HS Student-Athlete Expelled Over Inappropriate Tweets

News came out earlier this week that the University of Michigan had stopped recruiting 4 Star DB prospect Yuri Wright, reportedly over a number of inappropriate tweets (caution: his tweets are quite vulgar).  Word spread quickly across social media. If true, this is a significant thing. First off, it’s University of Michigan football. It’s one of the most prestigious football programs in the country. With all due respect, this is not some small D3 program.

Of note is that Wright’s Twitter account was set to Private. He then accepted a large number of media as “followers” on his account. That defeats the purpose of making your account Private.

Regardless of settings, nothing on the internet is private. Nothing. We saw that with Elon’s Jamal Shuman.

Part of me wants to applaud Michigan (and other schools that reportedly dropped their recruitment of Wright for the same reason), for choosing character over athleticism. Coaches have a lot of things to consider when recruiting a kid, not to mention the stress put on them if a recruit doesn’t work out or is a disruption to the program.  As JC Shurburtt, national recruiting director for 247sports.com said,

Coaches monitor Facebook and Twitter. That’s all part of the evaluation process. You have 85 scholarships a year, 25 that you can keep in your program. You can’t make too many mistakes or you won’t have a job.

I certainly get that. Coaches have to do what is best for their program, and their job.

The other part of me is disappointed in these schools. They have a great opportunity to tell a young man that this mistake doesn’t define him. They have a chance to educate him, mold him, help him overcome adversity.

I don’t lean heavily to either side and it’s not my position to judge any school’s decision on the recruitment of a player.

Then news broke last night that, due to these same tweets, Yuri Wright had been expelled from his high school. So not only might this tremendously talented young man not get to play football at an elite level, he has now been kicked out of his high school.

It’s interesting timing that this happened less than 24 hours after the US Supreme Court decided not to get involved in determining on what grounds a school can punish a student for off-campus online behavior.

Several folks have criticized the initial report for publishing Wright’s tweets, given that his account was Private. There is a lot of blame to go around, least of which falls with those who published his tweets. If you don’t want something public, don’t tweet it.

You have to be accountable for what you say.

Your privacy settings don’t eliminate the fact that, online, you represent yourself, your team, your school and your family.

You have to feel awful for Yuri Wright. This young man is facing an intense amount of scrutiny and stress. This situation will not define him, but it will follow him for a number of years.

Education has to happen. Not just warnings, not just a list of what not to do. Those things are important, sure, but that’s not how you make an impact. Kids will be kids, and they’ll make mistakes. But posts like these, I 100% believe can be prevented with proper education.

You don’t learn to shoot a basketball by being told what not to do. You learn to shoot a basketball by being told and shown the proper way. You learn the basics. Knees bent, elbow in, release at the apex, follow through. You watch examples of shooters with both good and bad form. Learn the benefits. Adjust your form accordingly. Every now and then you might revert to a bit of your old form, realize the mistake, remember what you were taught and get back on track.

Social Media is no different.