The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

Does Bosch show the way?

 

No two cases are the same, especially when it concerns the whims and ways of the NCAA, and certainly there are facts and variables that serve to distinguish the predicaments of Kyle Bosch and Will Grier. But as far as we know, WVU has a decent track record of working with the NCAA and — let’s not way “winning” — securing a favorable judgment and thus reputation.

The Mountaineers have brought in a few graduate transfers without any hiccups. It’s long been thought Icky Banks was in for something longer than a three-game suspension in 2014 before a NCAA review. There was the mysterious case of “The Cleaner” in 2013. There are no doubt others about which we don’t know.

(Aside: Conversely, there was also the odd Shelton Gibson situation that saw him away from the team for his whole first year on campus, which included the 2014 spring, because of his initial eligibility. We’ll have to keep an eye on players who aren’t with the team now for various reasons.)

Bosch, though, seemed destined to miss the 2015 season. He played at Michigan in 2013 and 2014. Then he transferred to WVU … and started all 13 games last season.

The NCAA is pretty clear on this: Transfer from one FBS school to another in a like situation and you sit out a season.

Bosch knew that and understood a waiver wouldn’t help him. “I don’t want to be pessimistic, but I’d say I had less than a 1-percent chance. I really didn’t think it would go through. A lot of cases don’t go through. I’m very fortunate and very blessed it went in my favor.”

WVU thought it over and gave it a shot and ended up winning, and though details are scarce and withheld by the actors, it’s fair to reason that weight was given to the fact Bosch basically sat out the 2014 season — he played one snap in one game before he took a leave for personal reasons.

He said there was “a lot of gray area,” but Bosch seemingly attempted to rejoin the team after Brady Hoke was fired and Jim Harbaugh was hired, but Harbaugh was apparently not so receptive.

“I was at school all day, getting ready,” Bosch told Sporting News on Tuesday morning. “Then I met with Coach Harbaugh and I didn’t expect the transfer. That was not my original intent when I went up there yesterday. … This was very untimely. If it was my intention to transfer, I would have done that a long time ago.”

Bosch said his meeting with Harbaugh produced two options: stay with the program with stipulations (he did not say what they were) or transfer.

“They were shocked and a lot of people were disappointed that I was leaving,” Bosch said of informing his teammates of the news. “I love all of them very, very much. I saw a lot of my teammates for the first time since I left in September. There were a lot of hugs and tears and it was a shock to everyone.”

So if it wasn’t Bosch’s desire to transfer, if he was given an opportunity to return with stipulations, perhaps the NCAA thought, “You know, that’s not great for the student-athlete, let’s be considerate here.” And perhaps Michigan helped on Bosch’s behalf. Figure there’s more we don’t know, of course.

What we do know is it didn’t take long for Bosch and WVU to connect, because Bosch had a past relationship with offensive line coach Ron Crook, who was recruiting Bosch to Stanford when he was an assistant coach there.

Bosch said WVU offensive line coach Ron Crook was the first to contact him.

“I think four hours later I called him back and said I wanted to be a Mountaineer,” Bosch said.

The courtship wasn’t that brief. Crook was coaching at Stanford and recruiting Bosch when Bosch was in high school. Bosch came to know and like Crook and Dan Roushar, who was the line coach at Michigan State and left the Spartans after the 2012 season to work for the New Orleans Saints.

When Bosch picked the Wolverines in February 2012, he only called Stanford and Michigan State to let them know what he decided. Only one school followed up on that, and Bosch never forgot the postcard Crook sent with a handwritten message congratulating him on his decision and wishing Bosch the best of luck in his future.

Three years later, Bosch remembered that postcard when he was on the phone with Crook and when he decided to join the Mountaineers.

“That was a big, big part of it,” he said. “I’ve still got the postcard, a Stanford postcard, he sent me. I know that’s the type of person he is and the type of man he is.”

Grier’s deal is different. In a less-relevant sense, he had virtually no relationship with WVU when he was a prep player and had only brief interactions with Lonnie Galloway when he was an assistant at Wake Forest and Grier’s father was a high school coach in North Carolina.

That doesn’t matter whatsoever to the NCAA, though, I guess, the NCAA doesn’t see Grier transferring for pure convenience. More significantly, Grier admittedly took an over-the-counter supplement and didn’t clear it with the people at the University of Florida who could prevent it. He was suspended a year. He’s served half of that suspension. He’s also transferring from one FBS school to another. In the most rigid interpretation of the rules, he has to sit out 2016 and then the first six games of the 2017 season.

But WVU is going to appeal to the NCAA here, and I can’t imagine a scenario in which it appeals the results of the test — Florida tried and failed before. I expect the Mountaineers to, in essence, bring a calendar to the hearing, circle Oct. 15, 2016 — Florida’s seventh game this season — and Oct. 21, 2017 — likely WVU’s seventh game in 2017 — and stress the gravity of the time between the two. It could be punitive, in a sense, and maybe the NCAA sees that and wants to avoid that.

The hope then is the NCAA sees that the Grier pressed reset and will actually sit out six games longer than the NCAA mandated.

Grier, who is not enrolled anywhere right now, could help that, too. He enrolled at Florida in January 2014 and redshirted that season, meaning he’s done spring, summer and fall sessions twice. He’ll enroll at WVU in May. Add summer, fall, spring and summer at WVU and Grier might graduate, or be darn close, by the time the start of the 2017 season comes.