Steward says NCAA delay almost over, plans to be on campus Saturday (Updated)

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jul 07 17:45:04 GMT-04:00 2011

Clemson linebacker signee Tony Steward Tony Steward

Linebacker

# 6-2, 225

St. Augustine, FL

View Full Profile told TigerNet on Thursday afternoon that he is not on the Clemson campus and hasn’t started Second Summer (Summer Session 2), but plans on moving into his new Clemson apartment on Saturday and starting school next Monday.

Steward, the 5-star linebacker prospect out of Pedro Menendez High School in Saint Augustine, FL, was supposed to move into Clemson last weekend and begin classes this week, but the NCAA Clearinghouse has held up his release. He said he has learned, however, that the matter should be settled soon enough for him to move in this weekend.

“From what I understand, everything will be taken care of this weekend,” Steward told TigerNet. “I have no idea what the problem was, but I plan on moving in this Saturday and hopefully starting classes on Monday.”

Steward said he can't wait to get on campus.

“I have been waiting for this,” he said. “My knee is finally healed, and now I just have to do my part out on the field. I am ready to go. I have a lot of great teammates waiting on me, and I am ready to get up there and start working on team chemistry. I feel like I could be a part of the best group of Clemson linebackers ever. I am just going to leave it to God and enjoy it.”

There were rumors that Steward’s clearance was being held up by an online course that he took – the same thing that delayed Martavis BryantMartavis Bryant

Wide Receiver

# 6-4, 195

Anderson, SC

View Full Profile – but his head coach at Menendez, Keith Cromwell, said that wasn’t the case.

“He took some online courses, but they have said that is not the holdup,” Cromwell told TigerNet. “He is just in a pile, and they are still reviewing everything. It is just pending right now. It has to go through whatever committee it has to go through. I talked to a lady there and she said there are no red flags. It is just in a stack with how many ever other kids they have to review.

“They have no sense of urgency. We had everything turned into the Clearinghouse months ago, and it is still just sitting in the stack to be reviewed. We told them to put a rush on it, because he wanted to start in summer school and they said they would. But I don’t know if they have. She said there are no red flags whatsoever – they just haven’t gotten to it yet.”

Cromwell said Steward’s grades were definitely not a problem.

“He is fine as far as grades are concerned,” he said. “He had a 3.0 GPA and his test scores are fine. There is nothing there that would cause them to delay. At least that is what they are telling me.”

Cromwell said it is also his belief that Steward will be in Clemson this weekend.

“That is the plan,” he said. “They are telling me any day now.”

Update: July 8 4:04 - Clemson SID reports that Tony Steward was cleared by the NCAA and will report to Clemson on Saturday.