After being dismissed from Texas Christian for disciplinary reasons, former Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year Devonte Fields has landed at Trinity Valley Community College, and played his first game for the school on Saturday, making seven tackles.
"Devonte is a great kid with a bright future," coach Brad Smiley said, according to athensreview.com. "His work habits and maturity have been a welcome addition to our young defensive line, and an asset to our team as a whole."
While it appears Smiley is happy to talk about what Fields brings to his team, last week an official at the school wasn't so eager to acknowledge the player's arrival on campus. When contacted by College Football 24/7 last Friday, the school official said Fields was not enrolled at the school.
TCU separated itself from Fields after he was accused of striking an ex-girlfriend. He initially planned to transfer to Stephen F. Austin, but that plan fell through when he was denied a transfer waiver. A third-year sophomore, Fields is eligible for the 2015 NFL Draft if he chooses to forego his remaining college eligibility.
After being ousted from TCU, Fields' decision was not unlike that of former Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, who also was dismissed for disciplinary reasons. Both are talented third-year college players eligible for the 2015 draft, but with significant character concerns looming over any potential scouting evaluation for the draft. Both were faced with the choice of transferring to another FBS program, where they would have to sit out a year under NCAA transfer rules, or transfer to a smaller college to play immediately.
Green-Beckham is sitting out the year at Oklahoma and is, at least for now, planning to play for the Sooners in 2015 while doing what he can to repair his image as a character risk for the NFL. Fields, given his attempt to transfer to FCS Stephen F. Austin and his subsequent enrollment at a community college, clearly had no interest in a sit-out year.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter *@ChaseGoodbread.*