The disturbing part of this is that this is a trend that we hear far too often. The three recent ones that come to mind - and two were done by Ole Miss (before I get hate comments by any MSU fan reading this) - was when Ed Orgeron pulled a scholarship away from Matt Malouf - former OHS QB who graduated in 2006 and was a lethal part of the 2005's 13-1 team that made it to North Half. Now unlike the other two situations I'm about to present, Malouf was not committed yet when it was pulled and wound up going to Memphis before transferring to Samford in Alabama - that one was one Coach O got away with because the player was not committed, but still wrong. The next one was when Alabama's Nick Saban pulled a scholarship from a Georgia player who had been committed for a year only to see that scholarship get stripped and to defer enrollment until the following year. As recently as last year, Hugh Freeze also did so on a player last year. I WANT THIS STRAIGHT: All three are VERY wrong to do, because it hurts the student-athlete more than anything after thinking they earned a scholarship only to have it get taken away - especially AFTER committing to a school.
Now we see Liggins get his scholarship from MSU get taken away AFTER he had been committed for almost 6 months (would be 6 months to the day today) and now just less than two months away from signing day. This prompted a lividly angry Coach Johnny Hill to throw this comment into the Clarion-Ledger's story on the cause:
“I don’t know what it does for other schools, but as long as that staff is intact, they aren’t welcome at Oxford. If they are going to lie to one kid, what’s to say they won’t lie to another? I think that’s pretty crappy that coaches come by and I tell them he’s committed and they don’t recruit him. And then Mississippi State drops the ball on him.”
There are risks involved when a team such as Mississippi State and Ole Miss does this - and with that quote, that bridge is burned. Coach Hill has been around Oxford longer than I have, and what he says goes - he means they aren't welcome here unless/until a new staff shows up at Mississippi State - and Hill has a good memory of these things. That's what being around Oxford Sports for 10 years has done for me is know what works and what doesn't for every coaching staff. That is a for sure "what doesn't" with the football staff.
This is a hefty mistake by Dan Mullen and the staff that was recruiting Liggins, the talent that got Oxford to the 5A Championship vastly contains Juniors and Sophomores, and the upcoming Freshmen class will be big - it wasn't just Seniors. There is Jack Abraham, Kenzie Phillips, DK Metcalf is already committed, KT McCollins, Mike McGhee, Harland Stewart, Thomas Allen, Colton Skidmore that will all get D1 looks and scholarships - and those are ones that PLAYED last year, that doesn't include those that have been waiting for their playing time. Abraham is already being looked at by 6 other colleges besides MSU, McGhee is being looked by MSU - those are two that Hill will make as hard as hell to be recruited by MSU after that stunt they pulled.
This is a lesson other college head coaches need to take note of this, especially the surrounding ones: If you get a player to commit, then pull the rug out from under him - you can bet that high school coach will delete that head coaches' cell number.
Especially if you do it in the manner I've been reading from those two articles that Mississippi State did.