As it turns out, Kansas came just a handful of hours shy of having an impact transfer at its immediate disposal. Or, more specifically, a mere six.
KU head coach Charlie Weis confirmed Wednesday that Nick Harwell will take a redshirt for the 2013 season and won’t play for the Jayhawks until next year. Harwell, who announced he was transferring from Miami to Kansas earlier this offseason, was just six hours shy of graduating from the Ohio school; because of an arrest on theft charges in the spring, however, he was not permitted to return to the Oxford campus for summer school to complete his degree and become eligible immediately at Kansas as a graduate transfer.
“The bottom line was he was never allowed to complete his last six hours,” Weis said according to the Lawrence Journal-World. “And unless someone does something I’m not anticipating here, my intent with him is to treat (Marcus) Jenkins-Moore (injured linebacker) and Nick Harwell like I did Jake Heaps and Justin McCay last year. They’ll work on everything football related, get their academics in order, work on community service. There’s a bunch of things they can do to make themselves better prepared and better people and proud Jayhawks.”
As is always the case, Harwell will be permitted to practice with his new Jayhawk teammates as he sits out his transfer season.
KU, though, will be missing out on an immediate impact player on the offensive side of the ball.
Harwell led Miami in receiving yards (870) and touchdowns (eight) as junior in 2012, and finished second in receptions (68) — all while missing three games with injuries. Harwell was also the NCAA’s second-leading receiver in 2011 with 129.6 receiving yards per game, finishing his sophomore campaign with 97 receptions for 1,425 yards and nine touchdowns.