FanHouse Transfers

When Antonio Henton is an old man, he'll have a lot of memories of his time in Columbus, Ohio as a member of the Ohio State football team. He'll be able to tell his grandchildren about the time he offered that undercover police officer $20 for sex, and about those six passes he got to throw in Ohio Stadium, one of which was for a touchdown.

Then he'll get to tell them about how the Buckeyes recruited freshman phenom quarterback Terrelle Pryor, basically ending any chance Antonio ever had of becoming a starter, and he decided to transfer to Georgia Southern.

Several sources close to the team said that Antonio Henton is expected to transfer to Georgia Southern. Coach Jim Tressel refused to confirm the move, saying only that Henton "is a good kid." As of last night, sources said Henton had not told team officials he was leaving.

It's hard to blame Henton for the decision because he didn't leave his home state of Georgia for Ohio State to sit on the bench for five years. Plus, going to a new school will help him get a fresh start after the legal troubles and suspension he had to deal with in Columbus. Not to mention that he'll be reunited with his high school coach, Rance Gillespie, who is now the offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern.

As for the Buckeyes, while Antonio's departure is not the end of the world, it doesn't leave much experience behind starter Todd Boeckman. Henton was the QB #2 on the roster, and will now be replaced by two freshman in Joe Bauserman and the aforementioned Pryor, neither of which have thrown a pass as a Buckeye.

Keith Nichol is a highly touted quarterback at Oklahoma. The Michigan native was all but set to enroll at Michigan State last year before throwing a curveball and choosing Oklahoma.

That didn't work out so well.

Third-string quarterback Keith Nichol plans to transfer from Oklahoma after just one season."We had a good conversation with Keith and certainly understand his desire to seek an opportunity in another program," Sooners coach Bob Stoops said in a statement Friday.

Nichol actually enrolled a semester early, and stood a decent chance of becoming the team's starter. The competition included a redshirt junior slotted to be a backup and a little-known redshirt freshman.

Slam-dunk, right? Errrrr. That redshirt freshman won the job and put together one of the best passing seasons in NCAA history for a freshman. Helloooo, Sam Bradford.

Goodbye Keith Nichol.

How does that go? "The best-laid plans are fraught with peril". Yeah.

Perhaps the biggest question mark for the Tennessee offense heading into 2007 is the wide receiver position. The Vols have to replace Robert Meachem, Jayson Swain, and Bret Smith; who combined for the vast bulk of UT's passing offense in '06. In fact, those three guys had 22 touchdown catches, while the returning receivers only had 26 total catches.

That's why when wide receiver Slick Shelley announced late last week that he'd be leaving the team and transferring to Tulsa, hoping to get more playing time elsewhere, it was a positive sign for the Vols' WR corps. Shelley is a former Rivals' four-star player and played in the US Army All-American game after his senior year in high school. He's not been able to find his way on to the field for the Vols, being injured in '05 and behind the aforementioned trio last year.

But the depth chart has never been more open for the school they used to call "Wide Receiver U." Shelley would have had the best opportunity to make a name for himself that he's had since arriving in Knoxville (and when you're named "Slick," how hard can it be to get noticed?). So forgive Vol fans if they're pleased that Shelley's announcement came shortly after the arrival of Tennessee's bumper crop of receivers, including former Florida State player and JUCO transfer Kenny O'Neal and Hargrave Military star Bret Vinson. Maybe Erik Ainge will have some targets out there this season after all.

Two transfer players figure to play prominent roles for the North Carolina Tar Heels this season, quarterback Joe Dailey from Nebraska and running back Barrington Edwards from LSU.

And while these two potential stars have been great additions to the UNC roster, there are far too many players who have gone the other way and left the program for various reasons. Some moved closer to home, some left seeking more playing time at other schools, and some have were removed from the team for disciplinary reasons.

No matter the cause, however, transfers have left major holes in the Tar Heel lineup and kept North Carolina from moving the program to the proverbial "next level."

Here is a list of some former Tar Heels who are no longer with the program. Their new school as well as recruiting ranking (based on a 5-star scale) is listed with each player:

**** Fred Sparkman, LB - School unknown
**** Mike Mason, WR - Tennessee State
**** Adarius Bowman, WR - Oklahoma State
**** Khalif Mitchell, DT - ECU
**** Isaiah "Puff" Thomas, DT - Southern
*** Del Roberts, WR - Southern
*** Daunte' Fields, WR - NC Central
*** Donnell Livingston, OL - Bethune-Cookman
*** Ian Firestone, WR - Penn State (no longer on roster)
** Andre Coleman, CB - School unknown
** Vince Wilson, RB - Tallahassee Community College

If you're keeping count, that's five 4-star players and four 3-star players who will not be on the field for North Carolina this Saturday.

Now we know why the Heels are often called "The Sleeping Giant" of college football. You don't become a giant by losing players of that caliber.