OT: Former DT/OL James Hudson starts #FreeJamesHudson due to denied immediate eligibility waiver
https://twitter.com/__BallisLife2/status/1128322012030619648
Just wanted to share this because I thought it was kinda funny. Former Michigan football player James Hudson transferred to Cincinnati and filed for immediate eligibility due to depression and had it rejected by the NCAA because he "never spoke up about (his) mental struggles to administration at the University of Michigan" and his "circumstances do not warrant relief." He and fans are now starting a #FreeJamesHudson hashtag to challenge this and stating how the NCAA has stigma against mental health
LOL.
If Justin Fields got immediate eligibility, then everyone should.
I get that the NCAA wanted nothing to do with the baseball player's racism in Fields' appeal but come on.
UGA is so racist that Fields' parents sent his little sister to... UGA.
Don't you know everyone in the South is racist.
...maybe his little sister wanted to go to UGA, even though her brother had a bad experience there and wanted out?
My brother went to Purdue. Sometimes I make fun of my parents for that, but I don't blame them for it. That would be weird. Kids do start making their own choices at some point, you know.
Tathan got immediate eligibility and his reasoning was a coaching change.
Yeah, was it ever explained what his excuse was? If "lack of playing time" is good enough, then why would anyone even try using mental health reasons?
I still don't understand why he left. He should be our starting RT this year.
He got his feelins hurted
No chance.
Can you elaborate as to why?
No chance.
I think if that's true he wouldn't have left. I mean he ended up a Cincinnati, not exactly the top of the college football heap. I think the hype died and he transferred for a reason. Fair or not, it seems he was unlikely to win the starting job this year based on everything that played out.
Should have transferred to Ohio State after claiming one person used racial words against him. The hypocrisy that is the NCAA knows no bounds.
It's equally egregious that Tate Martell was given immediate eligibility just because a better player arrived on campus.
While that was likely his actual reason, coaching changes (which he obviously experienced) are almost a guarantee for immediate elegibility.
What do you base that on? Before Shea Patterson and the other Mississippi players were granted eligibility it was rare. Of course, their claim was they deserved a waiver because they were lied to, not because there was a coaching change. The Fields' nonsense wasn't based on a coaching change either. Finally, I don't recall seeing anything about Martell advancing that as a basis for deserving a waiver.
Depression is a very serious mental health issue and can be paralyzing in how people process their day to day lives.
The challenge is how to account for that and still maintain rules for the greater good.
Sure, but how would transferring address such an issue? That seems too far afield
I could see a distinction between transferring (in general) and transferring to where the student has family and/or a support system. I'm not saying he does or doesn't in Cincinnati (I have no idea), but I would imagine that impacts the NCAA decision.
He's from Toledo! I think he'd have more family/support closer to Ann Arbor than to Cincinnati... But who knows? I certainly don't...
I agree on this point unless there is a connection in the Cincinnati area that is not being mentioned. If the depression was caused by “I am unlikely to get immediate playing time” this is also a bit shaky.
I am confused why he will have to sit out 2019 though..... Did he not announce his transfer during or shortly after Fall camp last year? Did he not relocate to UC fast enough to start the 1-year clock in time for 2019?
Exactly. He should be denied. If he needed the help so bad he would of transferred to Toledo instead of Cincy. This seems like a ploy.
I do also agree with the Fields thinking though. No one should be denied after that decision
Thanks for typing the dumbest comment ever.
He should be able to play since guys like Fields and the little dude who left OSU get to. That being said, him and his mom were very vocal publicly about being angry about him not playing. I'm not going to speculate on his mental health, but never once was that mentioned when they were making all that noise on the way out.
He was depressed because he wasn’t playing.
bullseye
He transferred mid season I thought. He should be able to play.
Should have claimed it was for purely racist reasons that Steuber passed him on the depth chart.
He left because he didn't play enough. He chose Cincinnati because he can start there today. His problem is that he decided to play at Cincinnati instead of some football hotbed...
The NCAA sucks donkey penis, but Hudson's request seems a bit of a stretch.
Give everyone a trophy too.
I am all for athlete empowerment versus the NCAA, but BS is BS. I call BS on this one. The rules were known when you transferred, and this was the most-likely outcome so he should have been ready for it. The rules are rules whether you like them or not.
