The mother of a graduate player at Alabama says that head coach Nick Saban is blocking his transfer to SEC member Georgia, despite allowing other transfers.
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In recent years, players who have been able to obtain their degree from one college are allowed to transfer to another FBS program without having to lose a year of eligibility, a reward from the NCAA for actually being a student first before an athlete (although that has been debated by some).
Even with that rule change, coaches still put restrictions on where a player can transfer to. In many cases, it’s schools in the same conference as well as rivals and anyone who is on the first team’s schedule for the rest of that player’s time in the college game – although some coaches are cool and don’t put any restrictions on where a player can go.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban is not one of those coaches, at least according to the mother of a player who is trying to leave the Crimson Tide program. Defensive back Maurice Smith was initially granted his release from a scholarship in June, only to have it taken back the following month (a move he is trying to appeal).
His mother told a fan website for the Georgia Bulldogs that he wants to join the program (and their new head coach, former ‘Bama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart), but it’s being held up by Saban for an unknown reason:
"“In (Saban’s) mind, the best decision is for him to stay here (at Alabama). And he doesn’t think anything other than that is best for the kid. …“They’re being difficult. Intentionally,” Samyra Smith said. “It’s his choice. It should be his choice, if he wants to leave here, he should be able to do that. He wants to go where he feels like he’ll have the level of success he wants to have. It may work, it may not. But it should be his choice.”"
Georgia and Alabama do not play in the regular season (although they could meet in the SEC title game) and Saban recently allowed the transfer of another player to SEC member school Missouri, so the coach seems a little bit childish when it comes to this move if everything is as Samyra Smith says.
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