Tigers' Nelson will skip senior season
CLEMSON, SC — Clemson’s linebacker depth took a hit Friday when senior Maurice Nelson announced he would graduate and forego his final season of eligibility.
Nelson, a Rembert native, was considered one of the state’s top 10 prospects when he signed with Clemson in 2003. But, he played only sparingly until last season, when a broken ankle suffered by Tramaine Billie and a torn knee ligament suffered by Anthony Waters forced him into the starting lineup at strongside, or “Sam,” linebacker.
He started 11 games, making 71 tackles, fifth-best on Clemson’s roster. He also had five tackles for loss, including a pair of sacks. But, lingering knee pain cut his career short; he will graduate in August and informed coach Tommy Bowden of his decision earlier this week.
“I have enjoyed my college football experience at Clemson, but I am just ready to graduate and move into the business world,” Nelson said in a statement released by Clemson officials.
Nelson’s spot in the lineup likely will be filled by Billie, who is expected to return for his senior season next fall. However, it leaves Clemson a bit thinner at linebacker, especially for spring practice.
Rising junior middle linebacker Antonio Clay, who started 12 games last season in Waters’ absence, is not currently enrolled at Clemson while mourning his sister, who died in an automobile accident near their hometown of Jeffersonville, Ga., last fall.
He will not go through spring practice, and while Clemson officials expect him to return for summer school classes, that is not yet certain.
Nelson is a senior academically, and is expected to graduate this summer with a degree in sociology.
“Maurice was one of the players we needed to step up when injuries hit our football team last year,” Bowden said. “He did an outstanding job for us and represented the program well for the last four years. I am sure he will continue to represent the program in a positive fashion for years to come.”
In other news, Clemson president James Barker responded to criticism of the university’s tightened admissions policies for potential student-athletes with a 324-word e-mail this week, sent out to those who questioned his policies.
Barker and Clemson officials came under fire this week when several highly-touted football recruits — including Fork Union (Va.) Military Academy tailback JoJo Cox and Burlington, N.C., wide receiver Dwight Jones Jr. — were denied admission to Clemson by an advisory board designed to examine borderline academic cases.
Barker has received attention recently for his campaign to make Clemson one of America’s top 20 public universities, and is trying to improve Clemson’s academic standards.
Dwight Jones Jr., considered one of the top receiver prospects in America, has not yet met NCAA academic standards for enrollment but still has a chance. He signed with North Carolina, long considered one of the nation’s top 10 public universities. Cox has yet to sign with another Division I-A program.
“Although I cannot discuss the academic records of any individual, I can assure you that our admissions process for student-athletes is designed to maintain academic integrity while not putting Clemson at competitive disadvantage,” Barker wrote in the e-mail. “Our process, which has been in place for five years and is similar to systems at other Division I schools, actually resulted in a higher percentage of football recruits being approved this year than last year.
“Our goal is to enroll student-athletes who have a reasonable chance of succeeding academically, who can maintain their eligibility and earn their degree. It is not in Clemson’s best interest to enroll students if we do not believe they can succeed here.”
A new NCAA initiative called the Academic Progress Rate will strip schools of scholarships if athletes don’t make significant progress towards graduation, another of Barker’s biggest concerns.
The most recent NCAA figures released showed that Clemson graduated more than 90 percent of its players under Bowden’s watch, which ranked among the top five nationally.
However, a major criteria of the admissions committee is identifying whether a player can be reasonably expected to graduate from Clemson. If the answer is believed to be no, they’ll likely be rejected by the committee.
“Under new NCAA Academic Progress Rate rules, we lose scholarships if athletes fail to make adequate progress toward graduation,” Barker wrote. “Losing scholarships does harm to the individual team and the athletic department as a whole for many years. Each university in the nation is dealing with these changes in its own way. The rising graduation rate among Clemson student-athletes is clear evidence that the system we have in place is working.”
Bowden declined comment Wednesday when asked repeated questions about academics, citing a protocol that rose from head coach to athletic director to president.
Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips did not return a message this week seeking comment.
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