And I am not sure how immediate eligibility should be related to his depression or how it helps in any case. If Michigan had not made an issue to address mental health with athletes and led to his transfer, I would understand. But that is not the case; in fact, I think Michigan has been a leader on this issue. Jim Hackett donated half his salary at Michigan to the program:
The kid and his parents complained about playing time and the coaching decisions openly. They made an immature move and he transferred out before earning his spot...which he probably would have earned sooner than later. The depression issue looks like a cop-out and not believable. I do agree that that if Fields got immediate eligibility, then everyone should get immediate eligibility. But...it’s hard for me to feel bad for Hudson and his family. Depression was never brought up to UM and now they are using it as an excuse to gain immediate eligibility. I’m not buying it.
Martell getting instant eligibility is way worse than Fields. Like as soon as Fields was claiming racism it was obvious he would get it. But Martell just transferred because he was passed on the depth chart.
I personally think Fields was worse. Martell's situation was adversely affected when OSU recruited Fields and pushed for immediately eligibility. I am sure someone at OSU promised him at some point he would be the only QB in his class. And on top of it, the coach that recruited him, Urban Meyer, retired in a scandal. Players have a better case with coaching changes. Ryan Day may change the offense to something Martell did not sign up for. I think he had a much better case than Fields.
Fields' sister is still enrolled at Georgia as a student-athlete so clearly his family is still comfortable with the school and area.
Fields situation to me is insidious. Racial issues in this country are not something to to compromised or minimized. I’d much prefer to approve a kid for being honest and saying I don’t like my spot on the depth chart.
OTOH... I don't think I would have changed my college/undergrad decision based on my sibling experience when I was 17-18 years old. I would have chosen wherever I thought was the best fit for me, myself, and I.
I don't follow Tate Martell and I don't care, but the rationale at the time was much deeper. Apparently OSU's staff stopped talking to him. Wouldn't return calls, etc. They basically cold-shouldered him hoping he would leave.
That could also all be bullshit, but if the staff basically tells you to go away - that they want the scholarship for the new guy, then that's kind of rough. If I remember correctly, that's why he got immediate eligibility. He told the NCAA that OSU was a bunch of dicks who didn't want him around anymore and OSU didn't dispute it.
That is part of it too: the response from the school you are leaving. OSU may not have wanted to try to dispute facts that would make them look bad in public. Similar to Fields leaving Georgia.
In the case of James Hudson, the opposite is true. I don't know what Michigan's response to Hudson's waiver was, but my guess is that Michigan probably did not support it or they would have to admit that they did not foster an environment where Hudson could access treatment. Which is probably BS.
That may be Martell's claim, whether true or not. OSU is not going to publicly dispute it, getting in a tit for tat with a college student. How many schools would cold shoulder a 4-star QB who has been in the system, and be one of the top backups in the country? Knowing Fields would be a true sophmore and he may never get a fair chance seems more likely.
Your guess is almost certainly wrong. This is the first we've heard of any mental health issue. I think his claim is a pretext.
As a poster noted above Michigan has made a significant effort to assist student-athletes with mental health issues. Even if it were true that Michigan doesn't "foster an environment where Hudson could access treatment" it is very doubtful that they would admit it.
Besides, didn't the NCAA do away with letting schools put restrictions on whether or where a student could transfer?
I agree. You get to transfer because a better QB came to your school? That's ridiculous. The minute that video of the UGA baseball player making slurs came out, Fields knew he had his loophole. That is a much more legit excuse than "I got bumped down the depth chart, and decided i didn't want to compete with him in the spring and fall". Granted, it was kind of a lame ass excuse for Fields in that it wasn't indicative of the enviroment there as a whole. Living in GA and going to a few of their games in Athens, I can tell you there are plenty of those types in that neck of the woods. I'm sure the majority never went to GA, as most SEC probably didn't, but they're still at the games and act like the mouth breathers they are.
So basically he could have started this year for Michigan, but instead transferred and will be sitting out at Cincinnati. Wow.
So he's from Toledo and wants to transfer to and be closer to a support network in Cincinnati? Got it. Yeah, I'm with the NCAA on this one.
Is Harbaugh fighting Hudson's request for immediate eligibility?
What's kinda funny about that?
Yeah, just let him play. I don't see why anyone should care why guys transfer, and the restriction seems incredibly assinine now given how often coaches up and leave.
Tell them someone called him a racial slur. It worked for Ohio state quarterback.
If he's struggling with depression, shouldn't he be more focused on getting that taken care of? I can't believe I agree with the NCAA on this one. We have world class facilities and people that can help with depression.