Pruitt: Cade Mays Decision "Just Common Sense"

Jeremy Pruitt has been a vocal advocate for the one-time transfer rule since it has been a talking point. Now, Pruitt is in another situation heading into the start of the season, where he is waiting for a decision on a high-profile transfer.

During yesterday's media session, Pruitt spoke on Cade Mays' transfer decision.

Pruitt was asked how Mays was handled in practice while waiting on the decision, which led to this statement: "We two spot so everybody gets the same amount of reps so Cade (Mays) is in there working just like everybody else. Last week the question to me was about his waiver. It's interesting to me, for him, that the NCAA and everybody associated with college athletics, we always try to serve the kids, right? And Cade's a guy that based off of none of his doing, he has nothing to do with it. There's a circumstance there obviously with a lawsuit between his parents and the University of Georgia, and it was something that started while he was there. I'm sure he worked hard to be the best player he could be. I'm sure there was probably pressure on both sides from their coaching staff and him as a player. It's just something that doesn't happen a whole lot. So it is an unusual circumstance. Him electing to transfer and us applying for a waiver, to me, it's just common sense. If there's a lawsuit going on with your employer, it's probably not the healthiest situation in the world, and that's not bashing anybody at Georgia, that's just common sense to me. Hopefully, he'll get a chance to play this year. He's working hard every day, just like he's going to. It would be very disappointing on many levels if any kid, in this pandemic, is denied the opportunity to play."

Earlier in the week, Pruitt said about Mays: 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."

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.”

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