Dillon Smith Comm 260w Feature Story Part Two Two of college footballs largest fan bases expecte

a young man from Connecticut to lea their team to success with !uic" legs an nimble #u"es$ sha"es$ an spins% Fans of the Penn State &ittany 'ions lost that expectation in (ugust when Silas )e announce his intention to transfer to the *ni+ersity of Southern California% ,is ecision came after &C(( sanctions allowe him to lea+e a seemingly-cripple &ittany 'ion football team without ha+ing to ser+e one year of aca emic resi ency% ./e ha+e weighe the pros an cons of staying at Penn State an lea+ing Penn State$ atten ing *SC an not atten ing *SC$ an 0 can honestly say that$ ultimately$ this ecision is about so much more than football% 0 continue to ha+e aspirations for my life$ an as my family an 0 consi ere the bigger picture 1 both on an off the fiel $2 sai Silas )e in a statement about his eparture% .0t became clearer to me that *SC will be the best fit for my aca emic$ athletic$ an personal nee s o+er the next two years% 0 loo" forwar to future successes$ an to the continue support of e+eryone aroun me%2 )e originally committe to Penn State on December 3$ 2004$ six months before his gra uation from 5ing 6 'ow ,eywoo Thomas ,igh School% )ecruiting experts hel high praise for )e $ rawing a number of comparisons to notable running bac"s of the past% .,e has pro+en on more than one occasion that he can be an impact freshman with the ball in his han s$2 sai 7arry 8+ery$ a football recruiting analyst$ in a profile of )e for 9ahoo: Sports% .8xpect him to ha+e a stellar college career an to e+entually become a &F' football player%2 Praise raine own on )e through his first two seasons with Penn State$ lea ing to his appearance on the co+er of P)0D8$ a football maga;ine compile by The Patriot-&ews% 0n the issue$ )e iscusse his well- ocumente promises to his mother to gra uate an to be able to pro+i e for his family so that she woul no longer ha+e to wor"% The maga;ine appeare on newsstan s on <uly =6$ #ust ays before the Freeh )eport re+eale a amning opinion of the uni+ersitys han ling of con+icte chil abuser <erry San us"y% &C(( Presi ent >ar" 8mmert announce puniti+e sanctions a wee" later with the intention to wea"en the team$ but not to punish stu ent-athletes see"ing aca emic an athletic success% 8mmert temporarily repeale bylaws regar ing stu ent-athlete transfer in an effort to allow them to pursue their goals elsewhere% )e an a number of other teammates promptly recei+e opportunities from other institutions% *SC !uic"ly emerge as a frontrunner in )e s consi eration as it offere a respecte aca emic an athletic atmosphere$ but face a lac" of epth at the running bac" position% )e announce his ecision on <uly ?=% Fee bac" on a national scale seeme positi+e$ but local opinion turne sour on social me ia platforms such as Twitter% )e starte preseason acti+ities with the Tro#ans on (ugust 6 an ma e his ebut in the season opener against ,awaii% The Tro#ans fell to tough opponents an seeme to ha+e lost the opportunity to win a championship% ,owe+er$ )e may soon be facing the most challenging a +ersity of his career if his a mission to *SC +iolate &C(( bylaws$ which woul almost assure ly raw catastrophic penalties%

Sources Cite 8+ery$ 7arry% @Silas )e %@ Rivals.com% 9ahoo: Sports$ 26 (ug% 2004% /eb% 0A &o+% 20=2% BhttpCDDri+als%yahoo%comDfootballrecruitingDfootballDrecruitingDplayer-Silas-)e -EF336G% @P)0D8%@ Penn State Football Preview% The Patriot-&ews$ 20=2% /eb% 0A &o+% 20=2% BhttpCDDwww%blee bluepsu%comDG% )u en$ Da+e% @)e Transfering to *SC%@ Overtime% ,earst Communications$ 0nc%$ ?= <uly 20=2% /eb% 0A &o+% 2