Myron is one of the sharpest people I’ve ever covered. He’s got the maturity of a 30-year-old. He and his family had weighed in on these things long before some recruiting analysts downgraded him. His stock curiously seemed to dip afterward. (Make your own conclusion on that one.)

As for the media hound part, I think Tom Lemming is off target. If Rolle really was such a media hound, he would’ve kept the recruiting buzz alive and not committed before his senior season. Rolle knows better than any prospect how that game works, and he didn’t want any part of it.

When I called Lemming, a former contributor to ESPN.com, before the ESPN The Magazine story to get his response about supposedly slamming schools to recruits, he didn’t seem to be ducking for cover. He said he just tries to be straight with them. I recall him bringing up a fullback-linebacker bound for FSU, and after hearing the kid saying they were bringing him in to play linebacker, Lemming said he asked, “You sure they’re going to let you play that when you get there? They say that sometimes, and then when you get there make you play fullback.” He added that he has no qualms about asking the tough questions.

It’s tricky, though, even if his intentions are indeed on the level. I realized before I went into this story that you have to be so careful because any opinion you give, or even the questions you ask, could be taken as leading. I didn’t even feel like I could joke with Myron until he actually enrolled at FSU. Hopefully, his speaking out will help clean up some of this business. Truth be told, as detailed in our story, it’s really a mess and only seems to be getting much worse with more and more outside people flocking to it and hounding kids.

Seems like everyone says Rolle is a great kid. Lemming isn’t going to be able to escape this and publicly attacking a high school kid isn’t going to help.

The fact that Rolle’s name has not been associated with any of the aforementioned monikers shows that perhaps the Irish are learning a little bit of restraint and class. Although if you’ve read any of the updates on “Kelly Green” recently, your opinion would likely differ from mine.

Even if what Myron Rolle said were true, would that make Tom Lemming a Notre Dame shill, or simply a Tom Lemming shill?

Lemming wasn’t encouraging him to sign with ND, or even really consider them. He simply told Rolle to keep them on his list–which would be to ND’s detriment if he had no real interest. It would, of course, be a boon to The Neck’s pocketbook if the nation’s #1 recruit were to remain uncommitted up to Signing Day with Charlie’s resurgent Irish still in the mix or provide higher ratings for that God forsaken Army Bowl.

Do you make Tom Lemming money? Then Tom Lemming likes you. Did you notice how Lemming routinely ripped Willingham and his staff while they were at ND? Do you know why? They hurt Lemming’s business because they were bad recruiters, and they didn’t throw Lemming any bones.

Weis comes to ND, and all of a sudden Lemming is lauding ND again as he did under Holtz. Why? Money.

MR