Otis Reese Says Smart Manipulated Him, Racist Events Led to Transfer
Otis Reese transferred from Georgia this offseason to Ole Miss and is currently awaiting approval of his immediate eligibility waiver that he's applied for with the NCAA.
Today, on his social media feeds he released a statement that claims several things about the University of Georgia, the coaching staff, and Kirby Smart in particular.
Below, you will find the statement from Otis Reese.
"The reason I chose to transfer is because my 1 1/2 years at UGA took a devastating mental toll on me. From my first moment I stepped on campus, it was not what I expected. The Racist events that I kept experiencing weighed on me heavily and seemed never-ending.
"Then when I chose to leave the team, I was led to believe by Coach Smart that if I finished the season and not "Let my team down" as he requested, he would support both my decision to transfer and my request to be immediately eligible. (The NCAA has at text message from myself to Coach Smart which verifies my intent to leave on Oct 4th of last season, in which I was manipulated to play the very next day, when I truly was at my darkest moment.)
"When I was a student-athlete at UGA, I was pulled over and harassed by police officers, not once but twice. The first time I was driving alone and the second time I was a passenger in my teammate's car. On both occasions the officers were extremely aggressive, accusing us of using drugs and searching the car without any basis and told us they would take us to jail. This type of harassment was a constant discussion around players throughout my time at UGA as many of my teammates were falsely arrested and harassed.
"Both of my times I was polite, respectful, and compliant, but both these experiences left me shaken. I received tickets & citations. (Upon request of Body Cam footage from the Athens police we were told that none existed.)
"One of my closest friends and teammates was called a n***** by a white student-athlete. Another group of white classmates mocked slavery and pretended to whip each other. These were two very public events. I didn't want to be part of a campus where my classmates held that kind of hate in their hearts. None of those things were ever addressed by the coaches at UGA. There was literally nobody to speak to about these types of things without having fear of losing your position on the team."
We have reached out to the SID at the University of Georgia for a request for comment. Georgia released the following statement on Wednesday morning in response to Reese's claim:
We cannot comment on student-athlete eligibility matters due to federal privacy laws, but we would be happy to share our full response to Otis Reese’s waiver request, if he provides a signed release allowing us to do so.
UGA disputes any suggestion that it maintains an unsafe, unsupportive, or racially insensitive environment.
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