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There have been a lot of big commitments for Kentucky Football in the last six weeks, and the transfer commitment of Xavier Peters is one of the most important.
Vince Marrow has said that Peters has similar physical tools to Josh Allen, and that he’s ready to play immediately...if he’s eligible.
Xavier Peters is transferring to Kentucky from Florida State, where he appeared in two games last season. In theory, since he only made two appearances he should be able to count last year as a redshirt season. That would give him four years of remaining eligibility at Kentucky. The big question is when those four years will begin.
A primary reason for Peters transferring to Kentucky is to be closer to family, particularly his son.
I hope the @NCAAFootball respect my decision by coming home to take care of my son the right way. I needed to play closer to home so I can show him how much love him & how much I missed him . It’s a dream come true to be playing in front of my son https://t.co/uRo6oSfPrC
— Xavier Peters ♂️ (@xavierpeters22) May 23, 2019
On Thursday, Peters posted about his appeal on Twitter. “I hope the @NCAAFootball respect my decision by coming home to take care of my son the right way,” Peters wrote. “I needed to play closer to home so I can show him how much love him & how much I missed him. It’s a dream come true to be playing in front of my son.”
Being from West Chester, OH, Peters was rarely able to see his son when he was in Tallahassee. And since his son is now a toddler, he was possibly going to miss watching him grow in some of the most important years of his life. This move was an easy decision for him to make, and he, as well as his coaching staff, want to see the NCAA do the right thing.
“Obviously we would like to have him but mainly I would like to see him get it (the waiver) being a young African-American father who wants to be around his kid,” Vince Marrow told Larry Vaught. “He really was missing his kid and you have to admire that. Whether he went here, Cincinnati, Ohio State, he just wanted to get back to his son and do the right thing.”
There is no available timeline on the process of this particular appeal, but Marrow and others are fully convinced that Peters will be on the field this fall. However, the NCAA is notorious for bad decisions in some of the most obvious situations.