Guess Who's Transferring Again

[KeemD321]

Another move back across the state. All the top teams in Brevard already has starters besides Melbourne. 

[DarterBlue2]

13 hours ago, KeemD321 said:

Another move back across the state. All the top teams in Brevard already has starters besides Melbourne. 

Hard to see him taking this team deep unless they have talent I am not aware of. 

[KeemD321]

1 hour ago, DarterBlue2 said:

Hard to see him taking this team deep unless they have talent I am not aware of. 

They had a top ranked athlete that's graduating lmao. Just wild to move from Raymond James stadium area to Merritt Island to Wesley Chapel about a hour drive from Jesuit when dealing with traffic 

[DarterBlue2]

5 hours ago, KeemD321 said:

They had a top ranked athlete that's graduating lmao. Just wild to move from Raymond James stadium area to Merritt Island to Wesley Chapel about a hour drive from Jesuit when dealing with traffic 

I wonder why he didn't return to Jesuit.

[Manatee Magic]

Never understood how high school players can just move around like this.  Where do they get the money?  How do their parents know they can find a new job?  What if your credits don't transfer to the new school?

[KeemD321]

3 hours ago, DarterBlue2 said:

I wonder why he didn't return to Jesuit.

They still have that underclassmen that he ran from

[KeemD321]

2 hours ago, Manatee Magic said:

Never understood how high school players can just move around like this.  Where do they get the money?  How do their parents know they can find a new job?  What if your credits don't transfer to the new school?

No idea. The move to Merritt Island seemed legitimate from the outside looking in, possibly a new job. But now that I think about it MI were runner-up the season before he transferred so maybe they thought it would be a cakewalk to a championship at a new school lmao little did they know. But idk how it's happening again that quick

[Perspective]

I do not know the Knight family, but from what I understand, the move last year from Tampa to the Space Coast was prompted by a job situation with the father (transfer/promotion/new position . . . something like that).  Yes, there was speculation that he might lose his job to the kid who was a freshman last year, but to my knowledge, that had not yet happened.  So, it remains speculation.  Similarly, the move back to the Tampa Bay area also has been prompted by the father's job situation (another transfer/promotion/new position . . . something like that).  Early in my career, I worked with a bunch of bankers and such moves were not unusual in that industry.  I don't know what line of work the father is in, or even if he has been staying with the same company.  But I have known plenty of people who move away from an area (like Tampa Bay) only to decide the grass wasn't really greener elsewhere, and that they miss their friends, family, church, etc., so they return.  Sometimes it would take 4-5 years; sometimes a year. 

Anyone on this board who has a son who has played sports would understand this:  if your family had to move, you would look for the best opportunity for your son to succeed at his new school.  You would balance out quality of school, the success/tradition of the particular athletic program your son wants to be involved with, etc.  From an outsider's standpoint, that's how Luke Knight ended up at Merritt Island last year. 

Now, for reasons none of us fully know, the family is coming back to the Tampa Bay area.  Did they sell their house a year ago?  Did they buy a new house in Merritt Island?  Or did they keep their Tampa house, rent it out and lease in MI?   Who knows?  I certainly don't.   But, they've made the decision to return to Tampa.  Now it gets interesting.  Do you return to a school where you lead the team to a state championship as a sophomore?  Football aside, would he even be able to return to Jesuit?  I'll go out on a limb and take the position that while Jesuit typically/historically does not allow rising seniors to transfer in, they would have allowed this kid to re-enroll (call it the Pesansky Rule).

But now we have to look at from the family's standpoint:  how close was the kid to losing his starting job a year ago?   Regardless, if you're Matt Thompson (Jesuit head coach), you either made the choice to move on to another guy or that choice was made for you.   And that 'other guy' stepped in as a freshman and had success.  And that kid is likely to end up a 4-year starter.  As the head coach, do you want to bring back in the previous starter, bench your rising star (and possibly run the risk of losing him to informal high school transfer portal) or do you stick with stick with the taller, bigger, younger kid who has the potential to break all of Jesuit's career passing records by the time he graduates?

