Minnesota Gopher Football: Troy Stoudermire granted extra year of eligibility
by Jeffrick on Jan 14, 2012 3:15 PM CST
in Gopher Football
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PrintGopher football received some monstrously good news late yesterday, as the Big Ten has granted corner/kick returner Troy Stoudermire a medical hardship waiver, meaning the senior will return for the 2012 season. Stoudermire broke his forearm in the third game of the year against Miami of Ohio, and tried to play a week later against the NATIONAL CHAMPION NDSU Bison (sorry I thought I'd feel better about the Gophs losing to NDSU if I wrote in really big letters that the Bison won the national championship, but it didn't help), but barely made it through one quarter. He missed the rest of the year, and while in his career he never used a redshirt season, there was still concern that Troy had played in too many games in 2011 to be eligible for the medical hardship. Thankfully the Big Ten made the right call, and the Gopher's top corner will be back next season.
The impact of his return simply cannot be overstated. No really, go ahead and try- you simply cannot make a big enough deal of how good this is for the team and the secondary in 2012. It was easily the weakest area of the team last season, and with the loss of leading tackler Kim Royston, could have potentially been even worse in 2012. Stoudermire is the team's best corner, and with Royston moving on, now their best defensive back, and it's not even close. It's not to put down the team's other corners, but yeah, Stoudermire's injury left a pretty gaping hole in the secondary and opposing quarterbacks filled it with completions all season long.
#11's return won't suddenly make the team's secondary a strength, but having him at the #1 corner spot means there's one less position to worry about. The Gophers bring back some experience to compete for the other starting spot and nickel corner, but we'll see how much talent is truly there. The coaching staff has been working hard to bring in some JUCO-transfer DB's that can play right away.
Still, this is great news for the 2012 team. Anytime you get your top defensive back, who oh by the way is also the Big Ten's all-time leader in kick return yardage, it's nothing but a good thing.
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Difference Maker
Troy makes a huge difference, he is the type of player that could potentially save a win in the secondary and gain a win with his kick returns. I’m not ready to say they will be bowl eligible this year (I still think 5 wins), but it will allow them to have a comfort they weren’t allowed this season (a shutdown corner).
stoked
Troy quite possibly could of led to two more wins last year on his own.. I think when he is done at U of M he could go down as one of the best corners to come out of here. His short resume speaks volumes. I like this better than hearing Royston was coming back. Which worked out well for our boys.
Love it.
Cheers for getting it right. Happy for Troy too.
by jimipig on Jan 15, 2012 7:48 AM CST via mobile reply actions
No doubt
great news. This is like adding a “one and done” BB recruit to this year’s FB class. Speaking of BB , if anyone can tell me what UofM BB team will show up today, I would like to know.
Also a positive
Is that he is not coming off a leg or knee injury. In his line of work as a returner and DB the legs are the money makers. Royston was a bit of a different story. He made a great comeback from a big injury. This should be a boost for the team going into spring ball and having a returning DB giving the JC’s some competition and insight on the B1G 10 game.
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