In an unprecedented move today, the NCAA has announced an unconventional penalty that they will levy against Texas A&M football in their recruiting. Citing “systematically underwhelming results,” the governing body for collegiate athletics has declared that any high school football player that commits to the Aggies will be automatically docked one star on their official recruiting ranking.
“In a constantly-shifting landscape, such as that which we have right now in collegiate athletics, organizations such as the NCAA need to be agile and adaptable in their enforcement,” said president Charlie Baker in an official presser earlier this morning. “Given recent outcomes with this member institution, we feel this is only fair.”
When asked whether this decision came as the result of any bylaw violations on the part of the Aggie football program, Baker demurred from answering directly, instead responding with a question of his own: “I mean, you saw what happened with that whole 2022 situation, right? They had, like, a bajillion [sic] five-stars and what happened there?”
Reporters pressed the issue, at which point Baker admitted that the Aggies had not committed any violations “by the letter of the law,” but followed up by saying the “whole Conner Weigman situation was straight-up crazy,” citing his decline in play from 2023 to 2024. It is unclear as of yet what relevance Weigman’s career has to any presence or lack of violations.
When asked what jurisdiction the NCAA has over third-party recruiting services, Baker looked at first confused, furrowing his brow in silence for over a minute before replying, ” I mean, probably some, right?” He then reportedly turned to his entourage and asked, “That’s how this works, right? Am I making that up?”
At one point during the question and answer time, Baker was furnished with a copy of one of several mock drafts that included former five-star Shemar Stewart, a member of the 2022 class, as a high first-rounder. After surveying it for what felt like far too long, he responded with, “I mean, okay, but have you seen the Yell Leaders? That’s… I mean that’s just not right. Not normal.”
[H]ave you seen the Yell Leaders?”
NCAA President Charlie Baker
Confusion remains among Aggie fans and the college football public at large regarding this decision. This will do little to squelch the growing sentiment among Aggie fans that the NCAA plays favorites, and the Ags are not among them.
An NCAA spokesperson replied to this concern by saying that there was “not so much a formal conspiracy against [A&M] as a systematic effort by most institutions associated with the sport to hamper them at every turn.” The spokesperson added that “for it to be a conspiracy per se, I think there has to be an official manifesto.”
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