Rich Rodriguez has removed Boubacar Cissoko from the Michigan Football Team. He recently had been suspended but got back on the field against Penn State last Saturday. Michigan was playing him at corner and moving Troy Woolfolk back to Safety in certain formations.
As you might expect, this is a difficult loss for a secondary that is already very thin. At this point, I'm sure there are conversations about blowing Justin's Turners redshirt this year. Look for JT Floyd to get most of Boubacar's snaps but even he has been out for a couple weeks with the flu.
Boubacar was the starting right cornerback against Western Michigan but had trouble matching up with taller wide receivers and was often beat deep. He was a 5 star cornerback out of Cass Tech Detroit just two years ago.
So why did he get thrown off the team? Boubacar's High School Coach weighs in:
Cissoko's high school coach, Thomas Wilcher of Detroit Cass Tech, said Cissoko was dismissed from the team for missing class, missing workouts and missing study table.
"That's what he was suspended for in the first place," Wilcher told The Detroit News. "He's upset. He's going to transfer as long as he can meet the requirements."
Wilcher said Cissoko had a difficult time handling the "social structure" at Michigan.
"He couldn't handle it," Wilcher said. "He's always been a quiet kid. (But) he needs to do what needs to be done as a student-athlete. Nobody is bigger than the program."
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Wolverine Wednesday: Bye Bye Boubacar
Don't forget he also got into trouble this summer in Detroit when he was ridding in a car with a bunch of his friends and got pulled over.
Seems like Boubacar was a square peg in a round hole. It has to be difficult on kids that come from a urban setting like Detroit and find themselves in Ann Arbor. It must a big change on the academic and social side of life. I hope he finds a program that is a good fit for him as a person.
BTW: This doesn't look good for current 2010 recruit Dior Mathis to come to Michigan now. Dior is similar in size and ability to Boubacar. My guess is Boubacar's experience will sour him on the Wolverines. For what it's worth, I think Michigan needs taller corners anyway.
To flip this around, this could be just the news a top 2010 CB recurit like Cullen Christian needs to become a Wolveine.
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4 comments:
There have been several players who have made the transition from Detroit High Schools to Ann Arbor. There is nothing to extrapolate here in that regard. Detroit has a critical mass of athletes that many schools clamour for, especially in basketball. Some are cut out for higher education, some are not. Cissoko may well find personal success at another school, or he may simply have peaked at the HS level.
I wasn't trying to make a blanket statement, it just sounded like he personally had trouble with the transition.
I also agree with you many players from large cities including Detroit have been successful at U of M.
Of course it is a difficult transition for kids from an urban setting. Nobody ever gets anywhere if they don't go outside their comfort zone.
I would hope that they make that transition and learn the skills and mindset neccessary to transcend their places of origin and "make it out of the hood." Isn't that supposed to be one of the reasons "student-athletes" play?
Booboo will get another chance at a smaller school; I hope he takes full advantage of it this time. It is encouraging that Wilcher isn't making excuses for him like a lot of HS coaches do when their kids wash out of the NCAA.
It sounds like Wilcher is a stand-up guy and still wants to help motivate Booboo, no matter where he goes to school.
I agree with your comments. I also just had a thought, that he might just end up at Eastern Michigan and play Ron English which would be a pretty smart move.
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