COLUMBUS — Gavin Cupp bet on himself in a big way when he traveled to Columbus last month to work out at the Ohio State football team’s annual prime time recruiting showcase.
A three-star offensive tackle from Leipsic — a northwest Ohio village of 2,100 about 50 miles southwest of Toledo — Cupp coveted a scholarship offer from the home-state Buckeyes.
On Twitter, he cheekily informed his followers he attended, “THE Leipsic High School.” Ohio State was his dream school.
Cupp’s visit on July 23 came with a decided snag: He committed to Michigan State in May.
Spartans coach Mark Dantonio and his staff were not amused by the foray into enemy lands.
“I was at a 7-on-7 game with our [high school] team, and then all of the sudden I saw a bunch of calls from their coaches,” Leipsic coach Andy Mangas said.
Cupp’s relationship with Michigan State was over. After learning that he attended the event at Ohio Stadium, Dantonio revoked the offer.
Cupp was stunned, left without a scholarship from his top option on the table and still without an offer from Ohio State. Days of uncertainty followed before his gamble yielded the jackpot and the Buckeyes swooped in with a parachute. Cupp — who has remained mostly silent during the saga — confirmed Thursday that Ohio State offered him a scholarship.
The 6-foot-4, 280-pound senior is expected to join the Buckeyes’ top-ranked 2016 recruiting class this week.
“There was a lot of excitement,” Mangas said, “and, honestly, a lot of exhaling, once that offer came through.”
The drama applied another splash of kerosene to the fire of the growing rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan State while casting a light on the varying ground rules for college prospects who are committed to one school but remain open to greener fields elsewhere.
Call them commitment issues.
While most would agree high school prospects should look out for their own interests — especially for something as important as choosing a college — restrictions placed on commits who are verbally committed to a school are not uncommon.
Some programs have strict no-visit policies, similar to the one employed by former Michigan coach Brady Hoke.
Most others frown on commits looking elsewhere but evaluate each case differently, including Dantonio.
“I'd like not for a kid to visit another school,” Purdue coach Darrell Hazell said last week at Big Ten media days in Chicago. “Now when he does, he's telling us that he is not committed. ... We'll have a conversation [saying] that, ‘If you are out there visiting and you’re saying you're committed, that means we should be looking at other guys in the spot that we held for you.”
Hazell said a commit must tell him of any plans to visit another campus.
“That [situation] is different, because we’re having a dialogue,” he said. “I might say yes or no, and if he goes and I say yes, that's fine. If I say no and he goes, that’s not fine.”
Added Rutgers’ Kyle Flood: “We spend a loft of time before taking a commitment explaining to that person what it means. When you do it right, you don't deal with those issues.”
Still, every year, hundreds of FBS recruits commit to one school, only to decommit and pledge to another. Teenagers are allowed to change their minds, and even use a commitment as a fallback plan while pining for a more desired offer to arrive. A commitment doesn’t become binding until signing day in February.
Mangas said he saw no problem with Cupp participating in the Buckeyes’ invite-only “Friday Night Lights” event.
“I see both points of view on this,” Mangas said. “Looking at it from the kids’ standpoint, a kid wants to go out and compete and get better, especially a kid in Gavin’s situation where we’re playing Division VII football. He's not going to see a lot of kids on a weekly basis who are going to test him. This is a chance to go against some of the best competition in the country. ...
“Most of my take would be on the side of the kids going out and looking. I heard a couple college coaches talk, and some of them want those competitive kids. But I also understand their point of view that if we have a kid who is committed to us, we don’t want him necessarily going out to show his skills off for other teams.“
Asked about his visit policy at media days, Dantonio said, “Recruiting is very fluid. I have a policy on communication.”
Though Dantonio is not permitted to comment on an unsigned recruit, a lack of communication between Cupp and the Spartans staff — or a miscommunication — appears the point of contention.
Mangas said Cupp — who also holds offers from Minnesota, Missouri, West Virginia, and Toledo among others — called one of the Spartans’ assistants to tell him about the upcoming trip to Ohio State.
“He did try to get ahold of them,” he said. “He did not leave a message, but he did call. They know he called. They know he tried to reach out, but they didn't know why.”
Allen Trieu, a recruiting analyst for Scout.com, said Michigan State’s coaches thought Cupp was attending the Ohio State camp “just to hang out.”
“Which a couple of the other [MSU] commits did,” he said. “But [Cupp] actually worked out right in front of Urban Meyer to try to get an offer. I think most schools in that situation would have a similar reaction. ... In Gavin’s case, he was the last offensive linemen Michigan State was going to take, so they said, ‘You have to be sure because there are other guys who want this spot. So if you take it, you've got to be sure.’ ”
Fortunately for Cupp, the Buckeyes’ coaches came away impressed. The biggest bet of his life was a winner.
WOODY TRIBUTE: Meyer and new Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh share more than a birthplace.
The Toledo-born rivals both count legendary Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes among their childhood idols.
"Deep, abiding respect and admiration," Harbaugh, 51, said when asked for his impression of Hayes at Big Ten media days. “He was one of the greatest coaches that ever coached the game. I was well-read on coach Hayes, but also I had the advantage of hearing a lot of stories growing up about Woody Hayes. From my dad, from other coaches that were friends of my dad.
If they were associated with Woody Hayes, I asked them, ‘Tell me about Woody Hayes,’ and what their relationship was like with him. I view him as one of the all-time greats."
Harbaugh’s father, Jack, was an assistant at Michigan 1973-79 — a span that included the final six seasons of The Ten-Year War between Bo Schembechler and Hayes. Jim later played quarterback for the Wolverines under Schembechler in the 1980s.
What did Harbaugh love about Woody?
"Tremendous football coach,” he said. “Great presence, a gift of personality. I watched a lot of the old clips, especially the documentary on the BBC. I loved that. I loved the way he dressed, I loved his hat, the whistle around the neck. Just a football coach. And principled. When it came to principles there was a right and a wrong and he was committed and stood for things. He never wavered."
Contact David Briggs at: dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084 or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.
First Published August 2, 2015, 4:02 a.m.
