BEVERLY HILLS (MI) — For the last two months, whenever you boot up the recruiting page of MichiganPreps.com what you will see is a picture of a pensive Percy Gibson under the headline “Flying Elsewhere.”

Click here to determine if they have bothered to update it yet:

http://michiganpreps.rivals.com/default.asp?type=4

To make matters worse, it’s a reprint of Matt Schwade’s piece from FlyerHoops.net, since MP.com is a sister Rivals.com website.

That’s a glimpse of what the next four years are going to be like, kids. Any time Iowa State or Providence appears on TV or is shown on “Sports Center” highlights and you see Percy or fellow former UD recruit LaDontae “Buckets” Henton, Flyer fans will contract a mild case of the “woulda, coulda, shouldas.”

“From the Swamp” first gave PG some ink with this piece after he committed entitled “What do we know about Percy Gibson?”

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15033

“Gotta love Ladontae” was not totally devoted to the Lansing Eastern product:

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15131

However “What do we really know about LaDontae Henton?” was:

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15272

Had to drive all of a mile down the road to Detroit Country Day HS to see Percy play in-person for the first time over Christmas:

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16404

Whereas Lansing is about an 80 mile cruise on I-96 from my office:

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17328

The U of D-Mercy campus is a heckuva lot closer, which is where Percy’s Detroit Southeastern squad battled Devin Searcy’s alma mater for the right to play in Breslin for all of the marbles:

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17728

“No answers only questions” caught up with PG and LH at the All-Michigan Classic Game in Ferndale after both players had de-committed from UD and before they had chosen their new schools:

https://www.udpride.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18118

It was pretty much a foregone conclusion that once BG left, Gibson and Henton would probably soon follow him out the door. Archie and Kevin Kuwik gave it their best shot (donuts anyone?) but when a recruit asks for his release from an LOI, he usually does so for a reason. In most cases, it’s because the kid has committed to the coach, rather than the program. In this instance, both players were recruited by BG and Cornell Mann, two guys with deep roots in the state of Michigan at both the high school and AAU level. Throw in former Michigan assistant Billy Schmidt and that makes it three.

That is why the days of “From the Swamp” being able to jump in the car and go see a UD recruit play are most likely over. We all have full confidence that Archie and company will do a superior job in attracting top-caliber players to the University of Dayton. They just won’t be from the State of Michigan or, at a minimum, not with the frequency of his predecessor.

And that’s fine with me.

That’s it “From the Swamp.”
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