The Potential Affect of Arrests on Recruiting

  By now everyone has realized that the Georgia Football team has some discipline issues. I believe the most recent count was at 11 arrests for the team this year. The short term affect on the team is apparent; arrests link to suspensions, which often equal loss of talent on the field. What may not be so apparent is the potential affect the slew of arrests could on recruiting. My theory isn't backup by science or studies (although there are probably some out there) but I think it is pretty logical and realistic.
  It is public knowledge that pressure is on from President Adams (who, for the record, is not held in high regard by this blog) for CMR to clean up the program. I speculate that this pressure will not subside after the season ends. While CMR already has next year's recruiting class established in terms of who is high on the list, there is potential for the long term affect of this year's arrests could start surfacing a year from now when the 2012 recruiting class is being assembled. Why? CMR and the recruiting staff will be pressured to evaluate potential recruits' character more heavily than years past. This is where there is likely some study comes into play: more talented players tend to have less character/more behavioral issues. This means that overall talent will be decreased, but overall good behavior will increase (good behavior doesn't really win games, but neither does being suspended). Follow?
  Additionally, and this could come into play as soon as this recruiting period, parents and guardians of potential recruits will require extra assurance that their children will be in good hands. I am sure that over the years CMR has snagged some prized recruits because the recruit's parents felt CMR was a good, church-goin' man who would watch out for the kid and keep him out of trouble. The recent rash of arrests, and increase of arrests over the past several years will likely diminish this "comfort level" parents have with Richt. So not only is there potential to lose talented but troubled recruits as a result of administrative pressure, there is also potential to lose out on talented and high-character recruits due to a lack of faith in CMR's ability to watch out for the players.
  President Adams isn't above getting his slimy scales into Athletic Association affairs, our new AD and CMR are already feeling-and will continue to feel-pressure to right the ship, and parents will steer their kids to schools and programs they feel are safe and stable. This theory may have some stretches, but let it simmer for a while and think about it. Y'all let me hear what your thoughts are about this in the comment section.