Bryce Brown's Dad Planning On Suing Vols And Dooley

((HT: VolunteerTV/WVLT-TV Knoxville))

The father of former Tennessee/wannabe Kansas State running back Bryce Brown is planning to sue Derek Dooley and the University of Tennessee.

Arthur Brown, Sr. said he is filing suit because Dooley refused to grant his son a release from his scholarship. The Brown family wanted Bryce to transfer back to Kansas State because of behavior he was exhibiting that they considered "alarming."

Whatever that means...

"This has nothing to do with football," Brown said on Sports Talk, a show which airs on WNML Radio in Knoxville. "This was a situation to where myself and my wife was concerned about the mental and physical state of my son."

Possible translation: not enough playing time...

Brown said he first told Dooley in March of his desire for Bryce to receive a release. The younger Brown, who is practicing with Kansas State, must pay his own college tuition this season up until the point that Tennessee releases Brown from the scholarship.

"Those kids are not just a tool to be used," Arthur Brown said. "If [Dooley] really cared about...Bryce being successful, then why not take the way [my wife and I] feel into consideration?"

Actually, they always have been tools to be used... that's the system...
And if the Browns don't have the money to pay for Bryce to go to school, there's something called a GSL. The HQ went through a good lot of those in school.

Here's the video version, thanks to WVLT...
Wes Boling takes over from here...

Derek Dooley Denies Bryce Brown Release

((HT: WVLT-TV Knoxville))

Bryce Brown thinks he's going to Kansas State, but as of right now, Vols head coach Derek Dooley is not giving Brown his release from his scholarship at Tennessee.

Derek Dooley told GoVolsXtra's Austin Ward that he's not going to grant Brown a release.

Remember, Brown left Knoxville without asking for a release and sent Dooley a text message informing him of what his current intentions are. There is, according to Ward, a meeting scheduled between the two early next week to settle the issue once and for all...

"As with the other players who have asked for a release, I went through the same process with the same criteria with Bryce," Dooley said in the article. "These are the three key factors - what their personal investment into the program was, did they have their heart into it and did they give it a good, fair shot. No. 2, the harm that their departure creates for the organization. No. 3, how they handle it as a professional."

Brown will have to pay his way through school this year. He can still jump to K-State, but he can't be placed on scholarship as he gets his year to sit out at the same time.

Awesome...
Here was the last discussion of Brown that Dooley had late last week...
((HT: VolunteerTV))

Bryce Brown Takes Cowards Way Out Of Knoxville...

((HT: GoVolsXtra/Adams))
It appears that the highly-sought after Wichita-based running back Bryce Brown has checked out of Knoxville, taking the towels, the robe, and the TV remote with him.

He did so without having a face-to-face discussion of the matter with Vols coach Derek Dooley...

The HQ is not shocked by the lack of maturity and class by an individual who only wished attention on himself from the day of his college declaration.

Talk is that Brown wants to transfer to Kansas State to be with his brother to play for Bill Snyder. Snyder will have no problem accepting Brown once the kid has the stones to ask for a release from the University of Tennessee...

Once again... "Once" he asks for the release... it still has to happen...

Our friends at Volunteer TV caught up with Coach Dooley at a local Rotarian gathering... he talks Bryce Brown, the brawl, and other stuff...

Brown, specifically, is referenced at the 24-minute mark...
((HT: WVLT-TV Knoxville))

Bryce Brown Leaves Volunteers

((HT: WVLT-TV))

Spring practice has started on the Tennessee campus... but without one of the most over-hyped signings in the history of the world...

Bryce Brown...

The former Number one recruit in the country was a no-show as the Vols took the field under Derek Dooley for the first time on Thursday afternoon. On Wednesday, the coach indicated Brown hadn't approached him about possibly leaving...

"As of now he's not a part of the team," Dooley said.

Let's relive history as Brown now heads to USC...
((Who said that...???)

Bryce Brown Cleared In NCAA Investigation

((HT: SI.com))

Tennessee freshman tailback Bryce Brown will not be punished as the result of an NCAA investigation into his eligibility.

The NCAA was reviewing whether money was improperly raised for Brown to visit colleges during his sophomore year of high school.

Coach Lane Kiffin received word during the Volunteers' Wednesday practice that Brown had been cleared.

Kiffin says the NCAA was considering a four-game suspension and a hefty fine as punishment for Brown.

The coach says he talked with the NCAA and Brown wrote a letter to the organization pleading his case.

NCAA Looking At Bryce Brown

((HT: GoVolsXtra/Hooker))

Is Vols RB Bryce Brown ((pictured, thanks Adam Brimer/GoVolsXtra.com)) eligible or not...?

ESPN's Chris Low has up that Mike DeCesare, the NCAA's assistant director for amateurism certification, has talked to Brown in the last day or so.

Kiffin, after Tuesday's practice, said Brown is eligible but said he doesn’t know if Brown will be eligible for UT’s season opener against Western Kentucky on Sept. 5.

“They can rule whenever they want,” a visibly frustrated Kiffin said following practice.

At question is money raised for Brown and other players to attend football camps while Brown was a sophomore at Wichita (Kan.) East High School, Kiffin said. The investigation has been ongoing since at least February.

Tennessee’s recruitment of Brown is not part of the investigation, Kiffin said. Neither is the recruitment from any other school.

“I think it’s a gigantic distraction,” Kiffin said of the amateurism issue.

