At least a little bit of fairness and/or common sense has cropped up in The ‘Ville.
Friday, Shaq Wiggins, who revealed earlier this offseason that he would be leaving Louisville as a graduate transfer, confirmed that he had been barred by head coach Bobby Petrino from signing with five schools -- Kentucky, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Purdue and Western Kentucky. Kentucky and Purdue on the U of L’s 2017 schedule, so that pair makes some semblance of sense.
The most curious of the off-limit quintet is Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are not on the Cardinals’ upcoming schedule, although their former defensive coordinator, Todd Grantham, left this offseason for the same job at MSU.
Wiggins admitted that MSU would be high on his to-do list were it not for Petrino’s head-scratching restriction. As it turns out, Starkville will be an option as, because of a successful appeal, Wiggins will be permitted to transfer to MSU if he so desires. The restrictions on the other four schools remain in place.
In addition to MSU, Wiggins will also consider a couple of other SEC schools in South Carolina and Tennessee. The Bulldogs, though, would seem to be the prohibitive favorite based on his relationship with his two-time coordinator.
In early May of 2014, Georgia announced that Wiggins had decided to transfer from the Bulldogs; later that month, he followed Grantham to the U of L.
Wiggins started at corner for the Cardinals in 2015, earning honorable mention All-ACC honors. Injuries plagued him throughout the 2016 season, and he announced in January that he would be transferring a second time.