Ex-Saginaw receiver DeAnthony Arnett will transfer to Michigan State
Earlier in the week, former Saginaw High School and Tennessee wide receiver DeAnthony Arnett was given complete freedom to transfer to the school of his choice.
On Wednesday, he made his decision.
He's headed to Michigan State.
"It was tough from an emotional standpoint, going through things with my father," Arnett told The Saginaw News. "The choice of going to State wasn't hard at all.
"State is home. They were one of the teams that recruited me the hardest. I didn't talk to anyone from (University of) Michigan. I wasn't able to talk to Coach (Mark) Dantonio. I had to wait until Tennessee released me. When that happened, everything else happened right away. It was an easy choice. State is only a 50-minute drive from my house."
Arnett's story made headlines last week when he spoke to several media outlets about how current Tennessee coach Derek Dooley would not grant him a full release from his scholarship.
Originally, Arnett said Dooley would allow him to transfer to a school in his home state, so long as it was a Mid-American Conference school, and not Michigan or Michigan State.
On Tuesday, though, the situation was cleared up, as Dooley granted the 6-foot, 175-pound receiver his full release.
Arnett chose to leave Tennessee to be close to his ailing father, who is battling various medical issues.
After the news of his release, Scout.com midwest recruiting expert Allen Trieu told AnnArbor.com that Arnett would likely decided between the Wolverines and Spartans for his ultimate destination, though he seemed to be leaning away from heading to Michigan due to limited scholarship numbers.
As a freshman at Tennessee last season, Arnett — a former four-star recruit — caught 24 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
Nick Baumgardner covers Michigan sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2514, by email at nickbaumgardner@annarbor.com and followed on Twitter @nickbaumgardner.
Comments
Frustrated in A2
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 11:43 p.m.
Sounds like a good catch for State, that's awesome. Go Green!
Johnny2x2x
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 9:44 p.m.
Good choice for Arnett. He picked the better program to showcase his skills at. Kid is an absolute stud.
Scott
Sun, Jan 8, 2012 : 6:15 a.m.
my my.
vi4mi4
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 2:26 p.m.
..best wishes to his dad.. he will be wearing a Countess jersey in the Big House.. Go Blue! v
Mick
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 1:45 p.m.
Look, I hope Arnett's dad will recover and be fine and I wish DeAnthony luck in his career. But to me, translation: Sounds like U-M didn't really pursue him, Ann Arbor isn't that much further from Saginaw.
bob
Fri, Jan 6, 2012 : 12:47 a.m.
Why would they lose Stonum? He is back next year after redshirting this year.
rightmind250
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 3:48 p.m.
Yeah right, Mick. They lose their 2 best receivers, Stonum & Hemmnigway, but they don't need this guy.
D21
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 9:05 a.m.
Saginaw Valley State is only a couple of minutes away! Have fun playing for the little brothers :)
heartbreakM
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 6:12 a.m.
Happy that Tennessee did the right thing and released him. From his comments, sounds like he wanted to go to MSU, and not Michigan, which is fine. I hope he does poorly against us :) And it's awfully hard to talk to Michigan when they ARE IN THE BCS!!!
Captain Dave
Thu, Jan 5, 2012 : 4:36 a.m.
Glad to see the guy got back to be with his dad and was able to get into a major college that was after him before he committed to Tennessee. If MSU didn't have a place for him WMU or CMU would have been his only area choices it sounds like.