Texas Tech football: 3 Red Raider players leave the program

According to head coach Matt Wells, three Texas Tech football players have left the program including one that every Red Raider fan was rooting for.

Roster attrition is as much a part of college football as marching bands and tailgating.  Therefore, Thursday’s news that three players have left the Texas Tech football program came as no shock.  (The information was Tweeted out by Don Williams of the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.) But in the case of one player, the news is saddening given that he was a sentimental favorite for fans to pull for.

Defensive end John Scott III has been forced to leave the program due to health reasons.  That news puts an end to a comeback story that had the potential to be truly inspirational.

Back in April of 2019, Scott nearly lost his life when he was shot in the abdomen while trying to play peacemaker at a pool party at a Lubbock area apartment complex.  That injury caused the Hitchcock, Texas native to spend several days in the ICU and miss the entire 2019 season.

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But as recently as this spring, he was reportedly working his way back into football shape.  Had he been able to complete his comeback, he would have been one of the most inspiring Red Raiders in recent years but unfortunately, that doesn’t appear to be in the cards.

Another player who has left the program due to medical reasons is offensive lineman Hakeem White.  The 6-foot-3, 285-pound redshirt sophomore was a backup who did not figure to factor into Tech’s two-deep this year.  In 2019, he saw action in just two games.

Then there is the departure of Myller Royals, a wide receiver from Abilene, who according to Williams Tweet, “didn’t meet Texas Tech student-athlete expectations”.  That makes one believe that he either failed to make the cut academically or that he broke a program rule.

Either way, it is a disappointing turn for a player who arrived with a fair amount of hype.  When he signed with Tech in 2018, there was hope that he could be one of the next great Red Raider wide receivers.

In his high school career, he amassed nearly 3,000 yards receiving and 26 TDs and was one of the most prolific pass-catchers ever to play for the legendary Cooper High School program.  But after redshirting in 2018, he appeared in just two games last fall catching two passes for a total of 12 yards.

Would Royals have been able to remain in the good graces of his head coach, he could have had an opportunity to compete for serious playing time next year given that T.J. Vasher, who is the starter ahead of Royals, is set to graduate after this season.  But now, the West Texas product is no longer part of the team.

Anytime you bring together a collection of 85-100 young men ages 18-22, you are going to have some unpredictability and that’s especially true in the world of college football.  So while the departure of these three players is disappointing (for different reasons in each case), it isn’t entirely surprising given that every year, every program is going to have to say goodbye to some underclassmen for one reason or another.