Football announces roster moves, adds transfer

NC State football coach Tom O'Brien announced roster moves Wednesday afternoon.

The Pack has gained a transfer in Colorado defensive end Forrest West. The junior will sit out next fall per NCAA rules but will have two seasons of eligibility left after the 2011 season.

West, 6-foot-1, 260 pounds, won the Colorado's Lee Willard Award as the most outstanding freshman in 2009 when he played in all 12 games and had 10 tackles, including one for a loss, broke up a pair of passes and forced a fumble. The following season he played in 11 games and had 19 tackles, including 8.5 for loss and 5.5 sacks, both marks second highest on the team.

Last spring West ran a 4.60-second 40-yard dash during Colorado conditioning tests. He also had a 32-inch vertical leap. He signed with the Buffaloes in 2009 out of Salisbury (Conn.) School. Rivals.com rated West as a two-star prospect out of high school. He was a first-team all-New England selection in 2008 as a senior after recording 70 tackles, six sacks and six forced fumbles.

West left Colorado in April in a decision that Buffaloes head coach Jon Embree said ""had nothing to do with any academic or disciplinary issues, a lack of commitment to the team, or any question about his ability to continue making substantial contributions as he has done during the past two seasons."

While West will be arriving this summer, redshirt sophomore linebacker E.J. Carter is leaving to "pursue other opportunities." Carter, a Syracuse transfer, had missed spring practice for academici reasons.

Carter was expected to compete for playing time at linebacker after sitting out last season for transfer rules. The 6-foot, 222-pounder was an All-Big East Freshman team selection in 2009 after making 24 tackles, including four for losses and two sacks, for the Orange as a true freshman.

Returning to the team after missing spring practice is running back Curtis Underwood. The fifth-year senior had been expected to transfer for his final season. He ran 19 times for 84 yards and caught an eight-yard pass as a true freshman in 2007.

The following season Underwood ran 32 times for 116 yards and a score and caught four passes for 28 yards. He redshirted In 2009 with the plan of competing for a starting job last fall, but Underwood would get buried on the depth chart and rushed just 15 times for 62 yards and had a 12-yard touchdown catch.