Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson
Controversial freshman Josh Jarboe will play at Troy this season, the school announced Wednesday.
Jarboe was dismissed from Oklahoma after a freestyle rap he did with friends landed on the Internet. The rap romanticized drugs, guns, and sex and sent shockwaves through the Sooner community. The video was enough for Oklahoma and coach Bob Stoops, who cut the cord with the No. 13 recruit on ESPN's Top 150.
Oklahoma's trash is now Troy's treasure.
The Trojans got a steal with Jarboe who also was considering LSU, Georgia and Florida before he signed with the Sooners. He was the third-best recruit in the 2008 recruiting class, according to ESPN, and figures to give Troy an early advantage on the Sun Belt title.
"Troy University has always been interested in providing opportunities for young people to better themselves, and this is a situation where a young man who has made some mistakes is looking for a second chance," Troy coach Larry Blakeney said. "I have met with Josh, and I am convinced that he is ready, and willing, to do the things we need for him to do to be a productive member of both this football team and the Troy University community."
Blakeney should be commended on his alertness of picking up Jarboe, but he also should be concerned about Jarboe's proximity to his hometown of Decatur, Ga., and him falling in with the wrong crowd.
It was just six months ago that Jarboe was expelled for carrying a gun on the grounds of his high school Cedar Grove and later arrested when he tried to hide it from authorities. The charges were lessened to misdemeanors and Jarboe finished his degree online to enroll at Oklahoma.
Oklahoma stuck by Jarboe after the incident, saying they thought he was a good kid who made the wrong decision. The same could be said by Blakeney about the rap video.
But it kind of makes you wonder: what's next?
You hear success stories all the time about young football players who face early adversity and come through it better people. Few are ousted from a Division I-A team and find their way back on a Division I-A team. I hope for Jarboe's sake, and Troy's, he makes the most of this opportunity.
Watson joined ESPN.com in 2008 after four seasons covering the Missouri Tigers and the Big 12 Conference for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She also covered college football recruiting for the Dallas Morning News.
