yeah, this was a rule the ncaa instituted to keep Bear Bryant from loading up his football team with swimming scholarship athletes.
First, the bust comment can't even be justified. Second, Red is right, its all about timing. If he would have gone pro before the NCAA meet he would have made less than half of what he will get now. I understand most people on here don't follow track but since the NCAA meet other than the upcoming race btw the 100M world record holders, Gatlin and Powell, X-Man has been the talk of the track and field world. If you look at his times, X-Man is already one of the top 5 or 10 combo sprinters (100m - 200m - 400m) of all time. Another thing, he may decide in 5-7 years he wants to give up track and try to play football again. Without a doubt he has the football talent and he will still be relatively young, but he needs to focus on track right now with the World Championship in 2007 and the Olympics in 2008.
He may have only had 9 catches in two years, but 3 of those were for long touchdowns. That is a 3:1 ratio. Compare that to any of our other receiveres and it is great. Of course, it is only 9 catches. He also dropped numerous passes that were sure touchdowns.
X will be a 200 & 400m guy on the pro circuit. The 200 is probably his best event and I don't think you'll see him run the 100 anymore. He's got a legit shot at chasing the world records in both the 200 & 400m at the '08 games. He could also run the relays on the 4x100 & 4x400. From the article in the advocate this morning, it sounds like he will evaluate where he's at after the '08 Games & decide about his future in the NFL after that. Good luck X-Man!
There are good reasons to think X is a bust, but there's also reason to think he isn't. Obviously, with a 5 star ranking, we had big hopes for X as a WR here at LSU and he never showed us the potential that made him so highly recruited out of highschool. It wasn't injury that held him back, but his own talent and how it fit into Miles' system. So, even though he didn't finish out his eligibility, he certainly never lived up to the hype, which makes him a bust IMO.
Also depth at WR. Last year he had Bowe, Davis, Doucet, Skyler Green, and Bennie Brazell in front of him. Just not enough PT to develop his game. Tracksters like Carter and Brazell never get to make spring practice and develop slowly, especially on the third team. Remember Bennie never really became effective until he was a senior. If XC had been an average trackster instead of a world-class one, then he might well have developed into a capable receiver.
CParso, we've gone around on this topic but you don't have coach Miles ear to know about any meeting with X & just stating an assumption (a wrong assumption). Here's what Jimbo said from his mouth; "I heard he has a press conference," LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher said on his cellular phone while vacationing out of state. "If he leaves, it will be a great loss. We definitely had some plans for him. A guy that athletic, it definitely hurts you. But I wish him the best. He did some amazing things in track this year, things that have never been done before." Also, if a 2 year player in a bust then you need to add almost his entire class in that same category & they don't have an excuse of being a 2 sport athlete. None of them have lived up to their rankings & if they left the team now most wouldn't have any stats. Good luck X!
