Mid Day Report

OXFORD – The University of Mississippi’s admissions office did not grant Jerrell Powe, the former Parade All-American defensive tackle from Waynesboro, his request for admission to the university Monday.

Powe meet with Dr. Charlotte Fant twice Monday seeking admission to the university. It was the first day of classes at Ole Miss, and Powe wanted to be admitted with all other incoming students. Fant told the family that the biggest problem was the complexity of Powe’s high school academic courses. Powe has taken courses at Wayne County High School, Hargrave Military Academy, and high school correspondence courses from Brigham Young University.

Fant’s concerns centered around the fact that Powe needed every one of his courses in order to be admitted as a student athlete at Ole Miss or another NCAA school. She told Powe that if the NCAA clearinghouse did not certify all his high school course work, then he would be ineligible for an athletic scholarship at Ole Miss. He could be admitted as a non-scholarship student since his GPA and ACT were up to par, but he could not play sports at Ole Miss. The ACT sent an official letter to Ole Miss last Thursday endorsing his score of 18 on the ACT.

The NCAA clearing house received all of Powe’s paperwork that they requested last Friday afternoon from Powe as well as Ole Miss and Wayne County High School. The committee had already met for the day when the paperwork arrived. The committee meets every Friday and then hands down decisions accordingly. If the committee expedites the process, Powe’s case will be heard this Friday.

A family friend said that Powe is determined to attend Ole Miss and is willing to wait until a positive decision is rendered. Powe was expected to return to Waynesboro today and await the clearinghouse’s decision. (Laurel Leader)