With a dark cloud hovering over the Maryland football program, one young Terrapin is returning closer to home to continue his college football career. Linebacker Nihym Anderson is heading back to his home state of New Jersey to play for Rutgers.
As first reported by 247 Sports, Anderson has been released from his scholarship at Maryland and is enrolled at Rutgers, but it remains to be determined or confirmed if Anderson will be ruled eligible to play for Rutgers this fall or have to sit out a year. Typically, a player transferring from one FBS program to another is required to sit out a full season of college football before being eligible to play again for the new program.
However, because Anderson signed with Maryland in December during the early signing period and has yet to take the field, there is a possibility he will be eligible to play for Rutgers as soon as this fall. Rutgers must file an appeal to the Big Ten and have the conference agree to provide the exemption to the eligibility decision. With Maryland conducting an investigation with head coach D.J. Durkin still suspended, it would seem the extenuating circumstances should bode well for Rutgers and Anderson in the appeals process.