Source confirms Riek committment…

A personal source intimate with the program has confirmed Riek has committed to State, and will sign this week. I realize this is practically old news at this point, but I wanted to confirm to all of the readers that this is a done deal.

More MSU news about Riek and Varnado…

Sorry to the other fanbases of the SEC, but Mississippi State seems to be stealing all of the limelight recently…

Local newspaper, NortheastMississippi picked up on the Riek report, and has a report from Varnado’s father concerning his likeliness of returning to State.

Apparently, Riek’s decision has no bearing on Varnado’s decision and he fully expects to return to MSU unless his draft status drastically increases.

Mississippi State will be outstandingly experienced and talented if Riek/Sidney both get on campus and eligible and Varnado returns.

Update on Riek to Mississippi State…

It seems increasingly likely Riek will sign with Mississippi State, and will do so soon.

Cincinnati people are claiming that Riek signed a Letter of Intent, but Cincinnati did not file it with the NCAA due to eligibility concerns. When word was received that Riek was looking at an uphill battle to get eligible, on top of his health concerns, the program decided to release Riek and his situation to another program.

This could mean any number of things. Riek could have simply expressed that he did not want to play for Cincinnati, and UC let him go to avoid drama and bad PR, and created a story to cover themslves. Perhaps UC refused to admit Riek, and thus the program was forced to let him go. Perhaps the article is telling the truth.

What we do know is that if and when Riek is healthy and eligible to play at Mississippi State, he will be joining a very, very potent squad.

Word has it that Riek has filed paperwork with MSU, and that the school will officially announce his signing sometime this week when all of the paperwork is cleared up.

Some additional John Riek rumor de-bunking…

First of all, many Cincinnati fans appear to be in a frenzy, and some seem to be creating rumors at a wild pitch. Some have claimed, on Cincinnati’s Rivals page – Bearcat Lair – that Mississippi State’s thread on their own rival page regarding Riek is locked, claiming it is only an unfounded rumor. THIS – in fact – is an unfounded rumor. I am a member of the site – there have only been a few posts regarding Riek, and Mississippi State’s representative, Logan Lowery, has not been heard from on the topic yet. The thread is not locked, and noone is claiming it is an untrue rumor on the board.

Additionally, many Cincinnati fans appear to be confused regarding press conferences and releases. Coaches are, in fact, allowed to release comments regarding SIGNED recruits. I have worked in media relations for a very long time now, and every single school I’ve ever been in contact with has always – ALWAYS – issued a press release immediately following a recruit’s signing. Some Cincinnati fans seem to believe programs are only allowed one press release per recruiting period, and this is simply not the case. If Riek had in fact signed with Cincinnati, the Bearcats could have, at any point, issued a press release.

This is not suggesting Riek will or will not be attending Mississippi State, as it seems everyone involved is playing a massive waiting game. Just keep in mind the Fox report stated Riek had COMMITTED to MSU, not SIGNED. Thus, the Bulldogs would not have a release on their site until Riek actually signed with the school. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, and let’s all try and calm down.

John Riek controversy…

Apparently, there is a great deal of confusion surrounding John Riek’s supposed commitment to MSU. Rivals reports that Riek signed a Letter of Intention, which is binding, on April 15 of this year. However, Scout reports that Riek has not signed with anyone, and the school never published any release regarding Riek.

The most likely scenario here is that a source close to Riek believed he had the intention of signing with Cincinnati, and thus leaked it to Rivals, who went with the story. I suspect there was simply no signature or papers, or Rick Stansbury wouldn’t have been recruiting Riek knowing the potential punishments and bad PR. In addition, every school publishes a release after a commitment signs – and no doubt when one as highly regarded as Riek does – and thus all signs seem to point to a fair and clean MSU commitment.

No official word has come from either department outside of Fox Sports, although many sources confirm Riek was on campus at MSU this weekend.

I’ll keep everyone updated as this situation unfolds.