Gwaltney headed to Junior College
Headed to JUCO
http://dailymail.com/news/Sports/200512209/
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Gwaltney headed to junior college[/SIZE]
Andrew J. Beckner
Sportswriter
[SIZE=-1]Tuesday December 20, 2005[/SIZE]
MORGANTOWN -- West Virginia University freshman running back Jason Gwaltney is expected to enroll at Nassau (N.Y.) Community College on Long Island and play football there next season, sources said.
Coach Rich Rodriguez said Monday that he was "not in a position to confirm" Gwaltney's anticipated transfer but added, "I know he's talked about it."
"His options are really limited," Rodriguez said.
That is because Gwaltney will not be able to play for any Division I team until spring practice in 2007. If he attends junior college, he can play next season.
"I know he'd have to go to a junior college and graduate" before getting a chance at another Division I school, Rodriguez said.
Ohio State and Southern Cal recruited Gwaltney earlier this year. Next to West Virginia, the Buckeyes and Trojans were his top two college choices.
After Southern Cal beat Oklahoma in the national championship in January, Coach Pete Carroll phoned Gwaltney to encourage him to come to Los Angeles.
A WVU source said Ohio State and Southern Cal have been telling Gwaltney they are still interested in him.
Gwaltney was arguably West Virginia's most highly touted recruit since Robert Alexander, a Parade All-American tailback at South Charleston High in 1977.
Gwaltney made known his intention to attend WVU during a ceremony that was televised live by ESPN News.
Most recruiting services listed the 6-foot-1, 230-pound tailback as one of the top five at his position nationally coming out of North Babylon High School in Long Island, N.Y.
Nassau Community College is located on Long Island in Garden City, N.Y., just minutes from Gwaltney's hometown of North Babylon.
Gwaltney admitted to homesickness early in WVU's football season, when reports first surfaced that all was not going well for him in Morgantown.
He suffered a knee injury in an Oct. 8 win at Rutgers. After carrying for 57 yards in that game, he was helped off the field on a hard tackle in the third quarter of the 27-14 win. Since then, Gwaltney reportedly missed classes and team-mandated rehabilitation work.
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Rodriguez said last week Gwaltney would not be traveling with the team to the Nokia Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2. Rodriguez also said he hasn't been in regular contact with Gwaltney.
Nor has his high school coach.
North Babylon Coach Terry Manning, who directed Gwaltney to Suffolk County and Long Island records in career rushing yards (7,800), points (828) and touchdowns (135), said Monday he has been trying to get in touch with his former player for "a week now."
Manning said he doesn't know if Gwaltney is planning a transfer. He did say he met with Gwaltney and WVU tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator Herb Hand earlier, but that the subject of transferring didn't come up then.
Rodriguez has said Gwaltney wouldn't be a part of the team until he "meets certain obligations and responsibilities as a student-athlete."
Rodriguez said as late as last week Gwaltney still hadn't done that. He reportedly has had no contact with his coaches for some time and it isn't known whether he took final exams at WVU last week.
Gwaltney rushed for only 186 yards and three touchdowns in six games this season, far below the 1,500 yards he predicted would get after signing with WVU in February.
He got his first carry of the year in the season opener against Syracuse, finishing with 19 yards on six carries. His first touchdown came a week later in the home opener against Wofford, a game in which he had 43 yards.
Gwaltney's best game came against Maryland on Sept. 17, when he had 44 yards and a pair of touchdowns, mostly on short yardage situations. On one of the scores, he carried two Terps into the end zone on his back.
But after that he had only 17 yards on 11 carries combined in games against East Carolina and Virginia Tech before being hurt against Rutgers.
With his injury and veteran running backs Jason Colson and Pernell Williams largely ineffective, freshman Steve Slaton emerged as the team's best running back. Slaton leads the No. 11 Mountaineers in rushing, with 924 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Nassau Community College went 9-2 this season, winning the Northeast Football Conference Championship. The Lions finished the season ranked No. 12 in the National Junior College Athletic Association's final poll.
Nassau Coach John Anselmo could not be reached for comment. Gwaltney's brother, Scooter Berry, also was a part of WVU's recruiting class last year but didn't participate this year because he was academically ineligible.
