By Tyler Alley
Sports Editor
Running back Lache Seastrunk signed a financial aid contract and will enroll at Baylor Tuesday as well as join the Bears’ football team.
“I’m just happy for him,” head coach Art Briles said Tuesday. “I’m glad he can get back on Texas soil and back where he has a chance to get a great education and play football at the highest level at a great university. We’re going to welcome him in as a great teammate, and he’ll bust his tail and become a good, productive player for us.”
Seastrunk, a redshirt freshman from Temple HS, was granted unconditional release by the University of Oregon Aug. 20. Multiple reasons have been cited from sources. Coach Chip Kelly said Seastrunk came to him and said he was feeling homesick. The health of his grandmother was said to be another major factor.
Seastrunk played running back at Temple HS and earned prep All-American. He rushed for 4,127 yards, 52 touchdowns (32 career games), and came out as a five-star prospect.
“He’s explosive,” Briles said. “I think he’s hungry. That’s a thing we’ll have to learn about his personality a little bit. He does have some explosiveness to him, and now we have to get him to where he’s going to be really driven and have a hunger burning inside him to produce.”
Due to NCAA compliance, Seastrunk would normally not be able to play for a full season following his transfer. However, Seastrunk will reportedly be applying for hardship under the circumstances of his grandmother’s health, according to Yahoo!’s Dan Wetzel. If granted, he will be allowed immediate eligibility to play this season. The NCAA has waived the one-year transfer penalty in the past for family hardships.
For now, Briles is ready to have Seastrunk on the field.
“Right now he’s a teammate,” Briles said. “Of course the NCAA rules regulate that he has to sit out a season, unless he gets a hardship. If he produces then he’ll be a valuable member of the football team just like everyone else.”
