Freshman DB Chris Steele transferring from Florida

[Escambia94]

Chris Steele was a prized, 4*/5* recruit out of Bellflower, California. If the reports are true, the reasons are related to the manner in which Dan Mullen handled the Jalon Jones situation. Other rumors hint at academics as a reason.

RUMORS

• There are reports that a couple other players failed to meet academic standards and will be attending JUCO: ATH Diwun Black and TE Keon Zipperer.
• There are reports that Jaydon Hill's fate will be determined after the Title IX investigation.

 

[DRU2012]

Chris Steele was a prized, 4*/5* recruit out of Bellflower, California. If the reports are true, the reasons are related to the manner in which Dan Mullen handled the Jalon Jones situation. Other rumors hint at academics as a reason.

RUMORS

• There are reports that a couple other players failed to meet academic standards and will be attending JUCO: ATH Diwun Black and TE Keon Zipperer.
• There are reports that Jaydon Hill's fate will be determined after the Title IX investigation.

This past week has been just horrendous for Mullen, the Gators recruiting picture and what HAD been an extended run of positive, hopeful news and moves regarding our future.
The UGA trolls in particular are having a field day mocking us--just mainly reporting the string of negative news stories.
I'm trying to find out more about the Chris Steele story: Reported first as some failure on the coaches' part to "respond satisfactorily" to his request to change his roommate situation (ie. that he felt "uncomfortable" being matched with the sexual misconduct-accused Jalen Jones), on the heals of gleeful reporting from north of "the moron line" there now come reports that it may have "ALSO" had something to do with the highly-rated prospect's "scholastic difficulties in extremis". I can testify first hand that though you get turoring help as a scholarship athlete and every chance to master the material, unless things have changed drastically, UF is a high-standards, serious academic institution where no one is simply HANDED ANYTHING. I tutored a number of top athletes as part of certain scholarship opportunities awarded me when there, and I can assure you that though part of the athletes' scholarships assured them as much help as they needed, it was understood that this was all in service of effort to satisfy courses' and professors' standards...NOTHING was "handed" to anyone. Some guys found this shocking, to them unprecedented and "unfair"--but they either woke up, adapted and made the required effort, or fell by the wayside and soon left. Now they whine and have apologists who function as "spin doctors", I guess.
The seeming sudden plethora of, if not "similar" then at least parallel stories, including possibly losing another top get, Zipperer, is disturbing--part of a bad luck/bad news streak, to say the least.
Like I say, I'm trying to find out more--preferably FACTS, but at the very least "inside chatter" at what, if anything, may "REALLY" be going on: An isolated case would be one thing, but when there is a temporal flurry like this, you begin to wonder, "WTF--???"...Meanwhile, though, anyone out there with insights, news from the scene or WHATEVER is welcome to chime in. Hell, even a well-founded "theory" would be something we could consider, chew on...I'm a bit baffled so far.
What about you, E--? Any ideas? Just "situational bad luck streak" (even "statistical anomaly"), or deeper problem showing itself? And is it even something our people had any kind of direct control over (as, for eg, the first reports of our staff's supposed failure to react quickly or sensitively enough to Steele's "concerns" claimed, or maybe some general "look the other way" regarding endemic grade problems), or perhaps just something that all higher-standard public institutions who happen to also proudly field highly successful athletic teams will face periodically? In a world more and more of false promises and shallow wallowing in early entitlement, ribbon-for-participating, PC, "fastest on my block so I'm goin' to the pros" foolishness, this could be more and more the norm... But if so, I wouldn't be so quick to gloat if I were from Georgia. Fortunately, I am NOT.

 

[Leakfan12]

At this rate, I'm hoping there's a team on the field in August.

