Questions raised about circumstances of Trevon Grimes’s transfer to Florida in report

By Adam Silverstein
November 13, 2018
Questions raised about circumstances of Trevon Grimes’s transfer to Florida in report
Football

Image Credit: UAA Communications

The means by which sophomore wide receiver Trevon Grimes wound up with the Florida Gators this offseason are questioned in a Tuesday report from Stadium‘s Brett McMurphy that has been roundly refuted by Grimes’s former school, Ohio State, and many of his former teammates.

The extensive report details allegations of racially charged language and verbal abuse from former OSU wide receivers coach Zach Smith that Grimes’s father claims led to his son refusing to continue with the Buckeyes and ultimately deciding to transfer.

However, multiple former and current Ohio State players took to Twitter to dispute this part of McMurphy’s report after publication. OSU has also released a statement “strongly refuting” the allegations.

What is known about Grimes transfer is that he received a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately for Florida rather than sit out a season and lose a year of eligibility, the NCAA’s so-called “year in residence.” The waiver was granted over family hardship as Grimes stated that his mother was battling cancer, and he needed to be closer to home. Grimes was reportedly considering Miami first but chose the Gators instead once learning that the Hurricanes were not accepting transfer.

Neither Grimes nor his mother spoke to McMurphy, but allegations are made within the report that Grimes’s mother may not have been truthful in stating her condition. A history littered with incidents plays into this allegation. There are disputes between Grimes’s mother and father about whether the father’s statements to McMurphy are accurate with the mother alleging the father has not spoken to Grimes in two years, though phone records appear to show otherwise.

Grimes’s mother released the following statement to McMurphy through Ohio State: “I understand there is great interest in college football and the personalities involved. But that does not give anyone the right to invade the privacy and personal health information of mothers whose sons happen to play college football. The NCAA cleared TreVon for eligibility based on their rules after I provided the required documentation about my illness. My oncologist has attested to it. For anyone to accuse me of making up an illness for any reason is vile and hurtful. Coach Urban Meyer has been a good friend to both me and TreVon during this entire process, and to accuse him of misconduct in this case is unfair as well. He tried to help any way he could, including referring me to doctors at Ohio State he thought could help.

Allegations involving Meyer include him supposedly knowing about Smith’s incident with Grimes and attempting to cover it up with a mid-week, in-season trip to the Grimes family in Florida. Other coaches, including Smith, and players were on that trip, and the Buckeyes explain it was to check on the family due to the health of Grimes’s mother and not due to anything that occurred during practice. As noted earlier, Ohio State has flatly denied such allegations.

There is no indication that Grimes’s eligibility or status with the Gators is at risk, and it does not appear as if Florida had anything to do with his waiver process. Despite leaving Ohio State during the 2017 season, Grimes was not cleared by the NCAA to formally play for Florida this season until Aug. 2.

You can read McMurphy’s report in its entirety here.

One Comment

Join The
Discussion

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Top
WordPress Appliance - Powered by TurnKey Linux