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No longer the parent of a UM Recruit

UknowWhat

UknowWhat

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Jun 24, 2014
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It has been a surreal journey... Shaq's recruitment.. which has now come to an end. One of the first thing coach Richt told Shaq while he was recruiting on behalf of UGA the summer before Shaq's junior year...was the recruiting process will be exciting for you, but you will be happy the day it comes to an end. Well it has now come to an end... and I have to agree with coach Richt... I'm glad it is over. I will miss the excitement of the visits and meeting the other families on the trail... I won't miss opening the mail box and finding it full of recruiting propaganda. I feel I can write a book about this journey... the does and don't of the camp circuit, the visits, the calls and all the people you meet along the way. It saddens me a bit to close that chapter, but I look forward to the years to come. I can remember like it was yesterday coaching Shaq in Pop-Warner and it was yesterday when we drove off campus... starting a new chapter in his life. Since his commitment to the University of Miami.. the summer before his junior year of high school I have been a nervous Nelly following the chaos the ups and downs at the school... the whole time Shaq's dispositions was it will all work. His first offer to play D1 football came from Ron Dugan while he was working for Louisville and his first offer extended by a head coach came from coach Richt while at UGA... it looks like Shaq was right it will all works out. So this is my last post as a parent of a recruit... my next will be as life long fan and the parent of a Miami Hurricane.
 
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Thanks for providing your unique perspective on it all. I think you should probably write that book or at least put a lot of notes down for it so you could do it in the future. Not sure if you would want the audience to be us who would be interested in it but never be involved or those who are about to go through it.

Seems like it is similar to most things in life. The choice feels huge and overwhelming and in your mind it seems like its life changing. In the end once the choice is made it comes down from the greatest choice of all time to another point in life.
 
Congrats Mr. Quarterman! Makes me very happy to see that there still are young Hurricanes out there who want nothing else but to be a Cane. How awesome is that though with Coach Dugans, and Coach Richt?!! He was right things do work out. Congrats again, I can't even imagine how surreal this has been for you.
 
Unbelievable about Dougan and Richt. Congrats Poppa Shaq, i'm glad the stress of the process is over for you and your son. Now can't wait to see him suit up for The U.
 
Thanks OP for the posts and the insight to your view of the recruiting process.
 
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In my 10+ years of following recruiting I cannot remember a more insightful poster than you. It was a very cool opportunity to not only go behind the scenes of a recruitment but to be able to get into the mind of a parent. We all look forward to Shaq becoming the next great Cane linebacker. God bless!
 
Something tells me that Shaq Daddy is going to get a lot of tailgate invites.
 
Thanks for everything Mr. Q everything has come to fruition, your kid is going places and its a blessing he has a father like you to eliminate all of the outside influences. Coach Richt believes in family, education, and he is a man of God that by itself is more important than football; that's secondary because that can be taken away at any time.
 
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UknowWhat said:
It has been a surreal journey... Shaq's recruitment.. which has now come to an end. One of the first thing coach Richt told Shaq while he was recruiting on behalf of UGA the summer before Shaq's junior year...was the recruiting process will be exciting for you, but you will be happy the day it comes to an end. Well it has now come to an end... and I have to agree with coach Richt... I'm glad it is over. I will miss the excitement of the visits and meeting the other families on the trail... I won't miss opening the mail box and finding it full of recruiting propaganda. I feel I can write a book about this journey... the does and don't of the camp circuit, the visits, the calls and all the people you meet along the way. It saddens me a bit to close that chapter, but I look forward to the years to come. I can remember like it was yesterday coaching Shaq in Pop-Warner and it was yesterday when we drove off campus... starting a new chapter in his life. Since his commitment to the University of Miami.. the summer before his junior year of high school I have been a nervous Nelly following the chaos the ups and downs at the school... the whole time Shaq's dispositions was it will all work. His first offer to play D1 football came from Ron Dugan while he was working for Louisville and his first offer extended by a head coach came from coach Richt while at UGA... it looks like Shaq was right it will all works out. So this is my last post as a parent of a recruit... my next will be as life long fan and the parent of a Miami Hurricane.
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My daughter went through the recruiting process for volleyball. Obviously not with the same intensity of what you and Shaq have experienced. From the outside looking in, it appears to me that you have handled this with the utmost class and dignity. As an alum, I am so grateful that Shaq will sport the U on his helmet in the fall.

As a parent, I would just tell you this..................It goes by FAST! People will tell you that and you will smile and nod, but in a few years you will look at your wife and say where did the time go? It seems like yesterday that we dropped our boy off at school and now it's senior day.

Enjoy, the best is yet to come! Glad both U and Shaq will be part of the resurrection of this proud program.

If I might, had Richt not been named HQ, is there a coach out there that would have changed Shaq's mind about the U?

Best of luck to U, Shaq and the rest of us die hard CANES fans!
 
UknowWhat said:
it looks like Shaq was right it will all works out.
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Very happy for your son that he will miss the Golden era. Not even hating. Just a terrible system to play in, seemed like it was not fun at all for the players. Congrats to your family. Best wishes going forward. Go Canes!
 
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