I don't know if the dad spoke with Thompson or if they could just see the writing on the wall.  And I think I saw something in the article (before the firewall and/or PDQ ad kept me from reading it all the way through) that indicated the kid would be playing on the same field that he played on in his youth football days.  Nostalgia can be a strong motivating force sometimes.  So, it looks to me like non-football forces brought the family back to the Tampa Bay area and the family did the same thing they did when those non-football forces took them to the Space Coast - they made a school decision that provided their son with the best opportunity to have success. 

Just my perspective. 

[LakelandGator]

From my perspective, sounds like you answered all your own questions. 

[Perspective]

1 hour ago, LakelandGator said:

From my perspective, sounds like you answered all your own questions. 

I've found I get into fewer arguments when I answer my own questions.  

[Manatee Magic]

But that's a lot of time & money moving back and forth.  Think about the time it takes to prepare a house to sell it.  Or if it's an apartment, then you have to break the lease and most apartments make you pay in full.  Then the next apartment won't approve you cause you broke a lease.

So the REASON for moving is because of work, or just to play on a good team?

 

[Hwy17]

This looks like a legit move to me, not team shopping. 

[Perspective]

On 3/24/2023 at 8:03 PM, Manatee Magic said:

So the REASON for moving is because of work, or just to play on a good team?

 

I'd say "yes."  

Remember, last year, when he moved from the west coast of Florida to the east coast, he left a team that he had guided to a state championship as a sophomore.  A team that was good enough to win it's district this past year and win its first three playoff games by a combined score of 128-10, before getting beat by eventual state champs, the University of STA. 

This time around, he's leaving a team that went 6-5, tied for 2nd in the district and lost an opening round playoff game.  And he's headed to a team that went 4-6, finished 4th in a 5-team district, did not make the playoffs, and lost their best player to graduation (a WR who committed to Ohio State).  That said, I know very little about what Wiregrass Ranch has coming back and even less about what Merritt Island has coming back.   Suffice to say, if the kid just wanted to play on a good team next season, there are plenty of teams in the Tampa Bay area that he could have gone to that likely will have better seasons than Wiregrass will. 

[KeemD321]

7 hours ago, Perspective said:

I'd say "yes."  

Remember, last year, when he moved from the west coast of Florida to the east coast, he left a team that he had guided to a state championship as a sophomore.  A team that was good enough to win it's district this past year and win its first three playoff games by a combined score of 128-10, before getting beat by eventual state champs, the University of STA. 

This time around, he's leaving a team that went 6-5, tied for 2nd in the district and lost an opening round playoff game.  And he's headed to a team that went 4-6, finished 4th in a 5-team district, did not make the playoffs, and lost their best player to graduation (a WR who committed to Ohio State).  That said, I know very little about what Wiregrass Ranch has coming back and even less about what Merritt Island has coming back.   Suffice to say, if the kid just wanted to play on a good team next season, there are plenty of teams in the Tampa Bay area that he could have gone to that likely will have better seasons than Wiregrass will. 

Merritt Island lost alot to graduation and players transferring out currently

[gatorman-uf]

Honestly thought you were talking about Cardinal Newman/Gulliver Prep/Western High transfer Davi Belfort (will be on his 3rd school next year). Graduating in 3 years instead of 4.
 

 

[KeemD321]

1 hour ago, gatorman-uf said:

Honestly thought you were talking about Cardinal Newman/Gulliver Prep/Western High transfer Davi Belfort (will be on his 3rd school next year). Graduating in 3 years instead of 4.
 

 

I just saw that one a hour ago. Would be interesting if Western played DeMatha in the Broward vs USA event

[KeemD321]

Looks like the Merritt Island coach responded to that post saying it was a family decision to move back to Tampa 

[nolebull813]

On 3/26/2023 at 8:30 PM, KeemD321 said:

I just saw that one a hour ago. Would be interesting if Western played DeMatha in the Broward vs USA event

They are playing Milton GA