Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Reid accepted at VSU

Less than two weeks after being dismissed from the Florida State football team, Greg Reid has found a new school — and, it seems, a new football team.

Reid, the two-time Region 1-AAAAA Player of the Year for the Lowndes Vikings, was accepted to Valdosta State University Monday, according to school athletic officials. With his acceptance to the university, Reid may now enroll in classes at VSU and then begin football activities with the Blazer football team.

As of Monday night, Reid had not yet enrolled in classes, and it is unclear if Reid will enroll in classes today, but when he does, he will practice with the team, which holds a single practice today at 3:30 p.m. Mandated by the NCAA, Reid will have to endure an acclimation period into pads before he can practice in full pads with the Blazers.

If he is unable to practice today, Reid will be unavailable for contact for Saturday’s first of two Blazer pre-season scrimmages. Regardless, Reid seems committed to his new school and team. Before going out to the practice field and watching his potential new team practice on Monday night, Reid tweeted a picture of himself wearing a Valdosta State football T-shirt to his 11,700-plus followers.

He also thanked the Florida State fans for their support and encouraged those fans to attend Valdosta State home games at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium. Reid’s new teammates seemed to welcome his addition to the team, too. Several players took to their Twitter pages to welcome the former five-star prospect to the team.

A three-year starter for the Seminoles, Reid will add to what is an already deep roster and a deep defense at Valdosta State, not to mention what he will bring to the special teams. Reid will likely start opposite of preseason All-American Matt Pierce at cornerback, with last year’s starter Alex Webster rotating in along with Dominique Wheeler. A special teams standout since his freshman season with the Seminoles, Reid will surely be a weapon in the punt return game for the Blazers.

Before being dismissed from the Seminoles by head coach Jimbo Fisher earlier this month, Reid was preparing for his fourth season as the ’Noles’ punt returner. He needed just 312 yards to break the school’s all-time punt return record, held by NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders.

With much athletic ability and talent on the field, Reid has been hampered by a string of off-the-field issues, including an arrest in Lowndes County in early July.

The charges against Reid (driving on a suspended license and possession of marijuana) are still pending, and he will be arraigned in September at a Lowndes County courthouse. He was also arrested for lying to Tallahassee police last September, but those charges were later dropped. He served an unrelated one-game suspension for the Seminoles last season. For more information on the Blazers, visit www.blazersportsbeat.com and follow Ed_Hooper on Twitter.