miami circling back on Ponds. Since he's in the portal, I don't think there's anything preventing Miami from direct communication until he enrolls in his new school.

 

[DTP]

I hope this is not true

View attachment 288907

This is the old fall back any time a team misses on a player. “He didn’t want to compete here” is right from the gator tears playbook of excuses.

 

[RealRussellPumps]

Lots of chatter on twitter that we didn’t take him because we got someone else in the bag? Is there anyone else out there on Ponds level of impact left?