Good Luck To Toma (And Te'o)

by Nestor on Feb 6, 2009 4:38 AM PST Comment 18 comments

Toma made it official and the story is on Notre Dame's Scout.com site:

Toma said it was very tough for him to not sign with UCLA, a school he’s been committed to since October.

“You never want to break your word, and I didn’t want to upset coach (Norm) Chow or anybody. I just hope they can respect me, because I know I’ll be happy at Notre Dame. I’m not saying I wouldn’t of been happy at UCLA, but Notre Dame seemed like the perfect place for me to go and do well.”

On signing day, Toma and Te’o actually talked about how they reached the point where they will be going their separate ways. A little over 24 hours later, they were finally able to share in the joy that they will be staying together.

Well everyone here should take the classy route and wish the kid luck (instead of comparing him to a Trojan). It's clear he wanted to go to school with his best friend and I at least can't fault him for that. What wedon't want to see here on BN is classless sour grapes types of posts we see on message boards.

Toma might not have size of a blue chip athlete but Chow offered him a scholie because he thought the kid was special. First, I trust Chow's judgment. Second, Toma validated Chow by burning up the Hawaii prep scene all year. So he deserved the UCLA scholie. So please, no one (specially people who don't come around here often) should come here to knock this kid down. Take that nonsense somewhere else.

We wish Te'o and Toma (and Billy Sanders) best of luck through rest of this careers. Here is to UCLA and ND takinig on each other in a BCS game in next four years.

GO BRUINS.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Absolutely

Best of luck to those who chose to go elsewhere.

I am too excited about the players we signed to worry about players we didn’t.

by EdtheBruin on Feb 6, 2009 6:00 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

It is more of a testament to Chow's ability to spot talent than anything else.

I recall how many posters blew up because of Toma’s small frame and 160 lbs listing. This was the recruit that “no-one” wanted – guess Chow saw something that the coaches at ND came to realize only after a great senior season and his skills competition victory. The fact that Chow picked up on this guy so early bodes well for the rest of the recruits he has pulled in.
The absolute best of luck to Toma and Te’o. They seem like to great kids, and I understand why they would want to be close – my best friend went to SC and it certainly had an impact my decision to go to UCLA, although since academics was a priority and I didn’t exactly worship at the alter of the dark-side I couldn’t join him…

B.F.

by eubruin on Feb 6, 2009 6:35 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Sad

to see him go…………but having to ND many times, he is going to a great university and no one can debate it is a great education. I think he’ll do great there, if the coaching staff gives him a chance. The kid seems like he can play. I liked what I saw on tape. I just don’t know if he’ll get the chance to show what he can do in that system. To me, he is the type of player who needs to be in a wide-open system (like a Hawaii or Texas Tech), where they can utilize his strengths in the slot. The interesting part will be:

a) How does he handle the weather. May sound like a silly question, but those winters are brutal, especially for a Hawaii kid. I have known a few players who couldn’t really handle it.

b) How does he handle it when/if Te’o goes on his mission, and he is in the midwest by himself, in the cold, after football season. That will be the test.

For the Bruins, it is really no big deal. I love our young recievers from the past two classes and we got guys that can really catch the ball now. For Toma, I wish he was coming cause I became a fan after Chow offered………best of luck.

by muircoach on Feb 6, 2009 7:12 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Agree -- We are deep at receiver

and have some rb’s who can catch the ball.

I think Toma’s skill set was very similar to Embree’s and, interestingly, both were initially overlooked and underrated.

The best to Toma. Choosing a college is one of the most important decisions a kid can make and we have to respect any decision to study elsewhere.

sjh

by Class of 66 on Feb 6, 2009 7:21 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Good luck

to Toma, Te’o and Sanders. They all seemed to be quality kids from what I’ve read. We have plenty of WR’s on the roster and the 2010 class (Richardson is already a verbal) is loaded so this wasn’t a position of need. Nonetheless, would have loved to welcome him.

by BlueReign on Feb 6, 2009 8:18 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I'm just wondering

if we are even talking about this kid if he wasn’t Te’o’s BFF. I’m not saying the kid can’t play, but I thought recruiting him was a bit of a reach and was, perhaps, some sort of package deal with Te’o (not like a Lil’ Romeo and Derozan type a thing, but you get the idea).

Again, I’m not knocking the kid or taking anything away from our coaches’ judgement in talent. But lets just say I’m very satisfied with who we’ve got.

by godblesstyus95 on Feb 6, 2009 9:07 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

I do not think that he

was recruited to be a packaged deal with Te’o. I think that the staff wanted him because of what they saw on game tapes. From the way it all played out with him joining Te’o at ND there is plenty of evidence to suggest we went after him for him, not as a tag-along with Manti. I wouldn’t consider him a reach – he performed well his senior season and proved he could be a contender by winning the skills competition. Too bad we lost out on him, although it’s nice to see that lifelong friendships still matter.

