Bolton, Lewis Appealing Eligibility

After the news broke that both Devonta Bolton and Brandon Lewis did not qualify academically, we figured that was that. Well, perhaps not.

According to published reports by Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News, both Bolton and Lewis are now appealing their eligibility to the NCAA Clearinghouse in a last-ditch attempt to be deemed academically eligible for the 2008 season.

It's a pretty vague report, and doesn't give a reason for the appeal, but I would suspect that both cases are the result of increases in ACT scores that the Clearinghouse deemed were too high. That's all speculation on my part, mind you, but that's the only legitimate reason that I could think would result in an appeal.

In all honesty, the odds of this working out in favor of the two signees are quite low. Lewis, I would think, would have a slightly better chance, but again, I figure the odds for both are very low. It's extremely rare for the Clearinghouse to go back and overturn a decision like this, and I doubt either Bolton or Lewis will be able to buck that longstanding tendency.

Either way, though, the news is out there and I wanted to make a post notifying as such. We'll have more here at RBR when it comes along.