Rolando Melancon will be on a Division I football field a little sooner than he expected. It’s just not in the SEC.
Melancon, who signed with Tennessee over Alabama, Michigan and others in February, has enrolled at Louisiana Tech, according to its admissions department.
The defensive tackle from Lutcher (La.) High School, who was one core course short of qualifying at UT, initially took classes at City College of San Francisco.
However, Melancon left CCSF in time to enroll at Louisiana Tech by its Sept. 10 deadline for the fall quarter.
Melancon was reportedly seeking a transfer from CCSF to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College.
The 6-foot-2, 260-pound Melancon told the News Sentinel in July that he intended to return to Tennessee after finishing in junior college.
The Western Athletic Conference, of which Louisiana Tech is a member, has more lenient academic standards than the SEC.
Melancon could be eligible to play next fall for the Bulldogs.
Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.
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Comments » 28
1bigutfan writes:
Another one bites the dust
vol4jesus writes:
Oh well there goes a big d-lineman....he wanted an easier road academically..thus the term student/athlete. Right? Yes, he gets to play big time football a year earlier.
DooleyNoted writes:
The pros found Terry Bradshaw there, so I guess they will find him if he is good enough. I can't imagine Saturdays in Ruston come close to those in K-town.
BigUn writes:
At least he didn't sign w/another SEC school and knowing our need for DL's, our staff probably would have moved him to OL or TE.
utclassof1992 writes:
This is pathetic. Recruits are choosing La. Tech over UT. Just goes to show you how low we have sunk. I remember when kids who had academic issues would go the JC or prep route, get their academic issues in line, then come on to Knoxville because they wanted to wear the Orange. Not any more.
vol4jesus writes:
Discovol you don't know that for a fact. He might want to play a year earlier at division 1.
slojim writes:
Melancon chose easier academic admission standards and a chance to play earlier. Why do we recruit kids with questionable academic standards? They either start getting into trouble off the field or screwing up academically. Cant we at least focus on the kids who we know will qualify? Just my opinion...
edwardsd#492198 writes:
DCS0vol -
I don't think this is a case of Melancon "choosing" Louisiana Tech over Tennessee. He couldn't meet the academic standards at an SEC and chose to go to a smaller school instead of spending two years at a juco. Don't read too much into it.
- Drew
andy112382#209793 writes:
Hey, we could just do what Scouth Carolina is doing and changing the academic standards to ensure we can get the guys enrolled that our coach needs on the field! Does anyone else find that kind of odd sounding that they would do that?
TheGreaterGood writes:
Let him do whatever he wants to do,which is fueled entirely by dreams of the NFL. CBF is primarily a farm club for the NFL. Stars opt for the draft their jr. year, and other than fan moans that elicits no other comment.
ballou1024 writes:
Slojim, what do you mean by THEY? Not all kids with academic issues get into trouble. We have also had our share of academic qualified athlete's who have had run in's with the law.
orvol writes:
TGG is right. Bottom line is we still recruited a great class last year. When you recruit that many, some are bound to not make it. It happens every year at every top program. We are no exception.
VolsorCat writes:
There aren't many 260 pound D tackles playing in the SEC. He would need another 25 to 30 pounds to make it and probably would not have received the structured environment to gain the right weight at a JC. I question if after two years of JC he would have been able to contribute as a Junior.
slojim writes:
ballou1024,
Valid point, what I should have said was we should recruit players with good academic histories and clean police records...
Hunter writes:
The word here in Louisiana is that he got homesick and didn't want to go to school so far away from home. Not sure if that's 100%, but it's from local sports guys who should know. At least it wasn't an "anti-UT" decision.
Ironcity writes:
slojim be honest with your comment. UT knew as you probably know we sighed 32 players knowing we were only allowed to enroll 25. We enrolled 25 so I think our coaches knew what they were doing. If a talent like Melencon had made his grades we would have got him on campus. He didn't, he's gone so good luck to him and lets get someone else who can make a difference. Recruiting really hasn't been a problem here, its coaching these kids up thats been the problem.
