Wednesday December 09, 2009

Korn's transfer opens up many doors

The announcement on Wednesday that Clemson quarterback Willy Korn plans to transfer came as a surprise to absolutely no one. Korn still has the confidence that he can be a starter somewhere, and plans to take advantage of the two years of eligibility he has remaining and see if can’t earn a starting job somewhere.

The rumor mill has been rampant about some of the places that he will transfer, and have ranged from Charleston Southern to Appalachian St. to Furman. All of those schools or FCS [formerly Division I-AA] and would not require Korn to sit out a year before he plays like he would if he went to an FBS school [such as South Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech.]

However, his announcement that he plans to stay at Clemson through May and earn his degree has many thinking that if he graduates from Clemson in May, he can transfer to another FBS school and be eligible to compete immediately, a la Greg Paulus, the former Duke point guard who played in the NCAA Tournament for Duke last spring, and then was the starting quarterback at Syracuse this fall.

Not so, according to the NCAA.

The NCAA released the following statement regarding Paulus:

“Mr. Paulus has expressed an interest in competing in a second sport at another Division I school after earning an undergraduate degree at Duke University and competing on the men’s basketball team. The NCAA encourages and applauds academic achievement and realizes this is an unique situation and opportunity for Mr. Paulus. Student-athletes seldom have the opportunity to transfer late in their college careers and compete in a second sport after four seasons of competition. The NCAA established a "students first" waiver process to address unique situations and extenuating circumstances such as this that are not outlined in our rules.

If a student-athlete wants to transfer and immediately compete as a graduate student, the college or university they are transferring to would need to seek a waiver, because in most cases they would have to sit out a year before competing under NCAA transfer rules and would not have any remaining eligibility. One of the factors our members have determined is appropriate for a graduate student waiver is if the transfer is academically motivated."

I am not sure that Paulus’ reasons for transferring were academically motivated – he just wanted a chance to play football again before his football career was over. But he was granted the exception by the NCAA, and played this year.

So, if Korn wanted to transfer to another FBS school, that school would have to have a graduate program that Clemson doesn’t have.

In looking at some of the places, at least locally, that he could transfer, he would have competition at each of the schools. Furman has Chris Forcier, the talented brother of Michigan quarterback Tate Forcier, on the roster, and seemingly ready to start next season. He transferred from UCLA.

Appalachian St. is graduating Armanti Edwards this year, but already have a bevy of talented quarterbacks on scholarship. Sophomore Travaris Cadet started two games this season, but played in all 13 so far, and will battle Jamal Jackson, who red-shirted this season, for the starting job next season. The Mountaineer coaching staff is excited about the potential of Jackson, who is a dual threat quarterback in the mode of Edwards.

I think the Elon offense of Pete Lembo fits Korn’s skills, but Elon quarterback Scott Riddle has another year of eligibility remaining, and is firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback for next season.

It also makes Clemson’s quarterback situation for next situation a bit hairy, depending on how things work out. With Korn out of the picture, that leaves starting quarterback Kyle Parker, freshman Tajh Boyd and Michael Wade. Wade has said he hopes to come back for his final season, but wants to move to another position in order to gain more playing time. He was bulked up and gotten stronger, and could be a fit at safety.

If he goes that route, it would leave Parker and Boyd, but what happens if Parker gets drafted and decides to leave Clemson in order to pursue a baseball career? Wade would then have to move back to quarterback. Granted, all of that happening would be a longshot, but it leaves us something to think about.

There will be more on this to follow – I just wish Willy the best of luck in his future endeavors.

Posted by David Hood @ 01:00 PM EST [ Comments [22] ]