Gwaltney could return to Mountaineers

Jacob Messer
Daily Mail sportswriter



Thursday December 14, 2006
MORGANTOWN -- Jason Gwaltney is living in Morgantown and plans to re-enroll at West Virginia University next semester in hopes of rejoining the Mountaineers' football team, his half brother says.

"He is living with me in Morgantown and he is coming back in January," said Scooter Berry, a WVU student who is a freshman defensive lineman for the Mountaineers. "He just has to fill out his application and he should be able to enroll in school."

Then, Berry said, Gwaltney will be able to attend classes at WVU and participate in spring practice with the Mountaineers.

"If he comes back," Berry said, "he will be counted as a missed term exception and he will be a sophomore."

It is unknown when Gwaltney would be academically eligible to play.

"Obviously," Berry said, "he has to make the grade."

Gwaltney couldn't be reached for comment.

Berry said Gwaltney hasn't spoken with media members about his possible return because he is leery of the negative or critical stories they might write.

"I'm pretty sure he wants to get the story out there," Berry said.

Gwaltney is a 6-foot-1, 230-pound tailback who many consider the Mountaineers' most highly acclaimed recruit since South Charleston High School star and Parade All-America selection Robert Alexander.

Gwaltney rushed for 7,800 yards and 135 touchdowns in his prep career as North Babylon (N.Y.) High School earned two Long Island titles.

A five-star recruit, Gwaltney was ranked among the top 25 prep prospects nationwide during his senior season. He selected WVU over Ohio State and Southern California.

Gwaltney never ascended higher than third-string tailback and second-string fullback on the Mountaineers' depth chart last season. He rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns in six games.

Gwaltney suffered a knee injury on Oct. 8 in a Big East Conference game against Rutgers. He ran for 57 yards in the Mountaineers' 27-14 victory over the Scarlet Knights but was helped off the field after a third-quarter tackle, which marked the last time he practiced or played with the team.

Gwaltney transferred from WVU to Nassau Community College near his hometown after the first semester of his freshman season.

However, "that didn't work out," Berry said, because of attendance problems.

Gwaltney reportedly owes Nassau about $3,000. According to published reports, the school won't release his transcripts until he pays his debt. That has to happen before he can re-enroll at WVU.

WVU Coach Rich Rodriguez couldn't be reached for comment.

But Rodriguez talked about Gwaltney this summer when rumors that he wanted to rejoin the team originally surfaced.

"Jason's first priority is to get himself right academically," Rodriguez said in June. "If and when he does that -- and that is a big if and when -- then we will entertain the thoughts of possibly letting him earn himself back on the team from a walk-on status."

I hope the kid can get his act together and turn things around for himself, but I'm not sure the distraction of having him back would be great for the team.

Would he be even eligible to enroll?

Back in July, Sports News had an article on how he couldn't hack community college and dropped out.

If he doesn't pay off the 3 grand in the next few weeks he sure won't be enrolled at WVU for the spring term. Seems like more trouble then he's worth.

this kid is one kid I am really glad the WV beat us for..

UCF never stood a chance for this kid. He took a visit to sunny Orlando and Disney. Who can blame him but in reality no shot.

Cubanbull Wrote:UCF never stood a chance for this kid. He took a visit to sunny Orlando and Disney. Who can blame him but in reality no shot.

good for us... he is nothing but trouble.

I think Gwaltney will manage to get himself eligible to enroll. Eligible to play is another matter. But if he does manage to make it back on the team, I think he will be fine. If he can get himself straightened out on everything, he'll have grown up and realized what many never do. You've got to pay the cost to be the boss.

bitcruncher Wrote:I think Gwaltney will manage to get himself eligible to enroll. Eligible to play is another matter. But if he does manage to make it back on the team, I think he will be fine. If he can get himself straightened out on everything, he'll have grown up and realized what many never do. You've got to pay the cost to be the boss.

I hope he does get it all together... but I wont be holding my breath.. I hate seeing anyone with that much talent... wasting it and their life.

I'm not going to hold my breath either, but I hope he gets his life in order. It would be a true pity to see that much talent wasted.

Having Scooter there will definitely help him. Scooter wasn't in Morgantown Gwaltney's first semester. Unfortunately, because of homesickness and lack of maturity, Jason didn't have the motivation to rehab and go to classes after his injury. Hopefully he's realized the stupidity of throwing away this opportunity.

bk1714 Wrote:Having Scooter there will definitely help him. Scooter wasn't in Morgantown Gwaltney's first semester. Unfortunately, because of homesickness and lack of maturity, Jason didn't have the motivation to rehab and go to classes after his injury. Hopefully he's realized the stupidity of throwing away this opportunity.

I hope so. He still has a shot to have a great career.

Look what happened to Maurice Clarrett. He's now sitting in jail, where he will be for nearly 3 1/2 years. He could have been a mega-star millionaire. Sad. Hopefully Gwaltney will look at what Clarrett threw away, and realize that its still within his grasp, and it's not too late to obtain it.