Basketball_Jones writes:
He probably realized that he had a better chance of going to a BCS Bowl at La Tech than he did at UT. Not a bad decision on his part, now he'll have a chance to develop into a better player, at UT the odds are really against him
slojim writes:
Ironcity,
I respectfully disagree. As far as recruiting 32 of them...and only expecting 25 to make it...that is insane. That scholarship could be used for someone else who would make it. Again, I expect to recruit good academic players with clean rap sheets. Is that too much to ask?
bigbluevol writes:
If the guy wants to go somewhere and play right away, that's his deal. If he'd rather go to La Tech (and no heels, he doesn't have a better shot at the BCS there despite your wonderful sarcasm) than play in the SEC, then he can do so. Maybe he's homesick, maybe he's only interested in getting to the league, who knows? This isn't a reflection of UT losing recruiting power; it's one guy making his own choice. Touchdown, maybe you should change your name to Nostradamus since you've got such a knack for predicting the future.
wyomingvol writes:
This is because the guy couldn't get into UT, it happens everywhere.
So, We can recruit all the 3.0 GPA guys we want, but not many are going to run a 4.3, bench 400lbs, have a 40 inch vertical......
These are kids and schools are forced to take a chance if they want to be competitive. As far as the 4.0 student athelete,
SEE: Duke
Vandy, until VERY recently, and still marginally competitive.
Wake Forest, a true flash in the pan.
etc...
All the others look athelete first, academics second.
Maybe We should hire Woody Widendorf, lose 10 games every year and field a team of would be academic All Americans, only they wouldn't be good enough.......
Anyone see the article where the former and three current FLA players are being questioned in a shooting outside of a Gainesville nightclub?
Looks like other high profile schools have their share of problems... Oh St. Urban......
Ironcity writes:
slojim we are only allowed to bring 25 players a year on campus and I may be wrong but we cannot have more then 8o schlorship players on the team at anyone time. When we offered 32, its because we expected a number of them not to make it. If they all do we have to either convince someone to come in mid year (We did that with Colquitt a couple of years ago) or we have to ask them not to come (We may have done that with Barnes this year). Its a tough business and if you mess up you can be way short or way over. In the past our coaches have done a pretty good job with that. Last year we had some left over from the previous year because we only had 17 qualifiers so we had some come in early (a couple of the JC's).
slojim writes:
Ironcity,
Yeah, thats a good point I had not considered. I just get frustrated sometimes with some of our guys getting into trouble or one of them not making grades and becoming ineligible. For the most part, I suppose we have done ok. I know Fulmer and company cannot watch these guys 24/7. It still seems insane to me that we have to do it that way.
NCCOLTSFAN writes:
sphs:excellent post!
Maybe UGA would agree to wear orange Saturday???
Stay the course I tell yall!
DadwasaVol writes:
As was pointed out repeatedly during recruiting season early this year, Fulmer knew what was he was doing by offering more scholarships than he could actually have signed. He knew there would be some academic casualties. Fulmer has some shortcomings but recruiting isn't one of them.
jdcvols#230433 writes:
DadwasaVol, really believe that?? Then how many potential All-Conference Players are on the team? Your basing this on the recruiting ratings which have shown to be volatile.
DadwasaVol writes:
Yes, I really believe recruiting is not the problem at Tennessee. Look at the NFL rosters, lots of Vols. If Fulmer is a poor recruiter, then he has done a helluva job developing talent. But I do not believe the latter is the case.
dgarland1#214014 writes:
Dave Hooker, what about the 3 kids from Miami NW who are goming for te GA game this weekend? I know they are commited to Miami, but open to listen to what the Vols have to show and tell them. One is a Huge DT 5* Forecar or something like that, and the others are DBs, also highly rated. Do we have a chance with any of them.
awsue0860#641165 writes:
Just remember one thing - IF he was short one class in HS in order to qualify at UT, you can be assured he would have problems in college as well. Would probably have been ugly either way.
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