There may not be a more intriguing JuCo recruit in the country than Devonta Pollard.

When he left high school in 2012, Pollard was a five-star, top 25 recruit that was pursued by some of the biggest programs in the country. He ended up at Alabama, where he averaged just 3.9 points and 3.1 boards before transferring to East Mississippi Community College in Scooba for his sophomore season.

He’s had a successful season there, according to EMCC’s coach Mark White, enough that schools like Troy and Missouri — and even Kentucky, according to a report — have gotten involved in his recruitment.

“The first semester was a struggle because he had all of that stuff going on and everything was so unsettled,” White told the Clarion-Ledger. “Once everything got settled, he was good the second semester. All of the Division-I coaches said the big thing was how hard he was playing now. All the coaches were commenting, ‘Man, he’s playing hard, he’s playing tough.'”

Pollard’s decision to leave Alabama and enroll at EMCC was not a flattering one: he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

Here’s what happened: Pollard’s mother, Jesse Mae Pollard, had a piece of land foreclosed upon. Her cousin, Roshell Ford, bought the land and a portable shed that was on the property. Jesse Mae wanted the land back, and in an effort to prove a point she kidnapped Ford’s six-year old daughter from her elementary school, taking her to a motel and texting Ford “don’t call the police I will call you later if you call the police u won’t see her again.”

Devonta Pollard’s involvement was peripheral, as prosecutors said that he simply picked up a cousin when her car broke down and drove her to the hotel that his mother was staying at. Devonta even testified against his mother, receiving two years of supervised release. His record will be wiped clean if he doesn’t get in any trouble during that time. Jesse Mae was given a 25-year prison sentence, while the other five people involved in the kidnapping were sentenced to between eight months and a year in prison.

Pollard averaged 12.0 points and 6.4 boards for EMCC. He’s a dynamic athlete that needs to spend time developing his strength and perimeter game.