By Moses Leos III

For Hays High senior Braeden Kent, Saturday’s Maroon and Gold football scrimmage at Texas State University was supposed to be an enjoyable venture with family and fellow Bobcat committments.  

But a decision by Texas State head coach Everett Withers to rescind a scholarship offered to Kent leaves him scrambling to keep his college football dreams alive.

Kent, who had committed to Texas State in 2015, announced via Twitter Monday he would no longer attend the school and that he was reopening his recruitment. 

It stemmed from a meeting Kent had with Withers “minutes” after the end of the spring game, where Kent and his family found out the school no longer had a scholarship for him. 

Withers’ reasoning, according to Kent, was due to Texas State being “top heavy with scholarships.” In addition, Whithers said the program’s quarterback system is “messed up” and that Kent wasn’t “going to fit well with what we’re going to do.” 

According to Kent, the school offered to assist him with finding another school to go to. They also said he could try to walk on to the team. 

“We were just blindsided,” Kent said. “That’s the last thing that I thought was going to go on in there.” 

The decision to pull the scholarship was a puzzling one for Kent after he was assured a scholarship in January by Withers, who was hired that month to replace Dennis Franchione. 

Kent was given the chance to grayshirt and take a scholarship in spring 2017. Kent said he understood the logic, as he was continuing to rehabilitate following a severe knee injury suffered against Lake Travis last football season. 

As a result, Kent said he shut down his recruitment by other schools. 

Kent said Withers talked about the potential of signing a scholarship agreement on signing day that would have bound the school to stay committed. Kent said no such agreement was ever signed. 

Once the decision was made, Kent met with Hays High head football coach Neal LaHue to plan the next steps. 

In addition, Kent has also received assistance from Lehman High head football coach Todd Raymond and assistant Trey Rose, who have sent “mass messages” about Kent to college coaches they know. 

LaHue, who said he has “made known” his displeasure with Texas State’s decision, said many schools he has contacted have already fulfilled scholarships for 2016. 

In addition, Kent faces the added challenge of going through the recruiting process. LaHue said it was something he didn’t engage in, as he committed early to Texas State and closed off other recruiting opportunities.

But LaHue said Kent’s resiliency, as shown in his knee rehab, could be the drive that motivates him. 

“We’ll play it by ear and keep working. There are a lot of avenues,” LaHue said. “Some doors are closed, but maybe some will open in this process.”