Rivals.com editor takes on the Zooker

If you follow recruiting, you'll love this story ...

In a recent article, Illinois coach Ron Zook (yeah, that guy) complained about a new rule that banned Division I-A head football coaches from recruiting during the current open period. But then he took things a step further by saying that recruiting websites work with the schools they cover to sway recruits. "Well, you know what a lot of them are saying," Zook told the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill.). "They're selling their school to these kids, and we're not able to talk to them. To me, we're losing this thing, in my opinion."

Rivals.com editor-in-chief Bobby Burton was quick to respond. And in doing so, he fired back at Zook -- and college coaches in general. He wrote: "Is the media or an Internet site such as Rivals.com perfect? No, we're not. But our eight-year record of following rules and acting judiciously is far better than that of several NCAA member institutions and the NCAA coaching fraternity as a whole." (You can read Burton's entire response to the Zooker HERE)

So tell me, who's right in this debate -- Zook or Burton?

-- KEITH NIEBUHR

Comments

I know kids like him, but RZ is a moron

Zook dirty? no way

I just wish that these sites wouldn't hype players the way that they do...and that print media wouldn't take their word as gospel. The people that run these sites do not have the experience to be making opinions on players....they are all wanna be coaches or sports writers, and couldn't get jobs doing either. It does the players a disservice to hype up some, and completely ignore others...and then never ever talk about the crappy grades that some of these players have. It is putting emphasis on the wrong things...it should be scholar athletes, not athlete scholars.

[joe hillman]

>>>It does the players a disservice to hype up some, and completely ignore others.<<<

you know, you are right. google's bound to match yahoo's price for rivals.com if someone started a internet news network that focuses solely on third string punters.

i mean, there's a huge market for that. yahoo bought rivals for $100 million. a website offering features on scrubs who can't make a division-III team has to be worth, oh, $350 million.

That Zook is probably friends with Jerry Austin