I have heard a rumor about Brandan Hance transfering out of Purdue -- anyone else hear this? and if so any idea as to where?

Well, here is confirmation:

Boiler Station Story on Hance's Departure

I stand corrected on Hance's 2000 season being designated a redshirt year - for some reason I thought he played in more than two games in Fall 2000 (both spelling Drew and mopping up at the ends of some games).

This means that even after his sit-out year (assuming he goes to a 1-A school, he'll still have two years of eligibility left).

Hance and Florida's Brock Berlin are both in a better position than Austin Moherman when he decided to leave Ohio State after Cooper picked Bellisari as the permanent starter. Faced with a sitout year and then only one year left at a 1-A school, he elected to go to a 1-AA school (SW Missouri State) and was able to play in both the 2000 and 2001 seasons. A school with a senior QB in Fall 2002 would be ideal (that is why the Berlin to Miami (FL) runors are still hot).

So this makes two of the vaunted Southern California High School Quarterback Class of 2000 to have encountered major problems. Hance and Zac Wasserman (Penn State) are now out of their original slots. Casey Clausen is fully entrenched at Tennessee and was one game away from a National Championship game. Chris Rix steadily improved at the end of the season, was ACC rookie of the year and seems to be set for next year (especially with the Twins not contracting in 2002, Joe Mauer won't be in a position to come to FSU and accept that FSU scholarship)

And lastly, with Carson Palmer finally graduating, Matt Cassel will get a chance to compete for the USC (spoiled children not screwylouie) starting job (this is also why UCLA might be a better fit for Hance - Cassell has had a chance to learn Carill's system and would be ahead of Brandon).

---> Edited for clarity

[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: Wurm ]

Brandon Hance

There seems to be a major contretemps brewing on many of the Purdue boards over a rumor that goes as follows:

Supposedly after the Purdue-ND game, in which new starter Kyle Orton suffered a minor shoulder injury, Hance and his parents met with Tiller and "demanded" that Hance be named the starter for the Sun Bowl on 12/31. As this version goes, Tiller told them that he alone would make the final determination, and that when the decision came down, Hance proceeded with his transfer.

Hance's father himelf posted a long message on one of the boards, emphasizing that his son's decision was "so much not about football" (increasing homesickness, inability to adjust to different factors about living in West Lafayette, hostile and threatening email and phone messages, his car bein trashed, and so on). The father states that the only decision was whether to inform the coaches before or after the bowl game (in other words, should he even go to El Paso). After due consideration, Brandon decided to tell the coaches, and although Tiller tried to talk him out of it (stating that Hance would have an even chance to win the job back in Spring 2002) the die was cast and Brandon made plans to withdraw from Purdue when his last final was completed (this to make his transfer process more expeditious).

And to thicken the plot even more, supposedly Tiller told the team in a meeting that "Yes, a demand had been made" ......

Here is a link to the board where Mr. Hance posted his side, and of course further comments. Note: Apparently the board is quite small and messages roll off rather quickly - the Hance response has been archived under a post labeled "The Ultimatium"



Mr. Gridiron Forum Click on link at top of page to see the messages

[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: Wurm ]

Hance has flown back to California and is having his personal items shipped back, as he apparently will withdraw as a student once his grades from just-completed finals are in.

Once the formalities are in place, talks can begin with other schools. The two major So Cal schools may be the first on the list. USC, as mentioned above may be the more problematical of the two - at UCLA, the two starters this year (Paus and McCann) will be seniors in Fall 2002, and since whoever isn't the starter figures to get most of the "secondary" snaps in practice, the other redhsirts (including onetime Bruin QB John Schiara's son) might not get too far ahead of Hance. Brandon, meanwhile, can make good use of the sit-out year to learn Toledo's offense and to put on some needed pounds of muscle in the weightroom, to be ready to compete for the job come Fall 2003.

Wurm, being a Big 10 fan, I've followed this pretty close. I've been reading articles about Brandon since he enrolled at Purdue, and have always been impressed by him. That ultimatum thing isn't true at all, from what I've heard. He's a very competitive guy, living a few thousand miles away. I read an article on him the other day, where he was talking about how his ltitle brother who's 4, doesn't even know who he is when he gets to come home. That has to be rough.

He'd still look mighty fine in those UCLA .....or USC uniforms though! He's got a body that is equivalent to a senior!! He really fills out those pants quite well! I hope he does well back around home.