So what happened in the past 24 hours with Caleb Swanigan?
Don't know, but as of like an hour ago, per sources with intimate knowledge of the inner workings of this recruitment, he was headed to California. Every indication under the sun the past few days indicated Cal while, as we told you, his inner circle advocated for Purdue, because of the basketball fit and the "business" end of this that's always been communicated as being so important.
This very well may have changed in the past hour, right up until the timing of his tweet this evening.
Don't believe us that he was bound for Cal?
Jeff Goodman from ESPN tweeted this afternoon he was headed to Cal and even Michigan State media as of within an hour of the announcement were anticipating Cal.
We and other media could not have gotten stronger indications Swanigan was going to Cal. Schools were informed he was going to Cal.
Don't believe us he wasn't heading for Michigan State? Well, Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson tweeted last week for MSU fans to not hold their breath. I might add, Robinson is a Michigan State graduate with a rooting interest, quite obviously, and thus his interest in following such things.
Unless this was the greatest smokescreen ever - to the point where people in the home were being deceived over a matter of weeks - then something changed at the 11th hour and a process that spanned years of meticulous study was decided in a matter of hours.
We told you on Thursday to not shut the door entirely on Michigan State even while everything was pointing to Purdue or Cal. First off, you should never shut the door on Tom Izzo on any recruit, especially when his program really, really needs to replenish the high-end sort of talent it's almost always had in recent years.
The reason we told you Michigan State was still a factor was this: According to our beyond-reproach sources here, Swanigan wanted Cal and those around him were advocating for Purdue, though not wanting to push too hard out of concern it would turn MSU into the compromise choice if the player just flat-out did not want to come to Purdue. This did get to the point where the refusing-to-sign-the-letter scenario has been discussed among those in the loop.
Remember our note about what it would have meant for there to be a tweet announcing Swanigan being down to Purdue and Cal? That was something being advocated for by Swanigan's closest people in hopes it would close the door on any "compromise" options.
I WANT TO ADD: I AM NOT SAYING MSU WAS A COMPROMISE CHOICE HERE, JUST THAT THAT WAS A SCENARIO BEING CONSIDERED BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE PAST WEEK OR SO.
Everyone was blind-sided by this today. Everybody.
Two months ago, no one would have been surprised by this.
Michigan State makes all the sense in the world. It has a long-standing relationship with the player, a track record with players like him and obviously the credentials of the one the great programs in college basketball.
But two days ago, they were all but out.
Something changed.
This post was edited on 4/10 7:16 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
Don't know, but as of like an hour ago, per sources with intimate knowledge of the inner workings of this recruitment, he was headed to California. Every indication under the sun the past few days indicated Cal while, as we told you, his inner circle advocated for Purdue, because of the basketball fit and the "business" end of this that's always been communicated as being so important.
This very well may have changed in the past hour, right up until the timing of his tweet this evening.
Don't believe us that he was bound for Cal?
Jeff Goodman from ESPN tweeted this afternoon he was headed to Cal and even Michigan State media as of within an hour of the announcement were anticipating Cal.
We and other media could not have gotten stronger indications Swanigan was going to Cal. Schools were informed he was going to Cal.
Don't believe us he wasn't heading for Michigan State? Well, Yahoo! Sports' Charles Robinson tweeted last week for MSU fans to not hold their breath. I might add, Robinson is a Michigan State graduate with a rooting interest, quite obviously, and thus his interest in following such things.
Unless this was the greatest smokescreen ever - to the point where people in the home were being deceived over a matter of weeks - then something changed at the 11th hour and a process that spanned years of meticulous study was decided in a matter of hours.
We told you on Thursday to not shut the door entirely on Michigan State even while everything was pointing to Purdue or Cal. First off, you should never shut the door on Tom Izzo on any recruit, especially when his program really, really needs to replenish the high-end sort of talent it's almost always had in recent years.
The reason we told you Michigan State was still a factor was this: According to our beyond-reproach sources here, Swanigan wanted Cal and those around him were advocating for Purdue, though not wanting to push too hard out of concern it would turn MSU into the compromise choice if the player just flat-out did not want to come to Purdue. This did get to the point where the refusing-to-sign-the-letter scenario has been discussed among those in the loop.
Remember our note about what it would have meant for there to be a tweet announcing Swanigan being down to Purdue and Cal? That was something being advocated for by Swanigan's closest people in hopes it would close the door on any "compromise" options.
I WANT TO ADD: I AM NOT SAYING MSU WAS A COMPROMISE CHOICE HERE, JUST THAT THAT WAS A SCENARIO BEING CONSIDERED BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE PAST WEEK OR SO.
Everyone was blind-sided by this today. Everybody.
Two months ago, no one would have been surprised by this.
Michigan State makes all the sense in the world. It has a long-standing relationship with the player, a track record with players like him and obviously the credentials of the one the great programs in college basketball.
But two days ago, they were all but out.
Something changed.
This post was edited on 4/10 7:16 PM by Brian_GoldandBlack.com
