About Donovan Edwards ...
by Nestor on Jul 29, 2008 5:00 PM PDT
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PrintGive credit to Tracy Pierson from Bruin Report Online for breaking this story:
The JC offensive lineman, Donovan Edwards, from Diablo Valley (Calif.) College, who verbally committed to UCLA a month ago, now de-commits and immediately changes his pledge to the California Bears...
Dohn gives us a hint behind the reason for this development:
From what I'm hearing from a source, Donovan Edwards did not provide UCLA with his summer class grades to be presented to the admission's committee before changing his commitment to Cal.
Pretty interesting considering just last week (July 24th) we heard this update on Edwards:
One thing I'm hearing is junior college offensive lineman Donovan Edwards is progressing well and is expected to get the neccessary grades at Diablo Valley Community College so he can enroll at UCLA and take part in training camp, which begins Aug. 5.
Well ... so much for that.
I don't see any reason for over reacting over this news at this point. We have been talking about for weeks about how our OL has been a mess. I think it speaks volume about the talent level at our OL as we find ourselves in a situation in which the decommit of a JUCO transfer seems like a big deal.
Given this development one has to wonder whether the coaches saw this coming when they decided to shift Chandler from TE to RT. Also note the fact that Ekbatani has been playing RT during 7-on-7 drills. Methinks perhaps the coaches were already on this and had prepared for contingency plans.
Anyway we are glad for not assuming that Edwards was a sure shot and not including him in the depth chart projection. The coaches already had a difficult proposition ahead of them with the current patchwork OL. This will make their job a little more challenging, but it's not the end of the world. We are looking for them to establish a foundation for the long term, not to provide us with instant miracles in one season. So not worth it to get all worked up over this. Good luck to Mr. Edwards and hope he finds success as a football player up in Berkeley.
GO BRUINS.
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Amusing
He can’t make the grades for UCLA but finds a ready school in Cal. It’s sucks that we missed out on the talent but the turn of events nonetheless makes me laugh at the expense of Cal.
HAW haw!
what a coward
are there no academic standards at cal?
Coward?
How is he a coward? He didn’t qualify academically. A lot of players don’t qualify academically because UCLA isn’t the easiest of schools to get in to. So he’s not going to be a Bruin, but Cal is still a fine school and he will have the opportunity to get a good education. Cal’s standards are similar to UCLA’s, but they are allowed some exceptions to their standards to get a few guys a year in if they’re close. UCLA doesn’t grant such exceptions and if they do, not nearly as many as Cal. Don’t call the guy a coward because he didn’t qualify for a difficult school. Hope he can improve his studies and excel on the field (when he doesn’t play us) and in the classroom in Berkeley. I wish him all the best.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jul 29, 2008 6:20 PM PDT up reply actions
cause obviously he didnt try hard enough
he was given multiple chances. he chose the easy way out and that was to just fail in his studies and go to option #2. im sorry, but failing community college classes is due to lack of effort in some way or another.
Nobody said he failed his classes
Not achieving the grades necessary to attend UCLA and failing are two vastly different things. Had he failed his classes he would not have been accepted to Cal. Some people are extremely intelligent and don’t fare well in school. Others aren’t so bright and can try their hardest and still not have great success. You don’t know Edwards and in no way is it obvious he didn’t try hard enough. What is obvious is you’re jumping all over a kid who you don’t know and have no detailed information about how the incident went down.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jul 29, 2008 8:11 PM PDT up reply actions
youre right
i dont know him. im just saying, the guy was given multiple chances from what i know and he let it pass him by every single time. so, from what i know (and obviously there may be lots of things i dont know yet), he seems like a someone who didnt try hard enough. when devon jefferson pretty much flunked out of sc, what did we all do? probably thought of his character a lot worse than i think of this edwards kid. anyways, i wish him luck. its not like i wish bad upon the kid. just seems like a kid that wouldve failed (and im not talking academically) in ucla had he made it anyway.
He was offered the chance
To come to what will be a great program from its inception and be a stud is a great incentive. However this wasn’t enough to motivate him to get in. He couldn’t get the job done. I think it is valid to question his motivation given the circumstances.
I find the whole incident much more humorous in that he got into the “academically superior” sister school up north. I notice nary a word about it on the Cal site.
by Bruins102NCAA on Jul 29, 2008 9:05 PM PDT up reply actions
Questioning what may have happened
is one thing, but personally I thought brewin05 was way off base in calling him a coward. There’s no doubt something happened, but we don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was out of line to call a kid out like that without knowledge of the situation and without knowing the kid.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jul 29, 2008 9:23 PM PDT up reply actions
i call a spade a spade
its based on what i know. now, if something else were to come out, i’ll be the first to take it back. and if he were to ever read this, i would be the first to apologize. but ive read a LOT worse descriptions about ppl than “coward” on this website based on what was known at the time. to me this is on the level of brandon jennings-type stuff.
To each his own
Personally, I like to wait until I have more facts than we currently have on Edwards before making a determination. If you want to call the kid out than you are well within your rights, but I;m going to have to disagree with that approach.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jul 29, 2008 10:17 PM PDT up reply actions
that's the carrot at the end of the stick
We will always lose a few players this way. Work hard at school so you can play football at UCLA, or slack off and…you can still play football at lots of other schools. Well, if academics turn you off, it’s kind of a no-brainer if all you care about is playing football and have no particular allegiances when it comes to picking a university. Cal is still a good football program in a BCS conference. So he’s not a coward…he’s just lazy.
I feel you Rye
Any criticism of the choices of college aged kids is pretty much out of line. We don’t know the full story nor can we look back to when we were that age and claim we made good decisions 100% of the time. I think that we can preface any such remark with that. I do think it goes without saying.
