I have to believe that's why he is willing to sit out another year.
Will he have to sit out a year?
In April, the NCAA’s Division I Council provided new guidance to schools regarding waivers for undergraduate transfers who felt they shouldn’t have to complete the NCAA-mandated year-in-residence before taking the field for their new team. Here are those guidelines. Read No. 1 very carefully.
1. The transfer is due to documented mitigating circumstances that are outside the student-athlete’s control and directly impact the health, safety and well-being of the student-athlete;
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During Georgia’s win against Tennessee on Sept. 29, Georgia baseball player Adam Sasser was overheard by other students in the stands yelling, “Put the [n-word] in.” Sasser allegedly was referring to Fields, who backed up sophomore Jake Fromm. While the accusation against Sasser was being investigated by Georgia’s Equal Opportunity Office, Sasser was dismissed from the baseball team. Sasser later issued a public apology on Twitter that certainly seemed like an admission.
All of this has been documented by Georgia. So if Fields makes the waiver request, the NCAA panel that reviews that request would have access to all that information.
And it wouldn’t be a stretch at all if, in 2019, a young black man such as Fields said his safety and well-being might be affected by continuing to stay at a school where a white fellow athlete would refer to a black athlete by that word—even if it was lobbed from the stands while the player was on the field. Even if Fields wanted to transfer exclusively for playing time reasons, the NCAA would be foolish to challenge such an assertion and Georgia officials would be crazy to do anything except wish Fields well as he plays next season at his new school. No matter what anyone considers the real reason for the transfer, trying to force Fields to sit out would only make everyone else look terrible.
I don't see this as a question of should, but a question of would.
Would the NCAA take into consideration the racial atmosphere if Fields chooses to go this route? I'd say, "yes. Yes they would."
