Education is Powe(r)

Three years after the 2005 prospect signed to play for Ole Miss, the wait is finally over – Jerrell Powe is finally eligible to play football.

Powe, who’s saga has shown that the NCAA is both committed to education and a stickler for rules, initially decided to play for Ole Miss coming out of high school. However, he had only successfully completed 7 of the 14 core courses needed for academic eligibility. He attended prep school and took correspondence courses to make up for the missing credits, but the NCAA and SEC were both suspicious after he claimed to make up all of the needed courses in just four months (typically, you complete 4-6 per year). If he couldn’t handle the average number in the past, how could he ever have completed well over the average in well under the time?

Later, Powe was also investigated for possibly getting “too much help,” and in the end, he was denied eligibility for play or practice three times. Today, Ole Miss announced that he finally met academic standards, and would be playing in 2008.

My question is this, Jerrell Powe. Will you continue down the straight and narrow path of academic success, or will you just do what it takes to get by so you can play?

Time will tell, but as always, I’m an advocate for education before sports.