Didn't he not actually attend high school his normal senior year? (fall of '11)? Or was it just that he couldn't play football and then "EE"d to Notre Dame?
Which reminds me: This kid's whole last four years are like some big cautionary tale. Hope he makes it to good things at Miss. State.
It was always rather fuzzy to me what actually happened. As I recall he transferred high schools going into his senior year supposedly to focus on his academics. His old school/coach objected to be playing for the new school. The state athletic regulatory group reviewed the reasons for transfer and determined they did not comply with the requirements for eligibility. Thus he was ruled ineligible to play his senior year.
He graduated early (Dec '11) then "enrolled" at ND but was not allowed to practice with the team. It was also reported by students that he was not attending class although it was not clear if he was actually enrolled in classes. We all assumed he had.
The not practicing was a red flag to me as in the past that has meant an NCAA Clearinghouse issue which is not uncommon with mutliple transcripts with transfer recruits. Frequently it's a question if Math 101 (FOR EXAMPLE) at one school and Math 102 at the second school qualify as two separate requirements for the Core Courses required. The descriptions might be different but the actual course work might be redundant covering similar material thus leaving the recruit a course short if he only took the bare minimum of required core courses.
Keep in mind that no RECRUIT as defined by NCAA regs can receive an NCAA scholarship (acutally called a Grant In Aid) until he is certified by the NCAA Clearinghouse with checks GPA in the required Cores Courses and the ACT/SAT Test Score on their sliding scale. SO without Clearinghouse Certification there is/was no scholarship. The recruit is in limbo.
A number of years ago ND or other colleges would issue a comment such as: "The NCAA believes there may be an issue with this recruit's HS academics. The Clearinghouse will advise when he is cleared until then he will be held out of practice in accordance with NCAA procedures until certification is received." With Tee there was no annoucement nor press release.
Then there was a story that he was leaving which Kelly confirmed with no details per FERPA. I believe Kelly responded to a reporter's question, "You'll have to ask him. That's all we can say." Tee then commented that he had a health issue. A phyical had detected a heart issue. Subsequently it became a congential condition that was "known" by coaches.
The description was vague and varied.
Tee left ND.
Then some months later (summertime) a coach at a J.C. in CA reported to the press that Tee was enrolled at his school. (The quote was posted in Tee's thread) But he never showed up. The next year he was reported to be enrolled in a Mississippi J.C. That was interesting as to why a kid for the west coast and limited resources would travel 2,000 miles to go JUCO when there are JUCO football factories in CA (The O.J. Simpson route to college).
Then he popped up on recruiting services this year. Then lo and behold it turned up that he still had not been cleared by the Clearinghouse as there was an issue over a Correspondence Course deemed unacceptable by the NCAA. I found that interesting as I didn't think ND accepted HS correspondence courses particularly in the case of an academically challenged HS recruit coming to ND as Early Entrance.
As a Dec '11 HS "grad" I believe the NCAA on paper considers him a '12 grad (regardless of which year he is assigned as a COUNTER in the 85/25 rules) as his first college season of eligibility on his 5 year window to play 4 seasons NCAA eligibility clock would have been the Fall of '12.
Now the NCAA has a different clock start date depending on when a student enrolls in college, or J.C. or doesn't go to school. So the question on Tee's clock is was he enrolled and attending class at ND according to the NCAA determination? IF they deem he wasn't, I believe his clock started when he first attended classes at J.C.
Then again, considering the Carlisle "hardship" transfer and the Vanderdoes "transfer" waiver (I don't believe Vanderdoes attended any classes at ND) it depends on how the NCAA choses to interpret their rules.
I would expect them to determine available for the '15 NFL Draft as an approved underclassmen.
