Hey, y'all... Hope everyone is doing OK under the circumstances of the past few weeks (both football and bigger things, such as the storm).
I wanted to try to share a provide a bit more clarity on one of the biggest talking points of LSU's season thus far — the academic status of John Emery Jr. — because I know it's been one of a lot of confusion and conflicting rumors of varying degrees of accuracy.
But I will also try to avoid over-delving into some of his specific academic and personal details.
Coach Ed Orgeron has said that he was informed of Emery being unavailable to play Sept. 4 in the season opener at UCLA on the eve of the game.
That timeline always made sense from the standpoint of how much Orgeron had mentioned Emery throughout fall camp and how optimistic he was for a breakout junior season from him and/or Tyrion Davis-Price. Orgeron would not have built up Emery as much as he did — as recently as the Wednesday on both the SEC coaches teleconference in the morning and his weekly radio show that night — and LSU would not have brought Emery to player interviews with us Aug. 17 if they had expected him to be ineligible.
That timeline raised a lot of confusion, though, because we were more than three weeks removed from final grades being due from summer classes and already two weeks into the fall semester. So some people were confused how LSU could just not be learning Emery's ineligibility from the summer, while others wondered how he could already be ineligible because of something occurring in the fall so early in the semester.
So somewhere along the way, a rumor began circulating about a wrong class being scheduled, or about a make-up class not being available. Mistakes are certainly possible, but the academic advisors who work with the athletes are some of the best you'll find anywhere and know those course catalogs and requirements in their sleep.
The timing always pointed toward LSU awaiting confirmation on an exception/waiver process — and likely pertaining to his overall 2020-21 academic year. We have confirmed that to indeed be the case.
Per the NCAA handbook's section 14.4.3 pertaining to "Eligibility for Competition," athletes are required to, among other specifics, both 1) maintain their progress toward graduation, and 2) pass at least 18 hours in a given school year between the fall and spring semesters.
1) The progress toward graduation pieced is calculated over the athletes' five years allotted to complete their degree, so an individual is expected to have completed 20% of their requirements during the first year, 40% before beginning the third year, 60% before beginning the fourth, etc.
2) With those 18 hours required for the fall+spring, the handbook specifically states that "hours earned during the summer may not be used to fulfill this requirement."
Summer hours are helpful to maintain — or even exceed — the pace toward graduation. But athletes are still required to pass at least 18 hours between the fall and spring. Potentially worth noting here that a student is required to carry at least 12 hours during each of those semesters to be considered a full-time student, and most students are usually advised to carry at least 15 to maintain their progression toward graduation. This may vary some for athletes, who would use summer hours to help make up for likely only taking 12 hours in the fall.
So a student-athlete who only passes 9 hours in the fall has to pass 9 in the spring, regardless of what he or she accomplishes in the summer. Or an athlete who passes just 6 hours in the fall has to pass at least 12 hours in the spring, again regardless of what he or she accomplishes in the summer. And, so on.
Hardship waivers and exceptions always exist at both the university level for any student, as well as the NCAA level for student-athletes, with regards to eligibility. And with everything in play in 2020, many student-athletes all over the country endured legitimate and understandable hardships.
As I know I saw at least one comment reference, the NCAA granted a blanket waiver last year granting all student-athletes an additional year of eligibility. That waiver allowed for student-athletes to sit out last year and still maintain four years of playing eligibility, or to play five years. But student-athletes are still required to maintain their academic eligibility, or to pursue a waiver if they do not.
And, at this point, I think you can connect the dots of how some things played out that left Orgeron and LSU moving forward under the assumption that they would have Emery available, but then found out on such a seemingly odd timeline that they would not.
Orgeron mentioned Monday that the status could theoretically change, but that that process is out of his hands. And there are some other avenues being looked into or considered at the moment.
But that's kind of the detailed look at what occurred — again, without getting too into John and his family's personal details. I hope that helps clear some things up.
I wanted to try to share a provide a bit more clarity on one of the biggest talking points of LSU's season thus far — the academic status of John Emery Jr. — because I know it's been one of a lot of confusion and conflicting rumors of varying degrees of accuracy.
But I will also try to avoid over-delving into some of his specific academic and personal details.
Coach Ed Orgeron has said that he was informed of Emery being unavailable to play Sept. 4 in the season opener at UCLA on the eve of the game.
That timeline always made sense from the standpoint of how much Orgeron had mentioned Emery throughout fall camp and how optimistic he was for a breakout junior season from him and/or Tyrion Davis-Price. Orgeron would not have built up Emery as much as he did — as recently as the Wednesday on both the SEC coaches teleconference in the morning and his weekly radio show that night — and LSU would not have brought Emery to player interviews with us Aug. 17 if they had expected him to be ineligible.
That timeline raised a lot of confusion, though, because we were more than three weeks removed from final grades being due from summer classes and already two weeks into the fall semester. So some people were confused how LSU could just not be learning Emery's ineligibility from the summer, while others wondered how he could already be ineligible because of something occurring in the fall so early in the semester.
So somewhere along the way, a rumor began circulating about a wrong class being scheduled, or about a make-up class not being available. Mistakes are certainly possible, but the academic advisors who work with the athletes are some of the best you'll find anywhere and know those course catalogs and requirements in their sleep.
The timing always pointed toward LSU awaiting confirmation on an exception/waiver process — and likely pertaining to his overall 2020-21 academic year. We have confirmed that to indeed be the case.
Per the NCAA handbook's section 14.4.3 pertaining to "Eligibility for Competition," athletes are required to, among other specifics, both 1) maintain their progress toward graduation, and 2) pass at least 18 hours in a given school year between the fall and spring semesters.
1) The progress toward graduation pieced is calculated over the athletes' five years allotted to complete their degree, so an individual is expected to have completed 20% of their requirements during the first year, 40% before beginning the third year, 60% before beginning the fourth, etc.
2) With those 18 hours required for the fall+spring, the handbook specifically states that "hours earned during the summer may not be used to fulfill this requirement."
Summer hours are helpful to maintain — or even exceed — the pace toward graduation. But athletes are still required to pass at least 18 hours between the fall and spring. Potentially worth noting here that a student is required to carry at least 12 hours during each of those semesters to be considered a full-time student, and most students are usually advised to carry at least 15 to maintain their progression toward graduation. This may vary some for athletes, who would use summer hours to help make up for likely only taking 12 hours in the fall.
So a student-athlete who only passes 9 hours in the fall has to pass 9 in the spring, regardless of what he or she accomplishes in the summer. Or an athlete who passes just 6 hours in the fall has to pass at least 12 hours in the spring, again regardless of what he or she accomplishes in the summer. And, so on.
Hardship waivers and exceptions always exist at both the university level for any student, as well as the NCAA level for student-athletes, with regards to eligibility. And with everything in play in 2020, many student-athletes all over the country endured legitimate and understandable hardships.
As I know I saw at least one comment reference, the NCAA granted a blanket waiver last year granting all student-athletes an additional year of eligibility. That waiver allowed for student-athletes to sit out last year and still maintain four years of playing eligibility, or to play five years. But student-athletes are still required to maintain their academic eligibility, or to pursue a waiver if they do not.
And, at this point, I think you can connect the dots of how some things played out that left Orgeron and LSU moving forward under the assumption that they would have Emery available, but then found out on such a seemingly odd timeline that they would not.
Orgeron mentioned Monday that the status could theoretically change, but that that process is out of his hands. And there are some other avenues being looked into or considered at the moment.
But that's kind of the detailed look at what occurred — again, without getting too into John and his family's personal details. I hope that helps clear some things up.
