re: CJ West to Indiana

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You have no idea. There are 3 freshman coming in that could be immediate impact players. McKinley could absolutely be a difference maker from day one. That kid was SEC ready last year.

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McKinley was sec ready last yr? Wtf

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The sky is falling bullshite after missing out on guys that weren't' stand outs at their current schools is asinine. Almost as asinine as throwing a million fricking dollars at a kid that was average at his previous schoo

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If lsu had a normal sec tackle group people wouldn't be bitching about missing on these guys. That kind of shows you how bad it is.

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How would this result in him winding up at IU instead of LSU lol

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I can’t believe I’m actually explaining this, but here we go..

From what I’ve read, he is transferring as a grad student but won’t actually be available to enroll until August (normally players enroll for the summer so that they can participate in workouts etc.). This means he isn’t actually graduating in May - he still has to complete a summer semester at Kent State before he can graduate. There are several risks that come out of this:

1. At best, this means you’re trusting that he will, in fact, handle his business over the summer and finish his degree. Keeping in mind that he may have to do so without the academic support he was receiving up to this point, since he will no longer be on the team at Kent State. His scholarship and all tutoring, services, etc. he received as a student athlete can be cancelled as soon as the spring semester ends.

2. At worst, it may mean that he’s a legit academic risk. There’s no reason he has to transfer as a graduate, as far as I understand. He could transfer immediately and finish his degree at his destination program. That is, unless he can’t because of an eligibility issue. Players have to be in good academic standing at the time of enrollment to transfer without sitting out. If he’s already dealing with a grades issue, that’s a big risk.

3. As I understand it, transfer commits aren’t bound to their destination schools until they actually enroll. It’s not like HS recruits where the NLI is binding before enrollment. So there’s also a potential risk that Kent State recruits him back to their roster over the summer.

People saying stuff like “oh, so he can get into IU but not LSU?” are showing their ignorance. In a case like this, the term “academic risk” or “grades risk” has nothing to do with whether the player can actually be admitted to the destination university. It has to do with the risk that he’s not eligible if/when he arrives on campus.

Consequently, the academic prestige of the destination school doesn’t really matter. What matters is the program’s risk tolerance. CJ West reportedly had offers from LSU, Michigan, FSU, etc. but wound up at Indiana. If there was an academic risk, it makes sense. The greater the talent upgrade relative your alternatives, the more likely you are to accept that risk. It’s the same reason Pookah Williams wound up at Kansas.

And with the experience they have, none of them were difference makers at their previous schools. So what makes you think Kelly should have broke the bank on these guys to all of a sudden be difference makers in the SEC when they couldn’t even do it in their own conference?

Problem is these kids think they are worth way more than what they actually are. But I don’t blame them for asking that much because there will be some team stupid enough to pay that.

lsu and others are still recruiting West. he can't enroll anywhere until August so a commitment right now is meaningless. Also, he'd have to be REALLY good to step in and contribute after being on campus just a few weeks

I think I go with the LSU website