ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

Pitt won’t release Rushel Shell to transfer to ASU

Apr 5, 2013, 3:37 PM | Updated: 4:40 pm

Since last week, there have been rumblings that now-former University of Pittsburgh running back Rushel Shell would attempt to continue his career at Arizona State.

Shell, after all, was recruited to Pittsburgh by Todd Graham before he left the Panthers to become the head coach at ASU.

Not so fast, says Pitt, who apparently ise still pretty peeved at the exit strategy Graham employed back in December of 2011.

ESPN’s Joe Schad says the powers-that-be at Pitt are blocking Shell’s option to transfer to ASU.


Shell requested a release from his scholarship to Arizona State, Arizona, Cal and UCLA. Shell also won’t be allowed to transfer to Arizona because former Pitt staffers coach there as well.

Shell was rated the sixth-best running back in the class of 2012 by Rivals.com and ran for 641 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman in 2012.

Pitt’s refusal to release Shell to transfer to ASU (or Arizona for that matter) doesn’t prevent him from ending up in the Grand Canyon State. It just means that if Shell chooses to play at either school, he would have to pay his own way for his first year.

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