Booted off the Nebraska football team in late June following an altercation with a teammate, Ernest Suttles was reportedly ticketed for a transfer to Miami.
The Hurricanes, however, added three transfer defensive linemen over the past week. Where does that leave Suttles and his off-field issue? Walking to Memphis, reportedly.
According to Sean Callahan of HuskerOnline.com, the defensive end has decided to transfer to Memphis and will continue his playing career with the Tigers. Callahan wrote on Twitter that the move to the American Athletic Conference school came after “Miami denied his transfer this week.”
The Memphis Commercial-Appeal subsequently confirmed the report, writing that Suttles attended the Tigers’ practice Monday.
“We, obviously, are very excited to have him here,” Memphis head coach Justin Fuente said. “He was involved in an unfortunate situation, but we got letters of recommendation from an associate athletic director at Nebraska, from (Suttles’) high school principal, his high school football coach, a high school teacher and we talked to two assistant coaches at Nebraska. They all had nothing but unbelievable things to say about him. They said he was a really good kid who made a mistake and was in a bad situation.”
Suttles would be forced to sit out the 2013 season to satisfy NCAA transfer rules if this move comes to fruition. He’ll have four years of eligibility remaining beginning in 2014.
According to reports at the time, Suttles was cited for hitting Nebraska linebacker David Santos in the head with a beer bottle (not pictured) during a party off-campus. Suttles and linebacker Thomas Brown, who was involved in the incident but not charged, were dismissed from the football program.
Suttles was a three-star member of the Cornhuskers’ 2013 recruiting class.