Breathe easy, 'Canes. Always, we must remind ourselves, these are kids. Don't get floored if a guard picks Georgia Southern instead of Michigan State because his girlfriend is enrolled at Statesboro. Don't discount a blistering Tampa Bay area prospect opting to stay home and play at USF, turning down Nebraska and Notre Dame, so his grandmother can see him play in person. It's selling, pure but not so simple.
Tactics are creative but inconsistent.
Too many coaches mislead, even lie. Some work hard at degrading the competition. Young minds are soft putty. Their concrete statements can be followed by 180-degree turns. Fred Gibson, a football-basketball sensation from the little south Georgia town of Waycross, was pursued by dozens of schools.