USF to honor Holtzs scholarship offer to Rafferty

After dealing with much public scrutiny after reports surfaced of members of Willie Taggarts coaching staff withdrawing a scholarship offered to Robinson High School offensive lineman Connor Rafferty by Skip Holtzs staff in June, USF stated the offer still stands.

We have been, and always were, planning to honor the scholarships offered by Skip Holtz, USF athletics spokesman Jeremy Sharpe said.He said there were no changes from the plan to honor all scholarships offeredby Holtz, despite reports from Raffertys mother, who told the Tampa Tribune that her son received a phone call telling him to look elsewhere.

After the phone call, Rafferty was left scrambling to look into other schools and recently received an offer from
Samford University in Alabama. Rafferty also scheduled a trip to Eastern Kentucky. A meeting between Taggarts staff and Raffertys family was reportedly held Wednesday.

Willie Taggart, Sharpe said, cannot comment on recruits until National Signing Day on Feb. 6.