| 05 April 2011
Time to step back from the ledge.
After Khem Birch was decidedly undecided about his commitment to Pitt following the departure of Pat Skerry, it seems as if the storm has passed:
Khem Birch is not rethinking his decision to attend Pitt, his coach at Notre Dame Prep told me this afternoon.
Notre Dame Prep coach Ryan Hurd said Birch was emotional Monday night after hearing that Pitt assistant coach Pat Skerry was moving on to become the head coach at Towson University. But he said he spoke with Birch and everything is smoothed over.
Hurd said it was simply a matter of a teenager being emotionally attached to a coach and not thinking before communicating his thoughts.
And if more confirmation is needed:
While obviously I am ecstatic that it appears that Birch is sold on Pitt, this whole situation does demonstrate the fundamental unfairness of a "Letter of Intent," which is binding only for the player, and that the scholarship attached to it is renewed at the pleasure of the institution. Here, Birch likes/knows/trusts Skerry; Birch commits to Pitt where Skerry coaches; Birch signs binding letter of intent; Skerry leaves; Birch can either prep or sit out a year if he doesn't want to come to Pitt. Meanwhile, Pitt can basically terminate his scholarship for any reason they please (all the while making a healthy profit off of his talent).
Glad he's headed to Oakland, but I have serious issues with this system.
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