 

[Escambia94]

This past week has been just horrendous for Mullen, the Gators recruiting picture and what HAD been an extended run of positive, hopeful news and moves regarding our future.
The UGA trolls in particular are having a field day mocking us--just mainly reporting the string of negative news stories.
I'm trying to find out more about the Chris Steele story: Reported first as some failure on the coaches' part to "respond satisfactorily" to his request to change his roommate situation (ie. that he felt "uncomfortable" being matched with the sexual misconduct-accused Jalen Jones), on the heals of gleeful reporting from north of "the moron line" there now come reports that it may have "ALSO" had something to do with the highly-rated prospect's "scholastic difficulties in extremis". I can testify first hand that though you get turoring help as a scholarship athlete and every chance to master the material, unless things have changed drastically, UF is a high-standards, serious academic institution where no one is simply HANDED ANYTHING. I tutored a number of top athletes as part of certain scholarship opportunities awarded me when there, and I can assure you that though part of the athletes' scholarships assured them as much help as they needed, it was understood that this was all in service of effort to satisfy courses' and professors' standards...NOTHING was "handed" to anyone. Some guys found this shocking, to them unprecedented and "unfair"--but they either woke up, adapted and made the required effort, or fell by the wayside and soon left. Now they whine and have apologists who function as "spin doctors", I guess.
The seeming sudden plethora of, if not "similar" then at least parallel stories, including possibly losing another top get, Zipperer, is disturbing--part of a bad luck/bad news streak, to say the least.
Like I say, I'm trying to find out more--preferably FACTS, but at the very least "inside chatter" at what, if anything, may "REALLY" be going on: An isolated case would be one thing, but when there is a temporal flurry like this, you begin to wonder, "WTF--???"...Meanwhile, though, anyone out there with insights, news from the scene or WHATEVER is welcome to chime in. Hell, even a well-founded "theory" would be something we could consider, chew on...I'm a bit baffled so far.
What about you, E--? Any ideas? Just "situational bad luck streak" (even "statistical anomaly"), or deeper problem showing itself? And is it even something our people had any kind of direct control over (as, for eg, the first reports of our staff's supposed failure to react quickly or sensitively enough to Steele's "concerns" claimed, or maybe some general "look the other way" regarding endemic grade problems), or perhaps just something that all higher-standard public institutions who happen to also proudly field highly successful athletic teams will face periodically? In a world more and more of false promises and shallow wallowing in early entitlement, ribbon-for-participating, PC, "fastest on my block so I'm goin' to the pros" foolishness, this could be more and more the norm... But if so, I wouldn't be so quick to gloat if I were from Georgia. Fortunately, I am NOT.

Here is how I understand the Jalon Jones/ Chris Steele situation:

• [Fact]: Jalon Jones and Chris Steele were set up as roommates according to standard University of Florida housing policies. Note that the coaches have no input on the housing of athletes, and they are not allowed to be involved. NCAA rules require that residence halls for student-athletes house at least 51 percent general population students and not offer "special treatment" to athletes.
  
• [Fact]: Jalon Jones did some things that warranted a Title IX investigation, but the investigation has basically ended as a result of the complaints being dropped.
  
• [Speculation]: Maybe Chris Steele was creeped out by his roommate's behavior and he wanted to change rooms.
  
• [Fact]: Chris Steele stated that he requested a room change, but he cannot get a room transfer without going through the housing office and finding someone to swap with, and those room swaps must occur within a specific window: https://www.housing.ufl.edu/residents/room-transfers/. In this case, Chris Steele would need to request a room swap between January 14th and March 29th, or he would need to file a Title IX report if he witnessed anything worth reporting.
  
• [Assessment/opinion]: Chris Steele is just homesick, and he would be foolish to use this situation as a convenient way to move back home. Dan Mullen could pander to Chris Steele, because that is what we do in today's society when we lose control over the social media narrative, or he could lay down the adult options and hope Steele makes an adult decision. If Chris Steele saw something illegal in Jalon Jones' behavior, then he should have reported it. If he did not see anything illegal, and he is just using this as a convenient excuse to renege on his commitment, then he is being dishonest with himself, his coach, and his university. Maybe he did not read all the rules in his scholarship contract, the Title IX compliance rules (including the responsibility to report offenses), and the university housing rules. It is not too late for him to return to UF, go back to school, and prepare to grow up some more amidst different forms of adversity.
  
