Chauncey Rivers Ruled Ineligible

The Mississippi State football team has been waiting for word on whether or not Chauncey Rivers would be declared eligible for the 2017 football season. Fans learned today what the NCAA decided about the talented defensive end.

Chauncey Rivers will not be eligible to play football in the 2017 season. He is not qualified academically and will have to sit out its entirety. Rivers was projected to be a starter for Mississippi State at defensive end.

Rivers will redshirt this season and still have two years of eligibility when the 2018 season begins. But the Bulldog coaching staff made a concerted effort in the 2017 recruiting cycle to stock up on JUCO players in an attempt to fill gaps in a porous defense from 2016.

With Rivers being ruled ineligible, the Bulldogs will need to have the next man up mentality. The most likely player to fill the hole will be redshirt sophomore Fletcher Adams.

Both Adams and Rivers were 4 star prospects in the 2015 signing class. Rivers signed originally with Georgia but enrolled at East Mississippi Community College due to multiple marijuana related arrests. Adams redshirted his freshman season and still has two years of eligibility left after the 2017 season.

Fletcher Adams played primarily as a back-up in 2016. He recorded 16 tackles and had half a sack in his freshman season. He’s the younger brother of former Mississippi State Bulldog Nelson Adams. If Adams is the player to take Rivers spot in the starting lineup, the Bulldogs will need a big season from him to improve a defense which gave up a lot of yards and points in 2016.