Ryan Baker Didn’t Live Up to the Hype?
Remember Ryan Baker from a few years back? Baker committed to Notre Dame in late January of 2004 and then decommitted only to wait a month and a half after signing day deciding on attending Purdue. He was considered one of the best recruits in Tyrone Willingham’s last full recruiting class – one of the worst in recent Notre Dame history. Here’s what ESPN had to say about his selection.
“After months of deliberation, Super Prospect defensive lineman Ryan Baker of Indianapolis-Bishop Chatard, Ind., has signed with the Purdue Boilermakers over Notre Dame.
Baker made a commitment to the Irish in late January, but had second thoughts and didn’t sign with the school. Considered the top player in Indiana, he played on four state championship teams during his career at Chatard — three in football and one in basketball. Among many other offers were Michigan, Oklahoma, Boston College, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State and Stanford. “
Anyway…. apparently Baker hasn’t lived up to the hype. Oh, that’s not my opinion. It’s Joe Tiller’s. His head coach at Purdue for the last 5 years. Here’s what Tiller said about Baker at his Tuesday press conference.
Q. This is Notre Dame week. Could you take us back to the recruitment of Ryan Baker, your thoughts of his indecision. A lot of recruits have gone through that. Sometimes they might be playing games or whatever. Was your thinking with Ryan that he was just a young man who was legitimately torn trying to make a tough decision?
COACH TILLER: I can’t go through that. We don’t have enough time.Q. I don’t mean step by step.
COACH TILLER: You may have asked too many questions with that one today. I don’t know. Obviously he waited till after the signing date. There was a lot of cloak and dagger, et cetera. Bake’s been a really good guy for our program. He, quite frankly, hasn’t been the player that maybe the recruiting hype would have suggested he should be. But he’s stayed the course. He’s playing his best football right now. But he’s always been good for our football program, always from day one.
I realize that Tiller is in his last year and all, but did he really have to call out Baker like that?
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
We play Purdue this week, and Baker was verbally committed to us… Some folks might be interested.
Why is this relevant? Who cares.