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Bad news: it's time to reset the "XX Days Since a Player Transferred Away From Iowa" counter. Good news (such as it is): it's a player buried pretty far down the depth chart. Sophomore offensive lineman Reid Sealby announced on Twitter Tuesday that he would be trading Iowa City for Carbondale and spot on the Southern Illinois team.
thankful for my experience at Iowa & leaving in good standing with the coaching staff there. Ready to get to Carbondale & get back to work.
— Reid Sealby (@RSealby77) July 21, 2015
Sealby's departure comes with little surprise: not only was the 6-4, 290 lb junior-to-be not on the current depth chart, he hadn't been on any previous depth charts. In fact, he never played a down for Iowa in his three years in the program. Sealby was a late flier in Iowa's 2012 recruiting class, a 2* recruit with no other offers who committed to Iowa on National Signing Day. Sometimes those offers work out (see: Myers, Brandon); sometimes they don't. So it goes. Sealby's departure frees up a scholarship for Iowa; that scholarship may get filled by a current walk-on or it may be banked to be used on a future recruit.
The most notable thing about Sealby's departure is what his subtraction does to Iowa's 2012 recruiting class. As The Des Moines Register notes, Sealby becomes the 10th member of the 2012 recruiting class to depart Iowa early:
Iowa's Class of 2012 only has 12 active players on scholarship, according to a detailed distribution chart at HawkeyeReport.com. The list of departures from that class includes: Kevin Buford, Greg Garmon (a four-star running back who after leaving Iowa was arrested for attempted robbery), Barkley Hill, Connor Kornbrath (senior punter who remains on scholarship but not in the program), Ruben Lile, Cody Sokol (QB used his final year of eligibility to lead Louisiana Tech to a bowl win), Laron Taylor, Daumantas Venckus-Cucchiara (graduated early) and Cameron Wilson.
The 2012 recruiting class has had a few success stories -- most notably Drew Ott and Tevaun Smith, although Greg Mabin seems poised to become a three-year starter in Iowa's secondary and we're certainly hopeful that Jaleel Johnson and C.J. Beathard are going to become very important players for Iowa during their remaining two years on campus. That said, there's no ignoring the fact that the 2012 class has sprung a lot of leaks and it's yet another recent(ish) class that's been hit hard by attrition. As we've said countless times before, that much attrition is a big problem for a program like Iowa, which relies so heavily on guys sticking around and improving.
Best of luck to Sealby as he continues his football career at Southern Illinois.