Posted by ESPN.com's Graham Watson
Last week, I posted a story about the Memphis coach Tommy West giving a second chance to several high level transfers that were not able to make it at their original schools.
On Monday, Scott Cacciola of the Memphis Commercial Appeal explored the dark side West's plan in a great article. He breaks down the offenses of running back Lance Smith, and linebackers Derrick Odom and Jamon Hughes and how each came to be at Memphis.
All three players had their run-ins with the law. Most were for some sort of assault, some faced jail time, and in the case of Smith, he wasn't allowed to leave the state until he satisfied his probation.
Cacciola does a great job with this story and explaining that while these highly touted transfers are dazzlers on the field, it's off the field that brings some concern.
I brought up the subject with West when we spoke last week. He said he warns every potential transfer that Memphis is the last stop. If they fail there, there's not many more places to turn.
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.
