Not that anybody cares because he is going to OSU... but to the best of my knowledge, this is what happened....
He went on the OV to OSU and he loved it. He felt very comfortable there with the current team and with the recruits who had already committed. As somebody mentioned last night, he wanted to commit while he was there.
On the OV to Mizzou, he did not feel as comfortable with the guys. Apparently, he was turned off by some of the players on the team. Nobody was singled out. I didn't get any names (and please don't speculate and place blame, because we don't know - hell, blame CVL because he gets blamed for everything anyway!) If you remember, the Illini guys were saying that the visit to Mizzou did not go well. That is true. He just didn't connect with the players at Mizzou like he did at OSU.
Mizzou was clearly in the picture until that OV. Until then, I would say that Mizzou and OSU were co-leaders. But, after the OV to MIzzou, his mind was pretty much made up.
I got that information from somebody that spoke with him directly. I didn't get details about what happened from that person.
However, I have heard from others that the OV to Mizzou involved a party and other college like activities that EJ was not really impressed with. Now, maybe he was looking for something he didn't like because he wanted to go to OSU.
I am fairly confident that Cuonzo had known this decision for at least week and could possibly have been told right after the visit.
For those of you questioning the in-home with Cuonzo, I don't know if one ever took place. I do know in the last couple of weeks that both of EJ's grandfathers were ill, and his mom's father passed away. So, the timing there was not conducive to an in-home visit.
...and I have to say it was pretty cool to kind of see this recruitment. I have never been in this situation - and I was not really that close to it. But I learned that you just never know what a kid is going to like. Cuonzo did everything he could have done. The player just didn't like the other guys on the team....
He went on the OV to OSU and he loved it. He felt very comfortable there with the current team and with the recruits who had already committed. As somebody mentioned last night, he wanted to commit while he was there.
On the OV to Mizzou, he did not feel as comfortable with the guys. Apparently, he was turned off by some of the players on the team. Nobody was singled out. I didn't get any names (and please don't speculate and place blame, because we don't know - hell, blame CVL because he gets blamed for everything anyway!) If you remember, the Illini guys were saying that the visit to Mizzou did not go well. That is true. He just didn't connect with the players at Mizzou like he did at OSU.
Mizzou was clearly in the picture until that OV. Until then, I would say that Mizzou and OSU were co-leaders. But, after the OV to MIzzou, his mind was pretty much made up.
I got that information from somebody that spoke with him directly. I didn't get details about what happened from that person.
However, I have heard from others that the OV to Mizzou involved a party and other college like activities that EJ was not really impressed with. Now, maybe he was looking for something he didn't like because he wanted to go to OSU.
I am fairly confident that Cuonzo had known this decision for at least week and could possibly have been told right after the visit.
For those of you questioning the in-home with Cuonzo, I don't know if one ever took place. I do know in the last couple of weeks that both of EJ's grandfathers were ill, and his mom's father passed away. So, the timing there was not conducive to an in-home visit.
...and I have to say it was pretty cool to kind of see this recruitment. I have never been in this situation - and I was not really that close to it. But I learned that you just never know what a kid is going to like. Cuonzo did everything he could have done. The player just didn't like the other guys on the team....
