As Dorial Green-Beckham looks to restart his collegiate playing career and rehabilitate his battered image, it won’t be happening at one Missouri Valley Conference school in particular.
In a preemptive strike against speculation Friday night, Missouri State president Clif Smart told the Springfield News-Leader that the former Missouri wide receiver is not welcome at his institution. Even before Green-Beckham’s shocking dismissal Friday, Smart said that he, athletic director Kyle Moats and head football coach Terry Allen held a meeting to discuss the possibility of the receiver’s potential availability.
The result of that meeting was a mutual decision that Green-Beckham would not be pursued by Allen and the football program.
“That’s not the kind of player we recruit to our program,” Smart said, indicating just how far DGB’s stock has plummeted of late.
Green-Beckham had been a productive but troublesome player since joining the Tigers in 2012 as the top-ranked player in the country in that class. Following three twos -- arrests, suspensions and police investigations -- in less than two years, Mizzou announced that it was cutting its losses and dismissing the talented receiver.
Playing at the FBS level in 2014 won’t be an option due to NCAA transfer rules, and neither will entering the NFL’s supplemental draft as he’s not three years removed from high school. Other than sitting out the 2014 season entirely, Green-Beckham’s only other option would be to transfer to an FCS-level program like Missouri State -- or even to the Div. II, NAIA or JUCO levels -- if he wants to play football this upcoming season.
Regardless of the route he chooses in 2014, it’s very likely that he will make himself available for the 2015 NFL draft before the early-entry deadline in mid-January next year.