Bryant falls half credit short of qualifying, will enroll at Hargrave this fall

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 07 10:21:31 GMT-04:00 2010

CLEMSON - A half credit equals a full year of waiting for Martavis Bryant.

Bryant, the No. 10-rated wide receiver recruit in the nation last season, learned late last week that he fell a half-credit short of meeting admissions requirements for enrollment into Clemson for the fall semester, and the former US Army All-American will now attend Chatham (VA) Hargrave Military Academy.

He will attend Hargrave this fall, fulfill his requirements, and plans on enrolling at Clemson in January.

Kenya Fouch, Bryant's head coach at T.L. Hanna High School, said that Bryant came up short because of questions surrounding a math class he took at Calhoun Falls.

"He came up a half credit short," Fouch told TigerNet late Tuesday. "One of the math classes he took at Calhoun Falls didn't count. He took it in summer school, but there were questions about its validity, so the NCAA took some time and did their homework and decided that it would not count. There's not anything that he did or didn't do. He did everything we asked of him. He did the school and made the test scores. It really is unfortunate. But this is not the end of it and we will go from here."

Fouch said he did not find out about the situation until Tuesday, but that the Clemson coaches knew about it last Friday.

"I found out on Tuesday because I had been in Chicago at a family reunion," he said. "I came in checked my messages and found out about it. I had a chance to talk with Coach [receivers coach Jeff] Scott, and he said that they found out Friday last week. Coach Scott said he went and saw the family and talked to them and explained what is going on."

Fouch said he spoke with the family yesterday, and they are understandably frustrated with the decision.

"They are frustrated obviously, but again, it's not from anything that he did," Fouch said. "He did everything he was asked to do. It is frustrating, because things are not happening the way you thought they would. But the bottom line is that he has a dream to play football at Clemson, and that dream is still very realistic and he is not that far away from it. Instead of entering with the guys of 2010, he will enter with the guys of 2011."

As a senior at Hanna, Bryant had 70 receptions for 722 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Bryant becomes the second academic casualty in Clemson's 2010 class, joining Battery Creek defensive back Ricky Chaney.