Cuff gains eligibility

I found out about new UGA cornerback Vance Cuff being awarded his eligibility this afternoon in my truck while on the way home from Athens. So since I was sitting in traffic in my favorite location, Hwy. 316, I called him to talk about it while rolling along at about 1.5 mph. Obviously, he was in a good mood. He said he'd started to lose hope that he'd become eligible after the NCAA Clearinghouse denied his third appeal. It wasn't until Georgia took up the case and went straight to the NCAA that he finally was approved.

It's interesting that it made it to that point. Here's how it basically worked out. Cuff's high school, Colquitt County High in Moultrie, argued that Cuff's oral speech communication class should count as a core credit, giving him the 14 necessary to become eligible to be an incoming NCAA athlete. The NCAA Clearinghouse doesn't see it that way and would only count the course as an elective -- despite the school's argument that the same course is allowed as a core class in other school systems. That would have left Cuff a credit short of eligibility.

The Clearinghouse still does not approve this particular class at Colquitt County, but the good news for Cuff is that the Clearinghouse isn't always the be-all, end-all decision maker.

UGA academics officials filed a waiver petition directly with the NCAA -- arguing on Cuff's merit as a prospective student-athlete, rather than on the merit of this particular speech course, as CCHS has to do with the Clearinghouse -- and the NCAA agreed that he had a solid enough case to grant eligibility. Interestingly, the Clearinghouse will fall under the auspices of NCAA control next year, rather than the separate entity that it is now (it's simply contracted by the NCAA to evaluate initial eligibility certification). UGA's eligibility officer Glada Horvat explained this waiver stuff to me on the phone (I was sitting in traffic near downtown Atlanta by the time of THIS phone call) and thank goodness she was so helpful. I can't say I fully understood how the process worked in this instance.

Anyway, the bottom line is that Cuff is eligible to compete and he'll report this Friday. He's going to room with Walter Hill, although he says Hill's about the only new freshman he hasn't met. Since the eligibility tie-up kept him from reporting and working out this summer, you have to think he's a strong redshirt candidate. I got the feeling from talking to him this afternoon, though, that he's just happy to be reporting at all. Sounds like he thinks everything else is icing on the cake.