Report: NCAA reaches decision on Tennessee OL Cade Mays’ eligibility waiver
By Keith Farner
Published:
One of the more high profile lineman in the SEC has reportedly received news about his immediate eligibility waiver. Tennessee lineman Cade Mays’ waiver has been denied, and the university plans to appeal.
That news comes from Wes Rucker of 247Sports, and it’s a blow to the Vols because of Mays’ talent and experience at Georgia, where he played multiple positions along the offensive line. Mays is a Knoxville, Tennessee native, and it was a surprise when the Tennessee legacy chose to start his college career at Georgia.
Mays had been a longtime recruit to join Tennessee’s program under Butch Jones but after being committed to his hometown Volunteers for over two years, the 5-star lineman signed with Georgia as a member of the program’s 2018 recruiting class.
The sequence of events of his transfer began when offensive line coach Sam Pittman left Georgia for Arkansas, and Tennessee signed Cade’s younger brother Cooper Mays as a member of its 2020 recruiting class. Then Mays hired attorney Tom Mars, who has successfully managed to get a number of athletes eligible immediately in recent years, including Justin Fields at Ohio State and Shea Patterson at Michigan.
About the time Mays announced plans to leave Georgia, news leaked about father Kevin Mays lawsuit against Georgia following an incident in Athens during a recruiting visit. Kevin Mays’ allegedly had part of his finger severed and is seeking $3 million in damages from Georgia.
The timing of the next development in this case is unclear since Mays hired Mars about seven months ago.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