Thanks to our friends at WVLT-TV for Kiffy saying hello...
Business picks up at the 2:50 mark...


WVLT caught up with Brown's trainer, Brian Butler, after practice...
"Bryce never did one thing wrong during his recruitment," Butler told Sports Overtime's Daryl Hobby. "His parents were very particular about getting everything done right."

As for the investigation: "I have no idea what it's about," Butler said. "In February [the NCAA] wanted to make it about me. I don't know of any new investigation."

Butler says he never raised money for Brown. Instead, he claims he held fundraisers to allow all of his trainees at Potential Players -- Butler's organization -- to travel to various universities on what Butler claims were academic tours.

KAKE-TV in Wichita has a source that claims that Bryce has done nothing wrong and this is a continuation of the Brian Butler investigation from a couple of years ago.

((OSG is figuring that their source is, once again, Butler...))

The source saying that Brown and other area students took a summer tour to colleges and the NCAA may have an issue with that trip.

Joanna Chadwick of the Wichita Eagle newspaper fills in some more of the holes...

Brown was one of 10 players who went on a summer 2007 tour to college campuses in the southern part of the country. Butler billed it as an academic tour.

Players on that tour included Brown and his brother, Arthur, who is at Miami (Fla.); Rose Hill graduate Blaize Foltz, now at Texas Christian; Northwest graduate Chris Harper, who transferred from Oregon to Kansas State; and 2008 Top 11 selection Jaydan Bird, a Conway Springs graduate now at Oklahoma.

Foltz's father, Roger, said that he has not been contacted by the NCAA. Harper's parents did not return a call Tuesday seeking comment.

Butler said money was raised for that tour by hosting barbecues at Wal-Mart and Sam's, a fund-raiser at Texas Roadhouse, as well as money given by four donors whom Butler did not identify.

"I deemed it initially, and marketed it that way, as an academic tour," Butler said. "I know you can't get money donated when it has anything to do with athletics....

"Here's the thing that bothers me, I feel like this is strictly a shot at Bryce because no kid paid one penny."

Those of us at OSG HQ would like to remind Butler and those like him that you can't get anything past the NCAA. They're kinda like the EEOC. You're guilty until proven innocent and they'll take their own sweet time trying to figure out what they want to figure out... and call an "Academic Trip" what it is- a recruiting trip... on a fundraiser's nickel...

Nicely played...

We guess, by the time this is over, that Butler will get popped by the NCAA, Brown will be out for a game or two- which won't really matter- unless it's more than one.

UCLA is on the schedule...

Any of the other kids involved in Butler's "Academic trips" will also get a game here or there to sit and think about what they've done...

Ain't recruitin' grand...???

Bryce Brown Heads To UT

((HT: WVLT-TV))

The top recruit in the nation will be a Tennessee Volunteer.

Running back Bryce Brown chose the Vols over Oregon, Kansas State, LSU, and Miami, signing with the school at a press conference Monday afternoon at the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame.

"I asked God for a sign before I left to go to Tennessee...Before I left, got the sign and I knew in my heart I'd be a Volunteer."

When a reporter asked what the sign was, Brown said, "I knew it in my heart."

Brown also praised the UT coaching staff.

"I feel that's the school the school that's gonna prepare me the best to go to the next level," Brown said. Brown rushed for 1,873 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior at Wichita East High School. He committed to Miami, where his brother is a linebacker, in February of 2008 but visited several other schools after making his commitment.

Brown visited Tennessee this past weekend, watching the Vols practice Friday night and leading Tennessee fans to think the Vols were right in the thick of the race to sign Brown.

Here's the presser thanks to WVLT-TV

Bryce Brown To The CFL...?

((HT: NYT via Howard Bloom))

The top-ranked player in last year’s high school basketball class, Brandon Jennings, skipped college to play professionally overseas. Could the same thing happen in football?

Brian Butler, the controversial manager of the top-ranked football recruit, Bryce Brown, is open to the idea. Butler told The Times that if approached by a Canadian Football League team, he’d consider sending Brown there.

Butler said he planned to have someone explore the possibility of Brown playing in the C.F.L. next season. “If they were talking about any amount of real money, I’d guarantee it,” Butler said of Brown potentially playing in the C.F.L. He mentioned a C.F.L. team paying Brown $5 million a year for three years.

He added: “We’re not playing around. I can promise you that. I’m not scared at all to do anything, and Bryce isn’t either. Hey, he’ll hurt your feelings. He’s not worried about your feelings. He’s worried about what’s right and what’s wrong.”

Brown would be eligible to play in the C.F.L., because there’s no minimum age limit. In the N.F.L., a player has to be three years removed from his high school graduation class. But Brown’s price tag could be a hitch in Butler’s plans: C.F.L. teams have $4.2 million salary cap … per team.

Still, this notion raises an interesting possibility. Could we actually see a player leave an American high school and go straight to Canada?

Those of us at OSG HQ have seen how successful the idea has been for Jennings overseas. We would venture to think that Brown, while physically mature for college football, may not be mentally mature for a two-step skip.

But when has that stopped anyone from pursuing a seven-figure contract...?

Answer...? Never... and if Brown and his peeps see that test scores won't get him in to a Division I program ((like apparently happened with Jennings)), then Bryce Brown should do some reading up on one former college football player in particular...

Tamarick Vanover...