So if by odd chance this kid or a member of his family are reading this: We don’t mean the things we say, especially criticizing this kids choices in life. However, engaging in mindless hyperbole is quite fun, so a consideration for a consideration.
WOW do you guys have the story wrong
He was a full qualifier out of high school.
He went to a juco because he was not big enough.
He is a Cal fan.
He verballed to UCLA because that was the best he could do. (And hey, thats pretty good)
Cal released Scott Smith from his Scholly last week so he could go home to Hawaii.
Cal Offers Edwards who jumped at the chance.
BTW He is from Northern Cal
BTW2 The 2 classes he took during summer. He got an A and a B.
Which makes Pierson an * Hole for taking a shot at a kid.
UCLA deserves better than that POS.
How do you know, SocalBear?
What’s the source of your info? I’m not saying you’re wrong, because I don’t know one way or another. Do you have inside information? If so, can you share it? (I checked – you haven’t been around all that long. When you cite a fact as a fact, rather than an opinion, you may get called on it. In that vein, I’m ready to explain at length why opera is better than rock music as a matter of fact. But that’s for another day.)
When all is said and done, it’s no big thing, actually. I personally can’t see passing a chance to attend UCLA to live in the northland, but to each his own. I hope Edwards does well, because from everything I’ve seen he’s a nice enough guy and doesn’t deserve some of the bad-mouthing he’s getting from my brothers and sisters here. I hope, of course, that he stinks up the joint when the Bears play us, but hey – what did you expect in the BN?
No inside info
All my info is per Bear Insiders. So who is to be believed? Well I am going to choose to believe the insider that is not taking a shot at a kid. I know a lot of UCLA alumni and it kinda bothers me that some of your fans have been reduced to this BS. UCLA is a good school and Cal is a Good school. We are VERY similar. We took a 50 year nap in football but lately we have been pretty decent. Now that Dorrell is gone you guys figure to be much more competitive.
Normally I would not care so much because it is usually a fan taking a shot. But this is someone who represents your school. Oh and by the way he changed what he wrote from this morning.
Taking a shot?
*Read above.
Especially the part about “mindless hyperbole.”
Anyhow, you are right, this is a fan board. I try not to hold things against people read fan-based message boards. I would suggest that you read Golden Blogs and take note of every similar instance where a Cal fan said something nasty about anyone before you come in here and make over-generalized statements about BN members.
This doesn’t excuse bad conduct, but calling this kid a “coward” out of disappointment on a fan message board is not the greatest crime against humanity. Furthermore, the poster didn’t change anything, we merely discussed the nature of our comments at the prompting of a respected member of BN.
The way I see it, that sort of thing is what makes message boards fun to read. If we were to distill every bit of what we write down to neutral, fact-based, politically correct, complete, and composed entirely of logical statements it would: A) be boring and B) require not a single comment or elaboration. Not fun to read or worthy of comment = no message board.
BTW UCLA is not a “good” school to Cal’s “Good,” it’s more like UCLA is a “GOOD” school and Cal is a “good” school. It’s funny what we can allow ourselves to get upset about.
by Bruins102NCAA on Jul 30, 2008 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions
i didnt realize
donovan edwards had so many supporters here…ive stated my opinion on him based on what came out but yeah, i dont have the full story. so ill take my “coward” statement back. of course, ill be expecting everyone to take back all the disparaging comments regarding reggie bush and oj mayo since they were just kids in college and we honestly dont know the full story yet.
but seriously guys, maybe “coward” was too harsh of a word, i admit that. but when did we start nitpicking about having ALL the facts before stating an OPINION.
The problem is you had close to no facts
He didn’t submit his grades to UCLA and was going to Cal was all we had when you called him a coward. There is a lot of evidence supporting the claim that both Bush and Mayo took money, thus making them ineligible. Rarely does anyone have all the facts, but I never said anything about having all the facts. My exact quotes were “have no detailed information about how the incident went down,” “without knowledge of the situation,” and “I like to wait until I have more facts than we currently have.” Nowhere did I say we need all the facts because rarely does one get all the facts. I just think that we need more facts than we currently have to make a fair decision because we currently have next to nothing.
by Ryan Rosenblatt on Jul 30, 2008 8:16 PM PDT up reply actions
alright, last post
we can beat this bush to death (no pun intended) but its not worth it. obviously, with the bush story, there’s going to be “a lot of evidence” since bush is a huge story. with edwards, an regular college OL, there’s going to be about 2 people covering it so there’s not going to be “a lot of evidence”, so i go with what’s there. it’s all relative. and just because there seems to be a lot of evidence doesnt mean its true (ie duke lacrosse fiasco). nevertheless, im going to state my opinion on a message board and jump to conclusions without getting the full story because well, i can. im not a writer, just a regular blogger.
i definitely see where youre coming from though. and i respect your opinion. we can agree to disagree.
Does It Actually
say he failed to make grades/ qualify academically? Dohn says he failed to provide the grades to UCLA, which would make sense if he had decided to go to Cal. This certainly doesn’t make him cowardly or lazy.
Love My Bruins
you tell em!
like Bruingirl said, after reading some articles, i’ve come to the conclusion that he was eligible, but he simply liked cal better. Some of the commentators just ran with Nestor’s provided quote and tried to make Edwards look stupid. Don’t forget where the Bruins roots lie. Go Bears!
this is interesting
Found this facebook message
"Donovan Edwards wrote on Thomas DeCoud’s Wall.
Pinole Valley To Cal, I’m following in your footsteps bruh…."
me thinks he’s wanted to go to cal. my guess is that a scholarship opened up and he jumped at the chance.
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