Frogs say no to Bomar and company!
Frogs won't pursue Bomar
By JEFF WILSON
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
TCU football coach Gary Patterson said late Monday that his staff has stopped recruiting Rhett Bomar, the former Oklahoma quarterback who was booted off the Sooners team Wednesday for violating NCAA rules.
Patterson said lineman J.D. Quinn, Bomar's roommate who was also involved in a scheme that netted the players money for work they didn't do, also will not be pursued.
"I got home, wrote down the pluses and minuses, and I just can't do it," Patterson said. "I feel for the families and want to help them with their options. But TCU isn't an option at this time."
Patterson didn't address whether he would pursue the duo if they landed at a junior college or in a lower NCAA division for this season and were eligible for Division I-A play in 2007.
"Right now, I'm not going to think about that," he said.
His focus is fully back on getting the Horned Frogs ready for their Sept. 3 season opener at Baylor. Patterson confirmed that the recent speculation, which focused mostly on Bomar, had become a distraction, and he addressed the situation with the team after a two-hour practice Monday.
Bomar and TCU seem to be a nice match on the field. Bomar rebounded from a slow start to rally Oklahoma to an 8-4 record last season, and his potential is one of the reasons the Sooners were considered a contender for the national championship.
Patterson said last week that he had a scholarship available for a quarterback after former backup Chad Huffman left the Frogs to pursue professional baseball. Huffman was expected to back up starter Jeff Ballard this season and possibly become the starter in 2007.
As the roster stands now, a sophomore or redshirt freshman will be the starter next year.
Bomar and Quinn had been contacted by TCU, Patterson said, but neither had been on campus. Bomar, from Grand Prairie, and Quinn, from Garland, are sophomores who could have two years of eligibility remaining if they resume Division I-A football next season.
"We've known both of the families," said Patterson, the 2005 coach of the year in the Mountain West Conference. "We wanted to help them through this troubled time."
Patterson said last week that a decision on whether to offer either player a scholarship would include high-ranking TCU officials, including Chancellor Victor Boschini. But Patterson said he made his decision without input from the chancellor.
In addition to violating NCAA rules, Bomar and Quinn have had recent brushes with the law. Bomar pleaded guilty in May to being a minor in possession of alcohol, and Quinn was arrested in November on suspicion of drunken driving.
However, both were in good academic standing when they were dismissed from the Sooners football team.
By ending his pursuit of Bomar and Quinn, Patterson is also putting an end to a situation that could escalate into a major distraction for the Frogs. He said a courtship could last two or three weeks.
Classes for the fall semester begin Aug. 21, and Bomar and Quinn would need to be enrolled by then so that they could have a full academic year without football and satisfy NCAA transfer rules between Division I-A programs.
Kyle Brennan, TCU's director of compliance, said the Frogs could have signed Bomar and Quinn to scholarships even though both have no NCAA eligibility.
The players, Brennan said, can receive aid while pursuing their reinstatement with the NCAA. To do that, the minimum standard requires them to repay the money they received from Big Red Sports/Imports in Norman, Okla.
Even then, though, there are no guarantees for reinstatement.
In the end, the questions surrounding their dismissal from Oklahoma made bringing either player to Fort Worth too great a risk for Patterson to take.
"I love the kids. I love the families. We recruited them out of high school," Patterson said. "But at this point in time, we just can't do it."
Jeff Wilson, 817-390-7953 jwilson@star-telegram.com
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