Powe awaits final approval from Ole Miss

[rebeljim]

The three-year saga of Jerrell Powe is finally nearing an end. Powe is awaiting final approval from Ole Miss on whether he will be officially eligible. That announcement could come as early as mid-week. The NCAA and the SEC have both approved Powe, and he is now waiting on Ole Miss athletic officials to sign off on his eligibility for the upcoming season. Ole Miss has requested notarized documents and affidavits dealing with Powe from Joe Barnett of Waynesboro. Barnett is Powe’s former guardian and was to send those papers with the athlete back to Oxford on Monday. Barnett says he has talked to University officials and they seem to think the final process is nearly over. Barnett noted that Chancellor Robert Khayat, Athletic Director Pete Boone, and compliance officer David Wells will meet one more time and review all the documents pertaining to Powe’s case. The NCAA and the SEC have cleared Powe to play and the official documents have been sent to Ole Miss for final review. Ole Miss in their final review is making sure no NCAA rules have been violated in the Powe case. Ole Miss officials, in taking their time with the decision, are making sure the money payments made to Powe’s lawyers for legal expenses and Powe’s back surgery last summer had not violated any NCAA rules. Powe’s guardian and lawyers were to supply proof to Ole Miss on the financial arrangements. Also some other minor matters pertaining to Powe had to be addressed.

Both Ole Miss and the SEC have refused to comment on his eligibility. Barnett and J. Dewayne Thomas, a Chancery Judge in Jackson, have dual power of attorney over Powe since he recently turned the age of 21. They have power over his legal and private affairs. Barnett stated that he nor Thomas would represent Powe if he did have an opportunity after his Ole Miss playing days of playing professional football. “I am sure not qualified to be a sports agent, but I am here to help Jerrell with advice when asked,” said Barnett. Donald Jackson, an Alabama attorney who represented Powe last summer in his admission to the University, has not been Powe’s attorney since last summer, according to Barnett. “Really, we have been told Jerrell does not need an attorney, but if he needed one, Jim Carroll of Jackson would probably handle any legal matters,” said Barnett.

The Leader-Call contacted both the SEC office and Ole Miss sports media about when we would hear something on the Powe announcement. The SEC office’s Charles Bloom via e-mail told us that “current plans for this announcement would come from Ole Miss, but that may change.” Ole Miss spokes-person Langston Rogers said by e-mail, “I do not expect any type press conference. We will most likely do a press release.”

For Powe, the mammoth 345-pound defensive tackle, this will end a process that began in February of 2005 when he signed with Ole Miss out of Wayne County High School. He failed to be cleared by the NCAA to play as a freshman and went to Harvgrave Military Academy in Virginia. He signed with Ole Miss again in 2006, but once again the NCAA stepped in and failed to clear Powe. In denying Powe, the NCAA expressed concern about the amount of BYU correspondence course work completed by Powe in a given time frame. At that time he filed a lawsuit against Ole Miss for not granting him admission to the University. That lawsuit was eventually dropped, and in 2007 the NCAA basically let the SEC take the lead on the issue by declaring Powe a "partial qualifier," meaning he could attend school with athletic-based financial aid but could not practice and play with the football team. Powe passed 24 hours at Ole Miss over the last year and had a 2.3 GPA after the spring semester. New SEC legislation adopted in the spring softened the league's stance on accepting partial qualifiers and gave Commissioner Mike Silve the power to rule on a case-by-case basis.


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[hill william]

Good news, indeed...now lets just hope he can stay in school.

[RebelConvert]

...and now... starting for the Rebs... 47-year-old Jerrell Powe...

Good thing there's that rule about eligibility.

[maroby001]

...and now... starting for the Rebs... 47-year-old Jerrell Powe...

Good thing there's that rule about eligibility.

LOL, I am sorry but that was just too funny. Seriously though after what this man has gone through I certianly hope to be seeing him terrorize teams this year.

[RebelConvert]

...and now... starting for the Rebs... 47-year-old Jerrell Powe...

Good thing there's that rule about eligibility.

LOL, I am sorry but that was just too funny. Seriously though after what this man has gone through I certianly hope to be seeing him terrorize teams this year.

Agreed.

[BigTrev34]

He better be ready bc most of us think hes God.

[RebinGA]

He better be ready bc most of us think hes God.

Dude - is that a tutu you're wearing in that picture?