(Courtesy of College Press Box)

Regular season play is coming to a close, bowl games are being decided and seniors have been honored. As one season closes another season is quickly approaching as students come back to the Hilltop in January.

With a new semester sometimes comes new players and this January will bring a former All-USA Offensive Player of the Year to Southern Methodist University.

Garrett Gilbert, a Texas native, is set to transfer to SMU from the University of Texas in January. Gilbert has spent the last two and a half years in Austin after graduating from Lake Travis High School where he led the Cavaliers to two state titles.

Football player or not, transferring schools at any time, especially in the middle of a school year, is not easy.

“I am sad to leave Texas, it has been my dream school since I was little. So I am sad that things didn’t work out.”

As one chapter closes for Gilbert, he recognizes and reiterated several times his excitement for the future.

“I am very excited about a new opportunity at SMU.”

Early in October, Gilbert was seen at practice observing, standing on the sidelines. It had not been announced yet where he would transfer, but speculations soon spread. As articles were posted to websites and journalist fled to their Twitter accounts and blogs, Gilbert was just a regular student touring the school like every other student did. The only difference — he got a tour of the athletic weight room while most students get a tour of Dedman.

“I got to come up and talk to the coaches, meet a couple of the guys, got to see the area a little bit,” he said. “I also got to experience and see how practice goes, got to see the campus, which is awesome by the way.”

Like other students, Gilbert is “just ready for this semester to be over and ready for Christmas break.”

This break will be different for Gilbert. He recently underwent shoulder surgery and is currently in rehab. Instead of preparing for a bowl game and scheduling family holidays around football, Gilbert will continue to rehab his arm and prepare to head north on Interstate 35.

“It is tough, because I have never missed games until now. The surgery went well, my arm feels great.”

This coming January the SMU community will look forward to welcoming Gilbert and his family to the Hilltop with open arms.

Next semester it will be in the hands of the students to show their support for the football team and their hard work even when they are off our television screens for support must happen all year round.

The success of any team does not come from talent alone but also from the support and faith from family.