GA News: OnlineAthens - Alabama gives full release to DB Maurice Smith

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From OnlineAthens.com
August 10th, 2016 06:37 PM

The path for defensive back Maurice Smith to transfer to Georgia has opened up after Alabama reversed course in blocking him from the chance to play for the Bulldogs.
“We are still waiting on a response from the SEC,” Smiths’ father, also named Maurice, said in a text. “It’s not over yet.”
The Tuscaloosa News, citing sources, first reported that Alabama gave Smith a full release.
That came after coach Nick Saban indicated Wednesday that the league office now will determine if it will approve a waiver. Saban had previously maintained he would not allow Smith to go to another SEC school as a graduate transfer.
“We have done everything that we can do institutionally to allow the conference to make the decision about whatever they decide is in the best interest of the conference and the SEC rules relative to Maurice Smith,” Saban said. “So that is past us now. It is beyond us.”
An Alabama spokesman said he could not go beyond what Saban told the media.
The SEC doesn’t comment on requests to waive SEC rules and won’t comment on the Smith case, according to a league spokesman.
“As part of the SEC waiver process, a due diligence procecure ensures that pertinent information from the involved parties is gathered,” a league statement said. “This information is gathered for the purpose of a thoughtful and appropriate consideration of the particular facts associated with each case. The intent is for the waiver process to be handled in an efficient but deliberate manner, so the timeline for resolution of a waiver request varies with each unique situation.”
SEC rules state any transfer within the conference are not eligible to play until the student fulfills a residence requirement of one full academic year or two full semesters. The league also has a rule that affects graduate transfers to SEC schools that says the player should have two years of eligiblity remaining to be able to receive aid, practice and play. A transfer may seek waivers of those bylaws.
Each waiver request is reveiwed on a case by case basis, the league says. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey ultimately makes the decision.
Smith played three years for Alabama and graduated on Saturday. He was in line to start as a nickel back for the Crimson Tide.
He wants to play for Georgia because he is familiar with the defense that Kirby Smart and Mel Tucker, both former Alabama assistants, are running in Athens.
“That’s the same system he’s been in for three years,” his father Maurice said last week .”It just makes sense for him to be there. That’s the reason he chose Georgia.”
Now, the SEC will determine if Smith can play for the Bulldogs this season.



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