Latest in the Otis Reese Saga: Allegations of Racism and UGA Disputing Claims
Ole Miss football and head coach Lane Kiffin have been doing their best to push the NCAA in the direction of clearing Georgia transfer Otis Reece for months now. However, in the past 24-hours much has started to head up surrounding Reece.
Reece released a long statement on social media yesterday, which you can read in full below. In the statement, Reese claims that Georgia is intentionally holding up his waiver request following the transfer and goes on to call out UGA head coach Kirby Smart.
More disturbing are his allegations of racism and racist culture within Georgia and the athletics department.
"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."
On Wednesday morning, the University of Georgia released a statement regarding Reese' claims, denying any intent to delay the transfer waiver process and the alleged culture of racism.
Georgia offered, at Reese request, to release their response to the NCAA.
“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,” the statement from UGA read. "UGA disputes any suggestion that it maintains an unsafe, unsupportive, or racially insensitive environment.”
Nothing about this case seems normal. The NCAA has cleared so many players all summer for immediate eligibility via transfer, from a litany of quarterbacks to Tennessee lineman Cade Mays.
For what it's worth, Mays, also a former UGA player, has also made similar claims about a 'toxic environment' at Georgia.
Regardless, it seems unlikely the NCAA will clear Reese before Ole Miss' SEC opener on Saturday against Florida. Even if it happened, he would still need to be cleared by the SEC before returning to play. None of that makes his allegations any less serious.
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