The Rushel Shell transfer story: From Pitt to UCLA to Pitt’s archrival

The 6’0, 215-pound Pennsylvania native accumulated 744 yards from scrimmage as a freshman.

West Virginia has also welcomed in a transfer from Houston, running back Charles Sims, who’s eligible to play right away. Sims put up 851 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in only nine games for the Cougars in 2012, averaging six yards per carry. He also caught 37 balls for 373 yards and three touchdowns, so he can be productive in the passing game as well. He’s averaged 1,357 yards from scrimmage per year in his three-year career.

Shell is looking for a new school after leaving the Pittsburgh program in April. At the time, Shell had the intention of transferring to UCLA, but changed his mind shortly after his decision. There were some reports that Shell initially contacted Pittsburgh with the intent to return, but the reunion fell apart.

West Virginia targeted Shell out of high school, so their interest makes sense. If he transfers to either West Virginia or Kentucky, he’ll have to sit out the 2013 season, leaving him with three years of eligibility remaining.

According to Werner’s source, Pittsburgh was never a serious option for Shell in this case. Shell made the choice to transfer to UCLA relatively quickly after leaving the Pitt program in April, and perhaps that decision ended up being too hasty.

Now he’ll have to find yet another home, and where that might be at this point is unclear. He is a potential impact player wherever he lands, though; he finished the 2012 season with 641 yards rushing and four scores on 141 carries for Pittsburgh.

The attentive reader may be aware that the rules governing intercollegiate athletics are frequently confusing, nonsensical or simply antiquated. Perhaps the most bizarre set of rules are those that regulate the transfer process.

However, Pitt’s athletic administrators are acting like fans, not the rational adults they are paid to be. Restricting Shell from transferring to a team that’s not in their conference and most assuredly won’t be on the schedule in the future is low down and childish. ASU fans are seeing this situation for what it is, but I have no doubt that if the roles were reversed, things would look largely the opposite.

This doesn’t exactly seem fair. There’s no competitive reason to not allow Shell to go to Arizona State -- the teams rarely, if ever, play, and the chance they ever do is even less likely now that Graham is the Sun Devils’ coach. It’s spiting Shell for the fact that Graham hurt the Panthers.

Shell tried to stick around after the guy who convinced him to come to Pitt. It didn’t pan out. It seems unnecessarily punitive to limit his options post-Pitt -- although I can’t act like I’m surprised, having seen this with virtually every prized recruit of the past few years that’s decided to transfer.

Pitt is expected to release a statement Tuesday. Shell’s potential decision to leave had been hovering over the program for the past week. Pitt head coach Paul Chryst hinted in a recent statement that Shell had been dealing with personal issues and that the program was totally supportive of whatever Shell decided to do.

Shell was considered a 2012 consensus top-10 running back prospect and the jewel of Pitt’s recruiting class. He was recruited by prior head coach Todd Graham, who left the Panthers to take over the coaching vacancy at Arizona State. Shell was an immediate contributor in his first season, averaging 4.55 yards per rush, gaining 641 yards and rushing for four touchdowns while also catching nine receptions for 103 yards.

The rumor from here gets worse for Pitt fans. According to wild chatter, Shell could join Arizona State’s Todd Graham, the coach who originally recruited him at Pitt. The Sun Devils were run-heavy out of a spread attack in 2012 and had four different players top 100 carries. Shell would likely be in the mix for plenty of opportunities when he becomes eligible in 2014, were he to become a Sun Devil.

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