Michigan unlikely to have answer on Patterson by practice
Michigan is unlikely to know whether Mississippi transfer Shea Patterson will be eligible to play next season by the time it begins spring practice March 23.
Attorney Tom Mars, who is advising Patterson, says an NCAA ruling cannot come until after Ole Miss has the opportunity to respond to Michigan's application for a waiver. Mississippi has 10 business days to submit a response, starting from when it receives the information from Michigan. Mars says he is optimistic the clock on Mississippi's response starts Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mars says other schools that have accepted five of Patterson's Ole Miss teammates as transfers plan to see how his case plays out before filing similar requests with the NCAA.
Patterson wants to avoid having to sit out for one season as usually required and be eligible to play for the Wolverines in 2018.
He decided to transfer after the NCAA penalized Ole Miss' football program with sanctions for rules violations under former coach Hugh Freeze. The penalties included a bowl ban for the 2018 season.
___
Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP
___
More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25