It's official: quarterback Shea Patterson will join the program as a transfer from the University of Mississippi, U-M announced Tuesday.
Patterson, a product of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., played two seasons with the Rebels, completing 238-of-392 passes (60.7 pct.) for 3,139 yards and 23 touchdowns. He started all 10 games that he played at quarterback for Mississippi.
Patterson started the first seven games this year before an injury sidelined him for the remainder of the regular season. He completed 166-of-260 passes (63.8 pct.) for 2,259 yards and 17 touchdowns.
The first-ever freshman to start three games at Mississippi, Patterson started the final three contests of the 2016 season, completing 72-of-132 attempts for 880 yards and six touchdowns.
The USA Today High School All-American and five-star prospect in 2015 earned MVP honors at the U.S. Army All-American Game. He led IMG to its first-ever undefeated season in program history after throwing for 1,533 yards and 18 touchdowns after throwing for 5,083 yards and 72 TDs in two years at Calvary Baptist.
He was a National Football Foundation Freshman Scholar Athlete and an SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient in 2016.
Patterson hopes to be eligible immediately in 2018. The Detroit News' Angelique Chengelis reported recently he's likely to find out in January or February whether or not that's feasible.
From The News:
The key for Patterson and other Ole Miss players who are seeking transfers in light of the recent NCAA punishment, which includes a bowl ban in 2018 on top of the self-imposed ban this year, is whether the NCAA finds Ole Miss acted with “egregious behavor” when it allegedly misled recruits about sanctions.
If that is how the NCAA rules, players like Patterson, who will be a junior next year, likely can transfer without penalty. Transfers who are not graduates must, per NCAA rules, sit out the season before having eligibility restored.
Thomas Mars, the Arkansas-based attorney who represented former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt in his case against the school, is representing several Ole Miss players hoping to transfer without penalty of sitting out a year.
“At this point, there’s no room for Ole Miss to deny it unlawfully kept the NOA (NCAA Notice of Allegations) it had just received under wraps for five months while the school misled prospects and their parents about how the NCAA investigation would likely impact the future of the football program and the goals and dreams of the student-athletes who ended up signing with Ole Miss under false pretenses,” Mars told The News.
Patterson has been on campus and working out.
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