South Dakota State Adds Former Roosevelt High School Star Cody Larson

The long and winding (and sometimes rocky) road that has been Cody Larson's basketball career is leading him back home to South Dakota.

The former Roosevelt High School star has been added to the South Dakota State program, where he will enroll in the fall and be eligible to play for the Jackrabbits in the 2014-15 season.

In a SDSU press release, head coach Scott Nagy said:

We’re very pleased to have Cody join our team for the next two years. I don’t think there was a head coach that saw him play more in high school than I did, and I know what he’s capable of as a player.

He fits a couple of needs that we have moving forward.

First, we needed a player in the junior class along with Zach Horstman, and second, when Marcus Heemstra and Jordan Dykstra leave us, he’ll help fill a big hole in the middle.

He’s excited to come home and finish his degree at SDSU, be near his family and play with several guys he knows well.

The 6'9" Larson is transferring from Florida, where he played in 25 games off the bench in 2011-12; scoring 12 points, with 21 rebounds, two blocks and an assist in 143 minutes.

NCAA transfer rules will force him to sit out the 2013-14 season, but can compete for the Jackrabbits in 2014-15.

Larson's career has been derailed on at least two different occasions for off-the-court issues.  He missed the end of his senior season at Roosevelt after sharing prescription pain medication with a teammate, which ended with a plea agreement.

Despite that incident, Larson was headed to play at Iowa following his senior season with the Rough Riders, but lost his scholarship offer when the Hawkeyes changed coaches.

Larson's college career seemed to be back on track when the Florida Gators came calling.  But after a redshirt season, he and a teammate were charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass for breaking into a vehicle in 2011.

Nagy told the Argus Leader he is aware of Larson's troubled past, but not too concerned about it repeating itself in Brookings:

I know what kind of kid he is, and if people just judged me based on a few bad moments of my life they'd have a different opinion of me.

They don't because it's not always public.

He and I talked about those things.

I think he has learned a few things.

Larson averaged 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two blocks a game at Roosevelt, where he was an All-State player twice.