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SEC clears Powe to play, three years after signing with Rebels
By Chris Low
ESPN.com
Updated: July 28, 2008, 10:05 PM ET

Jerrell Powe's long, trying wait is over. After one of the more intensive eligibility fights in recent NCAA history, Powe learned Monday that he'd been ruled fully eligible to practice and play football this season for Mississippi. Officials at Ole Miss made the announcement upon being notified by SEC officials, nearly three and a half years after Powe first signed with Ole Miss in February 2005.

"It's just a relief," said Powe's attorney, Don Jackson. "This is a young man that has worked as hard as any kid I've ever represented, and I've represented a bunch. The fact that he's worked and gotten through this process is a testament to him, to his family and to all the people around him who've worked to help him get to this point."

Powe, a 21-year-old, 6-foot-3, 340-pound defensive tackle, was one of the top prospects in the country when he signed with the Rebels in 2005. He didn't meet NCAA qualifying standards and attended Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy. He re-signed with Ole Miss in 2006, but was again denied eligibility by the NCAA, which said that Powe received too much assistance with his course work.

Last year, Powe attended classes at Ole Miss and was on athletic financial aid but wasn't eligible to practice or play. The NCAA said he needed to meet NCAA and institutional academic requirements before being ruled eligible. SEC commissioner Mike Slive was the final one to sign off on Powe's eligibility.

"We're sort of in uncharted waters with this case," Jackson said. "The NCAA, in effect, has created a classification that really didn't exist, and this has the potential to have an impact on other student-athletes in the SEC."

Jackson said Powe was essentially admitted to Ole Miss last year under the old partial-qualifier rules -- allowing him to go on financial aid, sit out the season and be able to play this season as long as he met continuing eligibility requirements. But because partial-qualifier status no longer exists and because the SEC doesn't accept non-qualifiers, Jackson said the responsibility was in effect placed back on the conference as to whether Powe would be eligible. That's where he said Slive entered the picture. Recent SEC legislation gave Slive more power to rule in non-qualifier cases.

"Basically, the SEC's initial eligibility rules will generally mirror the NCAA's, which allow some non-qualifiers to attend school and try to get their grades up before competing," Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone told the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger. "The one caveat is that any non-qualifier still has to be approved by the [SEC] commissioner."

According to a release by Ole Miss, the SEC informed the university of the following: "Under SEC legislation in place at the time of Mr. Powe's initial enrollment at the University of Mississippi during the fall semester 2007, a partial qualifier may be deemed eligible after successfully completing an academic year in residence including fulfillment of NCAA progress toward degree requirements. The NCAA's action of September 7, 2007 effectively made Mr. Powe a partial qualifier; therefore, based upon his academic record at the University of Mississippi he is deemed eligible under SEC Bylaws."

The question now becomes: How ready is Powe to play? Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said this summer that Powe had lost weight and was down to 340 pounds after getting up to as much as 380. Powe hasn't played in a game, though, since the 2005 season at Hargrave.
He re-signed with Ole Miss in 2006 but was again denied eligibility by the NCAA. Soon afterward, Powe sued Ole Miss and the NCAA but later dropped that suit. He practiced briefly last season during a 14-day window allowed by the NCAA and was quickly elevated to first team, but was later ruled ineligible to play.

"I am deeply grateful to Ole Miss and to the SEC for the opportunity to be admitted here and to prove that I can succeed academically and on the football field," Powe said in a statement released by Ole Miss. "I have always had faith and a plan, and both are beginning to show results. Through God's help and help from Ole Miss professors, counselors and coaches, I have successfully completed my first year of school at Ole Miss. However, my journey is just beginning. "

Powe said he will not conduct any interviews until he proves himself "both in the classroom and on the football field."


'Cocks' Lecorn has drug charge dismissed, not suspended from team
Associated Press
Updated: July 28, 2008, 8:15 PM ET

CAYCE, S.C. -- An attorney for South Carolina freshman receiver Dion Lecorn says the simple possession of marijuana charge against his client has been dismissed. Attorney Lowell Bernstein says the case was dismissed Monday for lack of evidence.

Bernstein says Lecorn took a university-administered drug test two days after his February arrest and it showed no signs of drug use. South Carolina athletic spokesman Steve Fink says Lecorn was not suspended from the team. Lecorn was fourth on the team with 27 catches for 315 yards and three touchdowns in 10 games last season.


Oklahoma DE English out indefinitely after appendectomy
By Tim Griffin
ESPN.com
Updated: July 28, 2008, 10:45 PM ET

Preseason Big 12 defensive player of the year Auston English is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery for an emergency appendectomy last weekend in Norman, Okla.
Oklahoma sports information director Kenny Mossman said Monday that OU doctors believe English will be ready for the Sooners' opener Aug. 30 against Chattanooga. The Sooners begin preseason team practices next Monday.

"The operation is already a week old and he's begun his recuperation," Mossman said. "Our trainers think he can make a complete recovery and be ready for the opening game of the season."

English, a 6-foot-3, 253-pound junior from Canadian, Texas, was announced as a preseason All-Big 12 selection last week and is on the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award that is given annually to the nation's top defensive end.

Despite missing Oklahoma's last three regular-season games last season with a hairline ankle fracture, English was selected as an All-Big 12 defensive end and led the conference with 9½ sacks.


Competition for Kentucky's next QB takes back seat after arrests
Associated Press
Updated: July 28, 2008, 6:15 PM ET

Rich Brooks has spent the last eight months deflecting countless questions about who will replace Andre Woodson at quarterback for Kentucky this season. A week before camp begins, figuring out who will be under center when the Wildcats face Louisville on Aug. 31 is the least of the Kentucky coach's problems.

The arrests of quarterbacks Curtis Pulley and Will Fidler in separate incidents last week have taken the focus off what could have been a heated competition with Mike Hartline to fill Woodson's shoes. Pulley was arrested on traffic violations July 22, while Fidler was charged with disorderly conduct in Lexington on Friday.

Brooks had no comment on the arrests, and school spokesman Tony Neely said both matters will likely be handled internally, though the arrests almost certainly hinder both players' chances of winning the starting job over Hartline.

Last week's arrest was Pulley's second run-in with police in as many months. He was cited for marijuana possession outside a Louisville bar June 12 and was placed in a diversion program. That case is set for review Sept. 12.

The legal problems are a major step back for Pulley, who has spent three years trying to fulfill the promise he showed during a spectacular high school career at Hopkinsville, where he threw for 62 touchdowns. Pulley played at both wide receiver and quarterback for the Wildcats in 2005 and 2006 before leaving school briefly after Woodson took a firm hold of the starting job. He returned last fall and was redshirted, but played well enough in practice to be named the Most Valuable Offensive Player on the scout team.

Pulley played well during spring drills and was a star during the Blue-White game, completing 12-of-26 passes for 134 yards with a touchdown and an interception and added 82 yards on the ground, including the game-winning 17-yard touchdown in the final minutes.

Brooks was quick to praise both Hartline and Pulley during last week's Governor's Cup luncheon, saying both players would alternate snaps with the first team and that he would wait as long as necessary before picking a starter.

"What they do well is going to determine who is going to start, but also the one that has less negative plays is probably making a major step forward," Brooks said.
Brooks didn't rule out using Fidler either. The sophomore is recovering from a shoulder injury but impressed Brooks during the spring.

That status could be in jeopardy after Fidler, a sophomore, was arrested after getting into a fight outside of a downtown restaurant. Fidler's "actions served no legitimate purpose and caused undo annoyance and alarm to business patrons," according to the police report.