INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA staff has partially approved an initial eligibility waiver for football prospective student-athlete Jerrell Powe. With this decision, Powe will be allowed to receive athletically related financial aid to attend classes. However, he will be ineligible for practice and competition until meeting NCAA and institutional academic requirements in college.  The earliest Powe could participate is fall 2008.

“The idea for determining if student-athletes are academically eligible to participate in college sports is to ensure that the rigors of practice and competition do not interfere with the primary reason student-athletes enroll in college – to get an education,” said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president of membership services. “Mr. Powe has not achieved sufficient academic success under NCAA rules to permit athletics participation.”

In a separate decision, the NCAA staff expressed concern that Mr. Powe completed a significant amount of coursework in an unusually limited amount of time -- much shorter than the average time it takes students to complete similar courses. This determination led the staff to invalidate a portion of Mr. Powe’s academic high school records provided to the NCAA.

The decision regarding Mr. Powe’s practice and competition status may be appealed to the NCAA Initial Eligibility Waiver Learning Disability Subcommittee. The decision regarding Mr. Powe’s high school coursework may be appealed to the NCAA Student Records Review Committee.