It wasn't taken out of context.
He's actually a very talented player that can run a sub 5.0 40 with an outstanding frame along with upside on either side of the ball. Many 3-star players would have a hard time equaling his raw physical ability.
If it was said on TV I would take it as a slap but this is a telephone interview in which he called about his situation and future plans.
I will add that you should recall Devonte Boyd and Jarrell Harrison were highly talented two stars that didn't qualify out of high school.
Cameron Jefferson, Tyler Gaston, Alex Klorman, Tim Hasson, Kerwynn Williams, Brandon Marshall, etc were all local 2 star player that had outstanding college careers.
Who's to say how he will feel in the future? I just feel the placement of the statement in the article was in distaste. It easily could have been left with the normal statement published as a short sentence stating he failed to qualify academically. Its rare to see a comment like that published.
Will-
He had some upside but he was hardly a sure thing to ever see starters minutes. He was very raw, and had good but not great film and production at the high school level.
Personally I am not concerned at all that he didn't qualify academically. Not a huge issue in the large scheme of thing. Its also not a testament to the kids overall intelligence. I really don't think anybody is bothered by that aspect.
What bothers people is that a kid took a shot at the only division 1 school that gave him an offer. Coach Sanchez and his staff handed this kid a college scholarship something kids dream about. To taken it even further, Melvin was essentially the first local kid brought in under Coach Sanchez and was in some ways the poster child of a new commitment to recruiting locals. So in return what did Coach Sanchez and the University get in return for their faith in this kid? A disrespectful shot at the university.
Stop saying it was taken out of context. It wasn't. He said it, period. It doesn't matter if he said it on the phone in a tv interview or if he wrote a note and sent it by carrier pigeon. He said it and he should apologize for it.
I don't think the kid is ignorant or stupid. He said a stupid thing. He should take the first steps in becoming a man and own up to the fact that his comments were disrespectful. Your only offer and you are already talking about getting better offers rather than how you let down the staff that gave you your only offer.
One last note and I wasn't going to bring it up because it felt like piling on but...
If I am not mistaken you spent a lot of time railing against Coach Sanchez and this particular recruiting class. You mentioned the lack of locals, and how we had all these kids in the valley just as good as the ones being brought in from out of state. The other thing that you said that I told you at the time was completely out of line was, that Sanchez was playing with fire by bringing in these out of town kids with questionable academic. You had big concerns over out of town kids being brought in and hurting the APR when they failed to keep up their grades and dropped out.
