Wednesday, November 17, 2004
mamma's boy
Show Me a man. Or not.In a development strange even by recruiting's anything-goes standards, Leo Criswell signed with Missouri when he really wanted to play for Kentucky. "He decided to go to Missouri," said Walter Webb, Criswell's coach at Coastal Christian Academy in Virginia Beach, Va. "That's not a decision he wanted to make."
Criswell wanted to play for Kentucky, Webb said. But the player's mother, who lives in the Kansas City, Mo., area, insisted her son sign with Missouri. "He's emotionally distraught," Webb said. ... But he's young. He'll bounce back."
Criswell emerged last week as the object of Kentucky's recruiting desire to find a forward to replace Chuck Hayes in 2005-06. Earlier this recruiting season, UK pursued Tyler Hansbrough, Tasmin Mitchell, Korvotney Barber, Curtis Brown and Uche Echefu.
Recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons said he that in their conversation Criswell apologized for signing with Missouri. "You don't have to apologize," Gibbons said. "You didn't disappoint me."
"I'm disappointing myself," Criswell answered. "I wanted to go to Kentucky, but my mom wouldn't let me. I can't go against my mom."
