While the Everett Golson situation is far from resolved based on what we have heard, our staff understands that subscribers want to know (as best we can tell) what’s going on. We wanted to wait and make some calls and talk to some connected people first so that we just weren’t throwing something out and now we’ve had a little bit of time to do that.
As a graduate transfer from Notre Dame, Golson is eligible for one season and is eligible immediately. We were told shortly after the transfer news broke earlier today to keep an eye out on Florida State and Georgia as programs that Golson was interested in – and that last part is a key. Given how early it is, we have to make a distinction between programs interested in Golson and programs he is interested in – the ones that are mutual will become the schools to watch.
We’re not as sure on Florida State, but in gathering some info from the Georgia end there does not seem to be much smoke in the Dawgs having interest right now. There seems to be some skepticism that UGA would heavily pursue Golson in looking towards the future in Athens.
Golson’s path towards the SEC would have a potential stumbling block, as he would have to obtain a waiver to get past the conference’s graduate transfer rule according to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy. Since Golson was suspended for the 2013 season due to “poor academic judgment”, then he would require a waiver from the conference in order to get past that requirement in the bylaws. McMurphy reports that he spoke with a source that said it was “possible, but not easily granted.”
Now, onto South Carolina: Golson was not very interested in the Gamecocks at all during his initial recruiting process as a member of the 2010 class. Golson was committed to North Carolina for a time before flipping to Notre Dame, and the basketball angle was a frequent part of his recruitment even thought Golson did not end up playing both sports in college. There’s a notion out there that USC was not interested in Golson out of high school; that’s not true, but Golson did not have much interest in the Gamecock program as I stated earlier and USC moved on.
There are always two aspects in a process like this: 1) is the kid interested? and 2) is the school interested? Both are necessary for it to work out, not just a list of schools Golson is interested in or a list of schools that may like him. We haven’t been able to pin down with certainty what USC’s interest level is at this time although we expect there to be some internal discussion if (or even before) things advanced to the point where Golson wanted to make a visit. That discussion doesn’t necessarily mean that USC would do it, but I would expect it to be discussed. It is true that some close to Golson with influence would like to see him closer to home. That said, every time we’ve checked on the situation it’s seemed that any talk about interest in South Carolina has not originated as much from Golson himself as it has from those around him.
Travis Haney of ESPN.com reported on Thursday that in speaking with some folks that he did not believe USC would be among the interested programs in Golson. Steve Spurrier has said in the past that USC would not be taking a transfer quarterback although to be fair it seemed to be framed in more of a manner that USC wasn’t actively looking for one. McMurphy reported back in January that 24 schools (six from the SEC) would have interest in Golson if he ultimately decided to transfer. In his latest story on Golson he mentioned Alabama, Florida, FSU, LSU, and Texas as programs that could have interest.
All of the above regarding South Carolina could also become moot if he wanted to head to an SEC program and could not secure the necessary waiver mentioned above.
I would encourage everyone not to get too caught up in rumors and such right now. This one could take some twists and turns and given that Golson just announced his transfer today it’s still in the early stages. He still has to reach out to programs interested in him and vice versa, possibly take some visits, and the like. He has not made a decision on which program he will end up at, is not down to a certain number of schools, or things of that nature. At the end of the day, it’s just about impossible to predict what direction it will head. As soon as we have more information we’ll pass it on.
As a graduate transfer from Notre Dame, Golson is eligible for one season and is eligible immediately. We were told shortly after the transfer news broke earlier today to keep an eye out on Florida State and Georgia as programs that Golson was interested in – and that last part is a key. Given how early it is, we have to make a distinction between programs interested in Golson and programs he is interested in – the ones that are mutual will become the schools to watch.
We’re not as sure on Florida State, but in gathering some info from the Georgia end there does not seem to be much smoke in the Dawgs having interest right now. There seems to be some skepticism that UGA would heavily pursue Golson in looking towards the future in Athens.
Golson’s path towards the SEC would have a potential stumbling block, as he would have to obtain a waiver to get past the conference’s graduate transfer rule according to ESPN’s Brett McMurphy. Since Golson was suspended for the 2013 season due to “poor academic judgment”, then he would require a waiver from the conference in order to get past that requirement in the bylaws. McMurphy reports that he spoke with a source that said it was “possible, but not easily granted.”
Now, onto South Carolina: Golson was not very interested in the Gamecocks at all during his initial recruiting process as a member of the 2010 class. Golson was committed to North Carolina for a time before flipping to Notre Dame, and the basketball angle was a frequent part of his recruitment even thought Golson did not end up playing both sports in college. There’s a notion out there that USC was not interested in Golson out of high school; that’s not true, but Golson did not have much interest in the Gamecock program as I stated earlier and USC moved on.
There are always two aspects in a process like this: 1) is the kid interested? and 2) is the school interested? Both are necessary for it to work out, not just a list of schools Golson is interested in or a list of schools that may like him. We haven’t been able to pin down with certainty what USC’s interest level is at this time although we expect there to be some internal discussion if (or even before) things advanced to the point where Golson wanted to make a visit. That discussion doesn’t necessarily mean that USC would do it, but I would expect it to be discussed. It is true that some close to Golson with influence would like to see him closer to home. That said, every time we’ve checked on the situation it’s seemed that any talk about interest in South Carolina has not originated as much from Golson himself as it has from those around him.
Travis Haney of ESPN.com reported on Thursday that in speaking with some folks that he did not believe USC would be among the interested programs in Golson. Steve Spurrier has said in the past that USC would not be taking a transfer quarterback although to be fair it seemed to be framed in more of a manner that USC wasn’t actively looking for one. McMurphy reported back in January that 24 schools (six from the SEC) would have interest in Golson if he ultimately decided to transfer. In his latest story on Golson he mentioned Alabama, Florida, FSU, LSU, and Texas as programs that could have interest.
All of the above regarding South Carolina could also become moot if he wanted to head to an SEC program and could not secure the necessary waiver mentioned above.
I would encourage everyone not to get too caught up in rumors and such right now. This one could take some twists and turns and given that Golson just announced his transfer today it’s still in the early stages. He still has to reach out to programs interested in him and vice versa, possibly take some visits, and the like. He has not made a decision on which program he will end up at, is not down to a certain number of schools, or things of that nature. At the end of the day, it’s just about impossible to predict what direction it will head. As soon as we have more information we’ll pass it on.
