:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/25292795/20130921_lbm_av3_121.0.jpg)
The Western Michigan Broncos pulled off an in-conference recruiting coup on Monday when they got former UMass Minutemen commit Jason Slyvia to flip his commitment. Sylvia had taken a visit to WMU last weekend and apparently saw all he needed to see to flip his commitment to the Broncos.
The news was first reported by Bob McGovern of 247sports Maroon Musket.
An inside linebacker at Dean College (MA), Sylva was one of the most exciting recruits in UMass' 2014 class. At 6-foot-2, 230 lbs., he has the size teams at this level of FBS football look for at the ILB position. Sylva indicated that the flip of commitment came down to what was best for him and his career and had nothing to do with the negative media attention currently surrounding the program.
"I wish the best for UMass and the UMass coaching staff because they did as good as a recruiting job as they could," he said. "(It was) just not for me and my situation right now."
Sylva is the 28th commit in P.J. Fleck's second recruiting class at Western Michigan, per 247sports. According to 247sports, Slyva is the seventh-best recruit in the class and the second-best inside linebacker behind JaKevin Jackson (Milledgeville, Ga.). Fleck's class is now the conference's top-rated class according to 247sports.