B.F.

by eubruin on Feb 6, 2009 9:20 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

that the kid probably deserved a scholie, but from what I understand, he wasn’t on anyone’s radar until our coaches went out to Punahao to recruit Te’o, and I know it certainly didn’t hurt him being best friends with the top LB prospect in the country. Whether we would’ve found him and offerred him if Te’o weren’t in the picture, we’ll never know.

by godblesstyus95 on Feb 6, 2009 9:37 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

He appears to be worthy of the offer and I too am sad to lose him

No doublt the later signings at WR probably made him think twice about where he would be on the depth chart. Good luck Mr. Toma. Beat SC.

by popopapa on Feb 6, 2009 9:55 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Dropped to #6 at Scout.com

with the lost of Toma but still ahead of SUC at #8.

by Gen2Bruin1987 on Feb 6, 2009 10:45 AM PST reply actions 0 recs

Pending Lester White's rumored commitment

If he does receive an offer, and earns a qualifying score, his commitment would put us back at #4 in the Scout.com ranking.

by bruinhoo on Feb 6, 2009 4:28 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Good luck, Toma.

I certainly wish Toma the best.

On the issue of bashing him, as you suggest, I fail to see your point. There were similarities, be it in reverse; but if comparing one recruit’s path to that of a TrOJie is an insult, then I disagree. The comparison had more to do with the manner of his recruitment, not their physical similarities. I made a ‘fanpost’ not to bash him, but you see it otherwise and concluded with immediacy that it merits deletion – your call.

I realize that BN wants to keep its classy decorum intact, and I for one respect and admire everyone for keeping their cool even in the midst of some frustrating events. Nonetheless, if someone were to opine, albeit off center, it does not deserve to be banished without its due review.

I’ve said my piece.

by UCLAngels on Feb 6, 2009 11:48 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

Review the rules of BN

before you lecture us how to moderate this community. Thanks.

by Nestor on Feb 7, 2009 8:57 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs

I read the rules...

and still don’t understand where I stepped out of bounds. I am not lecturing anybody here, but merely pointing out the inconsistency of this deletion rule. I didn’t save a copy of my original post and wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the insulting remarks, per your call. I really am caught by surprise by this. Who did I insult in my post? I really don’t know. I am confused and really flabbergasted.

by UCLAngels on Feb 7, 2009 5:35 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs

Hey, at that age, picking a college is not easy...

… even if one of the choices is our beloved alma mater. He’s going to a school that’s steeped in a truly unique football tradition, with a coach renowned for NFL success (if not yet at the collegiate level), and one of his best friends is going there.

To paraphrase Puzo, “so long as his interests don’t conflict with ours…” He may not be coming to US, but at least he’s not going to the ever-hated-THEM.

Good luck to the kid. Hope it’s the right fit for him.

"In this program your passion bucket must be full to play SC." -- CRN, to Dan Patrick, 1/2008

by Meriones on Feb 6, 2009 1:44 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

What is this, kindergarten?!!!

I think that we can be mature enough to both be respectful but tell the truth on this forum. I for one am outraged that he made the switch. Will our program go down in flames because he chose to go elsewhere, of course not. However, it is a bit ungrateful to shun the team that put you in the national spotlight for a chance to play with your best friend. Of course choosing college is a difficult decision, one that we all had to make at that age, but you have to choose what is best for you. More power to him if he truly believes that this is best for him; I wish him all of the luck in the world. For his sake, I just hope that he doesn’t pull a Justin Fargas, not choosing a school that might best suit his game, but rather some other reason. In Toma’s case, its friendship. For Fargas, Michigan was coming off of a National Championship, and being the best back in the land, he packed up his game and headed for Ann Arbor, even though everyone else knew that he was a Pac-10 style running back. We all know how that story ended. Bottom line, I don’t think that it was a wise decision, but good luck.

by westwood78 on Feb 6, 2009 2:21 PM PST reply actions 0 recs

Maybe not a good decision

but as has been said, we can’t give the kid any grief for changing his mind. Though they were different situations, we had other kids change their minds to come play at UCLA.

My concern, personally, is that once they get to college, they won’t be able to stay “best friends”. Things happen. The offense spends more time with the offense, the defense spends more time with the defense…I truly wish him the best. Things sure worked out for UCLA, and I hope they work out for Toma.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Feb 6, 2009 3:21 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs