January can be a very cruel time of year for college football recruits, and one high school player who has been verbally committed to UConn for seven months learned that the hard way this week.
Ryan Dickens, a two-star linebacker recruit from Raritan High School (N.J.), received a phone call from UConn head coach Randy Edsall on Sunday night. With just over two weeks left until National Signing Day, Dickens was excited to hear from his soon-to-be coach. Unfortunately, Edsall had called to inform Dickens that he was no longer being offered a scholarship.
“And the next thing you hear is Ryan’s like, ‘You’re kidding, right?’” Dickens’ mother Patti told Todderick Hunt of NJ Advance Media. “And then he put the phone on speaker and Edsall said, ‘No, Ry, we just decided we’re going to go in another direction. We don’t have a spot for you.'”
Former UConn coach Bob Diaco, who was recently fired, had recruited Dickens last year. While that can sometimes be an issue with a coaching change, Dickens says Edsall assured him on New Year’s Day that he was still being offered a scholarship. The 17-year-old also met with Huskies linebackers coach Jon Wholley just last Thursday to talk about his upcoming visit on Jan. 20, which happens to be Dickens’ birthday.
Anthony Petruzzi, who coached Dickens in high school, is not pleased with UConn.
“The kid’s world went into disarray,” Petruzzi said. “We’re just trying to pick up the ashes right now and find the best way to move forward. … Ryan stuck by them through their turmoil and their regime change, and now in a crucial moment they’ve decided to let him go.
“He’s having a hard time right now realizing that the last seven months of preparation is not going to see itself out. He’s devastated. But he’s a tough kid. He got knocked down today but he’s going to get up tomorrow and realize his dream.”
Unfortunately, this is just the latest example of how cutthroat college football recruiting is. Jim Harbaugh did the same thing with a recruit when he became the head coach at Michigan last year, and we have even heard stories about college coaches pulling scholarship offers without telling high schoolers.
The good news is Dickens has already received a scholarship offer from Rhode Island, though that is an FCS school and a step down. At least he isn’t completely out of options this late in the process.
