Brodie off to ... greener pastures?

   Hykeem Brodie has left the program.

   Hey, it happens all the time and everywhere. Unhappiness makes for uneasiness and Brodie just didn't fit ODU's one-back concept. Coming out of Western Branch High in chesapeake, Brodie (pictured left) ran in a two-back set, a pro set, and he hadn't had experience with the spread.

   Once he got that experience, he knew it wasn't for him. In practices, he just didn't hit the holes fast enough. rare were the moments when he broke off a long run. Often, he seemed to be dancing around, looking for the hole to develop.

   Brodie, 5-foot-11 and 217 pounds, sat out the final scrimmage this past fall. The writing was on the wall.

   He asked for his release and got it. But don't expect ODU to have to play against him in the future. As Division I-AA college football goes, you don't just give the weapons you recruited so diligently to the other guy. There's no way ODU would allow him to transfer to another Colonial Athletic Association school without sitting out two seasons.

   So Brodie had a wish list that had schools like Maryland and Virginia Tech and N.C. State on it.

   He says he'll enroll at Penn State in May as an invited walk-on. That means he's going there without a scholarship in hand. He'll have to earn it.

   "The coaches there want me to go through the three summer school sessions," Brodie said. "I'm going to get a couple of classes at TCC (Tidewater Community college) this spring. The Penn State staff knows me. I'll keep in shape, work out at Velocity when I can.

   "I just made a bad decision in going to ODU. It was not a good scheme for me. Penn State's a good fit. There's a chance I could change my mind and end up at Virginia Tech in June, but right now I think it's going to be Penn State."

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