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Loading ...Gibson, Shaffer leave UH
By Dave Reardon
Posted On: May 9th, 2008 12:40PM
Freshman safety Le’Marcus Gibson, a player for whom many had high hopes, is home in Mississippi and will not return to UH.
“Right now I’m thinking about going to a JC,” Gibson said in a phone interview with the Star-Bulletin today. “Nothing against Hawaii. I just think it’s a more comfortable situation here for me.”
Gibson played on special teams in the season-opening game against Northern Colorado last year and injured his knee, requiring surgery. He was still rehabilitating it during spring practice, but did participate in some individual drills.
He was expected to compete for playing time in fall camp.
Also, speedy wide receiver Eric Shaffer is leaving UH without having played a down.
Shaffer put up big football numbers in high school in Fayetteville, Ark., and was a state sprint champ with a 10.57 in the 100 meters.
He redshirted last year, and got quite a few reps at slotback in spring practice last month. Shaffer came to UH on the advice of his half-brother, Bobby Joe Edmunds. Edmunds was a star at Arkansas and played for June Jones when Jones coached the Detroit Lions.
UH sources said Shaffer is returning home to Arkansas due to reasons unrelated to football. He is not expected to return.
Gibson and Shaffer are among several scholarship players leaving the program following the end of spring practice. Others are linebacker Erik Pedersen and running back Korey Reynolds.
The good news is this frees up scholarships for other deserving players, including projected starters. The bad news is it counts against UH’s APR rating in future years.
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I’m having a technical problem posting comments, so I’ll respond to the question below from Wes here: You can look at it in a couple of different ways — a serious problem because of the APR considerations, or growing pains as some players deemed worthy of scholarships a year or two ago might have a hard time getting onto the field. But if you do the math, you know this is a problem regardless … max 85 scholarship players, 22 starters (not counting specialists). The trick is to recruit student-athletes who are going to stay even if they realize later they’re not going to play a lot and they think they can somewhere else. And the coaches don’t want to mislead anyone. Man, that is a tough job.
any idea why these guys are transfering?
Given the age of these young men, it is not unusual to have a change of mind or heart. It does penalize the program but it opens up a window for someone else. If you remember Jason Elam, left the program and then returned to have a fabulous college and long, productive pro career which is not over by far. Let’s wish them well but the Warrious will go on! Florida is waiting!
Hey Dave, based on your experience is this pretty much normal attrition after spring ball or possibly higher due to the coaching change? If it is more the latter and hurts our APR down the road, than more substantiation for collecting on our liquidated damages claim. Thanks for the timely status reports as always.
Wes is right. When we bring in 18-19 year olds from the mainland, we have to accept and except some of them will get homesick and leave the program in a year or two. It’s a fact of life for young people. We wish those boys well. On the other hand, UH gets quite a few local boys who get homesick on the mainland and want to come back to Hawaii for the chance to play in front of their family and friends. In the end, it is usually even-steven. So, let’s not get all worked up over a few mainland boys wanting to be near their mamas.
they left because the program sucks.
they left because the best ususally dont play here its the most inspirational that start here. if mac is as good a coach as i think then the departure of these two players shouldn’t really affect the squad. the only way we’ll really know if their leaving was by bad coaching or lack there of is if they resurface somewhere else stomping on opponents. the numbers of the other guys 100 are crazy fast man i hope these new coaches know what theyre doing
But coaches do miss lead these guys sometimes and they don’t do a good job of making them feel wanted or worthy or hopeful. And they are deserving-that’s why Hawaii recruited them in the first place! It’s hard being so far from home. It’s a big sacrifice to not get much in return.
True non-scholarship walk-on Daniel Libre of Kona deserves a scholarship in his last year at UH.
Bain also should be in line for a scholarship.