Feb. 03--Ten days after Michigan surprisingly rescinded his scholarship offer, Erik Swenson realized that he was lost again.
About 800 miles away from his home, the Downers Grove South left tackle had temporarily lost his way in Oklahoma football coach Bob Stoops' palatial house during an official visit.
"He was showing us some things and I took the wrong turn and got lost," Swenson said. "His house is so huge. It's a castle. I was only in four rooms, but still managed to get lost."
Soon after finding his way in Stoops' house, the 6-foot-7, 310-pound Swenson capped a turbulent period by committing to Oklahoma on Saturday night, four days before Wednesday's National Signing Day.
"It's been a crazy ride, but I'm glad things finally worked out," Swenson said. "Even though it's so late in the process, Oklahoma treated my family like their family. I had a great time, and I loved their coaching staff."
Since Michigan's decision to pull his scholarship on Jan. 20 nothing about Swenson's recruitment has been quiet.
The saga made national headlines after Swenson revealed that Michigan offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Tim Drevno gave no indication that his scholarship would be pulled during numerous conversations. Swenson's declaration that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh did not contact him spurred numerous national articles.
Swenson committed to Michigan as a sophomore on Nov. 25, 2013, becoming Michigan's first member of the Class of 2016. Swenson said he received his share of feedback -- positive and very negative -- from fans.
Downers Grove South coach Mark Molinari expressed frustration over online reports from unnamed sources that Swenson's scholarship was pulled because of a lack of performance. Alabama and Ohio State had offered Swenson a scholarship early in his recruiting process, and he was named a Tribune first-team All-State selection and a All-USA Today second-team All-American after the 2015 season.
"That was really difficult knowing that it was the university putting out things that wasn't completely truthful and honest," Molinari said. "If it didn't work from a football perspective and Michigan wanted out of it, I don't have a problem with it; that's their prerogative. ... I felt it was unethical on the timing of it, not the football aspect."
Swenson, a consensus four-star recruit and the No. 5 senior prospect in the state according to 247Sports.com's composite ranking, did benefit from being able to talk to coaches during the contact period that ended on Saturday.
His cell phone, though, took a beating. Swenson's recruiting was partially hindered by a new phone that registered just a few of his old contacts.
"My phone would go through 100 percent charge like three times a day," he said. "It was non-stop ringing. I would put my phone down to go eat dinner, and my phone would have so many phone calls and like 100 text messages. That was probably the craziest part of everything.
"I felt bad because I got so many text messages, even from friends asking me about homework, I just couldn't get back to them."
Although time wasn't on his side, Swenson discovered that he had options. He made an unofficial visit to Wisconsin, and had offers from Northwestern, Illinois, Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, Vanderbilt and Iowa State.
Swenson's preference leaned toward finding a school with a good football tradition and a strong entrepreneurship program. Oklahoma, which lost to Clemson in the College Football Playoff semifinals, fit both requirements, but Swenson had yet to receive an offer from the Sooners' coaching staff. His mother, father and sister accompanied him during his official visit to Oklahoma last weekend.
"I kept thinking in the back of my head that this is all perfect during my visit, but if I don't get that offer, that will kind of hurt," Swenson said. "The second Coach Stoops offered me, I felt a sense of relief, and I know my mom did and that she could finally sleep. I hugged Coach Stoops. I'm not a big hugger, but I had to hug him."
Swenson said he learned numerous life lessons during his ordeal, and while he dealt with some negative publicity, he did find one beneficiary of his Michigan fiasco: an unnamed teammate.
"I had a lot of Michigan clothes -- three hoodies, too many T-shirts to count and several long sleeve shirts," Swenson said. "I gave all the clothes to a teammate who is a die-hard Michigan fan."
Bob Narang is a freelance reporter for the Chicago Tribune.
