Something to keep an eye on...

ODB didn't exist back then, but in the recruiting season leading up to NSD in 2011, there was a lot of talk about Baylor possibly swinging a commitment from 4/5* RB recruit Herschel Sims. Sims was the #2-ranked all-purpose back in the 2011 class according to Rivals and the #73 player in the country. After Baylor lost the commitment of Brandon Williams, another 4/5* RB in that class, to OU earlier in the season, we were on the lookout for a dynamic back in that class. The coaches definitely thought they had a chance to turn Sims, and he was supposed to come on a late official visit (I believe it was scheduled for the first weekend in January of that year) before canceling at the last minute due to pressure from Oklahoma State, the school to which he was committed at the time. Everybody seemed to move on after that and Sims signed with OSU the following month without further note.

Sims' tenure at OSU was relatively quiet until recently when he made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Because of what his high school coach calls a "miscommunication" between Sims and another OSU player (and Baylor recruit at one point) Jeremiah Tshimanga, Sims allegedly withdrew $700 from Jeremiah's bank account using his residential ID. Sims' version of the story is that Tshimanga loaned him the money and he simply withdrew it himself rather than having his teammate do it, but that is obviously disputed. You don't typically see a police report filed when you have an agreement with someone and know what they're going to do. Either way, I hope that this situation gets sorted out quickly because you never want to see some kid ruin his life over a stupid mistake (if indeed it was a mistake and not a misunderstanding).

No matter what happens there, though, OSU announced today that Sims has been dismissed from the team completely due to a violation of team rules. We can probably assume that the two things are related. This news is something to watch for Baylor fans because of a subsequent tweet by Bill Haisten of the Tulsa World giving his expectation that Sims will go JUCO for a year before coming to Baylor.

I don't know how I feel about this. We've had success in the past with troubled transfers and I'm always going to advocate for giving kids a second chance if the staff believes they have learned from their mistakes and grown. We wouldn't have Phil Taylor, Terrance Ganaway, or any number of past players in multiple sports if we wrote kids off for past conduct without giving them a chance. I also don't want it to be too much about football itself; you shouldn't let a kid in because he's good that you wouldn't if he wasn't, if that makes sense.

That being said, the only reason a football program would take a transfer like this is if the staff believed he could help the team. He certainly has the talent to do it if his head is in the right place. Without knowing for certain that he's coming-- Haisten might have been talking out of his ass, after all-- it's probably premature to add him to a depth chart or start diagramming plays.