GENE SMITH APPLAUDS GEORGIA, NCAA FOR WORKING WITH OHIO STATE TO ALLOW NEW QUARTERBACK JUSTIN FIELDS TO PLAY IMMEDIATELY
Just over one month after he arrived at Ohio State following his transfer from Georgia, new Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields’ request for a waiver for immediate eligibility was approved by the NCAA last Friday.
Following the successful outcome of a process that often takes several months to reach a resolution, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith is pleased with how quickly a decision was reached and how both Georgia and the NCAA worked with Ohio State to allow for a ruling in Fields’ favor.
“It worked extremely well,” Smith said in an interview with
Eleven Warriors on Thursday. “It moved swiftly. I know people probably thought it should move faster, but frankly, in our space, it actually moved pretty quickly.”
It helped, Smith said, that Justin Kume – Ohio State’s associate athletic director for football compliance – already knew Georgia’s director of football compliance. Smith, meanwhile, had conversations with Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity, and said he has a “great relationship” with the people at the NCAA who oversee the transfer waiver process.
Kyle Rowland of the
Toledo Blade reported last week that Georgia initially filed a written response with the NCAA objecting to Fields’ waiver request. Smith said Georgia acquiesced, however, after seeing Fields’ written statement to the NCAA and recognizing that Fields did not make any accusations about the University of Georgia’s culture as a whole.
“They were concerned. And they were only concerned about they hadn’t seen a statement. So they were only concerned about what the accusations would be. And rightfully so,” Smith said of Georgia’s initial objection. “I agreed with them. They wanted to be clear that it wasn’t about environment. It wasn’t about Athens of the University of (Georgia). It was a single case, and Justin and his family did a great job in articulating that it was a single case, a single incident.”
Fields’ decision to transfer from Georgia, and subsequent appeal to the NCAA for a waiver for immediate eligibility, stemmed in part from an incident that occurred in September, when Georgia baseball player Adam Sasser used a racial slur toward Fields during the Bulldogs’ football game against Tennessee. Sasser was ultimately dismissed from the Georgia baseball team, and Smith applauded the way Georgia handled that situation, saying it was not indicative of the culture in Athens.
“They don’t have an environment where they’re not respectful to African-Americans or women,” Smith said of Georgia. “This was a single incident involving two people. So it was not anything about their culture. And I wanted to make sure that they understood that we understood that.
“They handled that situation masterfully. Back in the day, when I was coming up, none of that stuff was dealt with the way they dealt with it. So I applauded them. And so at the end of the day, that was a concern for theirs and Justin and his family, where they really addressed that concern.”
Fields’ case for immediate eligibility has drawn plenty of skepticism, as many people have questioned whether the true motivation for his transfer was the opportunity to start this season at Ohio State, whereas he would have remained Jake Fromm's backup for at least one more year at Georgia. Critics of the NCAA’s ruling have expressed concern that his waiver will open the floodgates for anyone to transfer and be immediately eligible, even if that transfer is only motivated by a desire for more playing time.
Smith, however, believes that Fields’ reason for leaving Georgia is genuine and that it should not set a precedent for other student-athletes to freely transfer and receive immediate eligibility.
“I was hopeful that everybody would understand that it’s a single case, and I think the NCAA got it right,” Smith said. “It was an egregious situation.”
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