• [Summary]: Chris Steele is lying to himself if he thinks running back home will help him grow, or if he thinks transferring will get him what he wants in life. He can choose to come back to UF and use this as a growing experience, or he can go run and hide back home with mommy, transfer to another university, and continue the lie in order to get a waiver to play at his new school.

Here is how I understand the other situations:

• Jaydon Hill was reported to be a witness in the Jalon Jones situation. Whatever happened, Jaydon Hill did his part in the Title IX investigation, he stayed in school, he stayed in his dorm room, he earned a 4.0 in the spring semester, and he is staying at UF. Do not believe the false narratives being posted on dishonest news sites. [TWEET]https://twitter.com/_jhill5/status/1127284028594323456[/TWEET]
  
• Keon Zipperer was having academic issues and was either reported to transfer to JUCO with an intent to return later or leave UF entirely. UF has agreements with schools such as Santa Fe College to work with athletes in order to boost academics. The mechanics of these agreements get complicated, but the simple explanation is that Keon Zipperer is going to fix the academic issues by fall semester. For now, he is still a student at UF. [TWEET]https://twitter.com/_KeonZ/status/1126619342861479936[/TWEET]
• Diwun Black will likely go to JUCO in order to boost academics. Details are coming soon, since the spring semester is over and grades are in.
• Brian Edwards was arrested for misdemeanor battery. His status as a Gator is still pending.

Should we panic? No. Obviously things look bad on the surface, but take a step back and look at the worst-case scenario:

• The #9 or #10 ranked recruiting class drops to #14 or so.
• Florida loses an athlete (Jalon Jones) that does not belong here, assuming the accusations are true.
• Florida loses an athlete (Chris Steele) who is young and who misses home, and has the choice to run home to mommy or man up and honor his commitment to UF.
• Florida retains an athlete (Jaydon Hill) who has taken a rather mature approach to laughing off the social media misinformation. Bonus points for Jaydon Hill.
• Social media haters get more ammunition to make fun of the Florida Gators fan-base. What else is new? We as fans have survived Shark-humper, the Credit Card 9 scandal, 3rd-and-Nussmeier, offensive linemen blocking one another, losing to Kentucky for the first time in 31 years, losing to Tennessee for the first time in 11 years, and a host of other Twitter-worthy gaffes. Despite all this, the University of Florida is #2 in the nation in alumni contributions ($138 million), #2 in conference revenues ($40 million), and #10 in total revenue/ profit ($111 million/ $67 million).

Should we look to other successful programs as fans and compare misery? LSU is #9 in terms of revenue and profit ($112M/ $56M), and they just fired their athletic director. They have scandals of their own to worry about that are more serious. Auburn is #8 ($112M/ $61M), and they have fired half a dozen assistants across multiple sports and across the sports administration program over the past year. The "jury" is still out as to whether the issues affect football. Notre Dame is #7 ($112M/ $72M), and there are multiple reports of athletes across multiple sports taking money to play, cheating on academics, and possibly covering up rapes. Oklahoma (#6, $118M/ $72M) is doing well. Ohio State (#5, $120M/ $69M) has plenty of extra scrutiny on them one year after coming close to a sex abuse scandal. Alabama (#4, $127M/ $59M) is bulletproof. Michigan (#3, $127M/ $75M) is likely linked to a scandal involving paid athletes in the basketball and football programs. Texas (#2, $133M, $87M) has finally turned a corner and is looking good. Texas A&M (#1, $148M, $107M) is sitting happy on top of the scandal pile as long as they stay away from Johnny Manziel and the extra scrutiny arising from last year's accusations from former players. In summary: Florida certainly has plenty of issues for rivals to poke fun of, but as a top-10 program in terms of finances and overall value, we as fans should grow some thick skin on social media and be happy with what we have--a relatively clean program on the rise.