Shea Patterson Still In Wait-And-See Mode With Eligibility
There had been hope Michigan quarterback transfer Shea Patterson might be ruled eligible as early as this week, but the former Ole Miss signal caller will have to wait a bit longer.
Patterson and several teammates requested transfer waivers after the NCAA came down with sanctions on the Rebels in December, contending they were were misled by former Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze about potential violations.
Patterson's attorney, Thomas Mars, reportedly told CBSSports.com the NCAA received the full application package Feb. 26, and that Ole Miss also received the package as a "courtesy" from Michigan. The 10-day waiting period for Ole Miss to review it didn't start, however, because the package didn't come from the NCAA.
Ole Miss has yet to respond.
"So, from a technical rules perspective, despite having all the information for the past two weeks, Old Miss could continue to keep its position on the Shea Patterson waiver request to itself for at least another two weeks," Mars said.
"In the meantime, as everyone knows, the process is at a standstill."
Ole Miss can choose to make a favorable response, a negative response or no response. The NCAA would then rule at some point after, but several have said they don't expect it to take long once it gets to that point.
"For reasons that aren't entirely clear to me, I learned [Sunday] that the NCAA had not yet sent a duplicate copy of the waiver application package to Ole Miss," Mars said.
There's still plenty of optimism that Patterson will be immediately eligible ... however, it might take a bit longer than first hoped.
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