KNOXVILLE — Offensive lineman Cade Mays transferred to Tennessee from Georgia during the offseason.
Mays made his Tennessee debut Tuesday after taking part in the Vols’ first practice during spring football.
Mays will need a waiver from the NCAA in order to play this season and not have to sit out due to transfer rules.
He is being represented by attorney Tom Mars.
In January, Mars provided the following statement to Vols Wire regarding representing Mays:
“I can confirm I am representing Cade Mays in connection with his transfer from Georgia. Based on my investigation of the facts and circumstances, I’m highly confident that Cade will be granted a waiver allowing him to play next season. Of all the waiver cases I’ve been involved in, I’ve never seen anything quite like this one. And for the sake of everyone who loves college football, I hope I don’t ever see another one.
The student privacy requirements of federal law don’t allow the NCAA or its member institutions to publicly comment on the reasons behind a student-athlete’s transfer, and there’s no reason that they should. The fact that a college student is a high-profile student-athlete doesn’t entitle everyone who has a Twitter account or press credentials to know every little detail about that student’s college experience. That said, of the thousands of college football fans who’ve speculated on social media why Cade decided to leave UGA, I haven’t seen a single comment that even comes close to the truth.
Eligibility waivers are decided by the Legislative Relief section of the NCAA. NCAA Enforcement has nothing to do with eligibility decisions. I’m under contract with NCAA Enforcement as an “Independent Enforcement Advocate” (on a standby basis without compensation) to be part of a team of professionals who will handle any enforcement cases that might eventually be assigned to the Complex Case Unit. My contract with NCAA Enforcement prevents me from representing anyone in a matter that involves alleged infractions of the NCAA rules. However, I’m not prohibited from representing student-athletes or advising schools in matters regarding eligibility. If I’m asked to handle a matter assigned to the CCU at some point in the future, I’ll withdraw from doing any work on the eligibility side of the NCAA just to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. In the meantime, a large part of my sports law practice still involves student-athlete eligibility issues.
The Mays family has never said a word to anyone about Kevin Mays’ lawsuit. The timing of the news stories about Mr. Mays’ lawsuit makes clear that UGA leaked this story to sports writers today after Cade delivered a letter to Kirby Smart late yesterday explaining the reason he’s leaving Kirby’s program. In fact, one sports writer I spoke with earlier today confirmed that’s how he found out about the lawsuit. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that UGA is continuing to take the low road about the lawsuit, but directing sports writers to Mr. Mays’ lawsuit set a new record low for UGA Athletics.”