Thanks for your input... I hope you are wrong, but it looks like a parent (or parents) way of appeasing a son, so they can get him to go where they want.... JMO
I hope that is not the case for his sake as well as UT's. If he doesn't like VT then he suffers as do his parents. A 5 hour drive isn't all that significant of a barrier if he really does not want to be at VT.
				
						