East Carolina may be on the verge of
bringing in a major talent for its football program via the transfer
route.Jamar Bryant, who was
rated North Carolina's No. 7 prospect by SuperPrep recruiting magazine
as a senior in 2003 at Richmond Senior High in Rockingham, asked for and
received last week a release from the letter-of-intent he signed in
February with Georgia. Bryant told Georgia head coach Mark Richt that he
intended to enroll at East Carolina.
"Jamar Bryant has asked for and
received release from his letter-of-intent with the University of
Georgia,'' Richt said in a statement released by the school. "He had
decided he wants to go to East Carolina University, which is closer to
his home. We certainly respect his decision and wish him the best in the
future.''
ECU officials would not confirm the
transfer and Bryant couldn't be reached for comment Thursday. Bryant's
former coach at Richmond, Ed Emory, has not spoken with the player since
Christmas. But Richt did call him last Thursday to tell him of Bryant's
decision.
"He (Richt) said he'd (Bryant) been
admitted to ECU. That's the only thing I can tell you,'' said Emory, a
former head coach for the Pirates. "I have not talked to him (Bryant). I
know he had his heart set on going to Georgia. But he didn't get
admitted by the admissions office, so this is a great opportunity for
him.''
Emory has tried to contact ECU coach
Skip Holtz about Bryant's situation, but he said Holtz and the rest of
the coaching staff have been on vacation.
Richt said Bryant, who played
quarterback and wide receiver at Richmond, was not denied by Georgia's
faculty admissions committee, which had previously rejected other
signees. But the NCAA Clearinghouse apparently had not approved Bryant
for admission this fall, which led him to ask for the release.
"They (ECU) could guarantee that he
could get in,'' Richt told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. "We
couldn't.''
Bryant, a 6-foot-2, 195-pounder, first
signed with Georgia after a stellar senior season at Richmond. He was
the co-offensive player of the year in the Mid-Southeastern 4-A
Conference after completing 77 of 159 passes for 1,276 yards and 12
touchdowns. He also rushed for 864 yards and 13 scores on 134 attempts,
caught four passes for 93 yards and a touchdown, and averaged 37 yards
per punt.
The Bulldogs won a recruiting battle
over scholarship offers from the likes of Clemson, North Carolina, N.C.
State and Tennessee for Bryant. But he failed to qualify academically
and spent the past academic year at Hargrave Military Academy in
Virginia.
In early June, Bryant told The
Rockingham Daily Journal that he had achieved a qualifying score on the
SAT that would make him eligible to enroll at Georgia. Bryant, who
played in just two football games at Hargrave after suffering broken
ribs, told the Journal he had a 920 score on the SAT and had earned a
3.3 grade point average in four quarters at Hargrave.
But with the start of pre-season
football drills scheduled to begin in less than a month, and his status
at Georgia still being held up by the NCAA Clearinghouse, Bryant
apparently decided to seek another place to play. ECU is an option
because even if Bryant doesn't qualify academically, the Pirates can
enroll him as a non-qualifier. Georgia does not accept non-qualifiers.
"He just wanted to be sure (he had
someplace to play),'' Georgia's Richt told the Journal Constitution.
"Plus, it's closer to home for him and will be a lost easier for his
family to see him play.''
Bryant was scheduled to play wide
receiver or defensive back at Georgia, but Emory said he could help ECU
at any number of positions.
"He can play where ever you put him,''
Emory said. "He can play running back, linebacker, defensive back, wide
receiver or quarterback. He can play. I would say they've got a choice
to make, but that's the kind of player you want. He'll have a great
career at East Carolina, if that's where he winds up.''
