Tennessee files appeal following NCAA denial of Cade Mays eligibility waiver transfer

Knoxville, Tenn.-- Following Day 1 of Fall Camp, Jeremy Pruitt offered media availability. Pruitt was quickly asked by Volquest's Austin Price about the eligibility status of Cade Mays.

Pruitt updated the topic by saying, "We do have an update with Cade. We obviously applied for a waiver for initial eligibility here, and it was denied. We’re in the process of appealing that. For me, it is frustrating, and it’s frustrating for Cade. Just looking at it, for his sake, a guy that, to me, I think he was a really good player at Georgia, and I don’t know how he did there, but I know playing against him, I thought he was one of the better players in the league. I thought he played the right way."

Pruitt continued about Mays, "The circumstances surrounding him and his family is something that he had no control over. When you look at a young man once he transfers, going through the process of how is he going to be eligible, there’s a lot that goes into that. He’s sitting there with this case looming. Does that affect where he’s at on the depth chart? Does that affect anything that goes on around him? It’s an unusual circumstance.

Pruitt also expanded on his thoughts about transfers, in general, stating, "You guys know me, I’m a transfer myself, and I think back to when I transferred, there was a period of about 10 weeks that I didn’t know whether or not I was going to be eligible. I thought about those 10 weeks when we got this denial, and there’s a lot of uncertainty there. I hate it for him. I hate it for every young man and woman out there that wants to transfer. I’m in favor of the one-time transfer. My question is why should we stand in the way of a young man or woman trying to figure out where the right place for them is, and right now, that’s not the rule. I hope that it eventually will be the rule. I know everybody that has transferred from our place, I have written a letter for a recommendation for them to the NCAA that requested that they be approved immediate eligibility. I know it’s frustrating for Cade, and it’s frustrating for our team.”

Since the news broke, Trey Smith took to Twitter to voice his frustrations, and a petition has started to circulate to #FreeCadeMays.

Mays was projected to be a Day 1 starter in Knoxville, so Tennessee will hope to get news on him in the near future, as they have 24 practices remaining before the first game at South Carolina on September 26th. Jerome Carvin is the swing guy on the interior of Tennessee's offensive line, so he could be thrust into the position quickly.