40 DAYS TO KICKOFF: Nate Guidry

Nate Guidry is a curious case. He committed to us for just a few days in the summer of 2012, but decommitted just as quickly and later pledged his loyalty to Army. A noble calling, to be sure, and one hardly could fault a kid for that.

There was just one problem, though. As best as I can figure, Guidry never actually enrolled at Army, although I can't really verify that. Then out of nowhere, he showed up on the spring roster as a true freshman.

That status classification, which has continued through to the fall roster, seems to suggest that Guidry actually took a grayshirt and didn't begin his college eligibility until this spring. If true, he never could have attended Army.

Also uncertain is whether Guidry is on scholarship. Usually grayshirts are, as a way to reward them for their financial sacrifice in their initial fall semester. He originally was recruited as a scholarship athlete, or so he said.

One almost wonders if Guidry, upon finding out he didn't have a "full" scholarship offer, spurred all the Army talk with recruiting services, but knew he was going to end up a Wildcat all along. I can't prove it, but it makes sense.

In light of all that, quotes such as these just come off as a little weird considering he's now on our roster:

What made me change my mind is the communication I had with the coaches at West Point was amazing.

The academics are better. The campus is nice and I like that that the school is smaller. I didn't want to be just another number at Kansas State. I wanted to go to West Point be known as Nate Guidry.

Those are things that made me change my route. I feel comfortable with my choice. I wouldn't have chosen West Point if I wasn't comfortable.

Given the uncertainty, I'll mark him as a tentative scholarship player, but it's really up in the air. Either way, we landed a decent-sized safety who we originally recruited as a linebacker, meaning he probably could play a hybrid role.