To say that today was wild would be an understatement. Georgia offensive lineman and Knoxville native Cade Mays informed Kirby Smart that he intended to enter the transfer portal, moving on from Athens after two seasons.
Mays played in all 14 games this season for the Dawgs and looked to be heading into the 2020 season as a penciled-in starter for Smart. But, news broke around 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday afternoon that the sophomore was looking to leave, first reported by Mark Schlabach of ESPN.
It was reported that Mays would transfer to Tennessee, to play alongside his little brother Cooper, who committed to the Vols in the 2020 class and has already enrolled. Things took an interesting turn just over an hour later when Radi Nabulsi of UGASports.com reported that Kevin Mays, the father of Cade, had filed a lawsuit against the University Of Georgia and a chair manufacturer.
An incident had occurred back in 2017 at a UGA event the family was attending, which resulted in Kevin Mays severing his pinky finger (yes I know, this is wild). The lawsuit was filed in early December 2019, a few days before the SEC Championship game. It is not known if the lawsuit played any part of Mays’ decision to transfer.
Enter Tom Mars, the former Arkansas trial lawyer who has represented athletes over the past few years in regards to NCAA eligibility issues. You will remember Mars, as he represented Justin Fields in his effort to gain immediately eligibility at Ohio State, which he succeeded at. Mars also represented former Ole Miss players Shea Patterson and Van Jefferson after the madness in Oxford. Patterson went on to transfer to Michigan and Jefferson to Florida, with both being granted immediate eligibility.
Mars told Fox Sports Knoxville on Wednesday night that he is representing Mays in his fight to play immediately in 2020. Mars said “I’m very confident that Cade won’t have to sit out a year” and that “I can confirm that I’m representing Cade for that purpose.”
Mars has a contract with the NCAA but added “My contract with NCAA Enforcement prohibits me from representing anyone in an infractions matter. I’m under no restrictions that prevent me from representing student-athletes or advising schools in matters regarding eligibility.”
When asked about the timeline for when the process of obtaining immediate eligibility will begin, Mars said: “It starts after Cade enrolls at another school.”
Austin Price of Volquest said this afternoon while being interviewed by Fox Sports Knoxville that Mays was still packing his things late today and would likely enroll sometime later in the week or Monday.
That’s when the work of Mars will begin and Mays will figure out how long he has to wait to play football again.
