Paul Maharry of Rivals Gives His Thoughts on SEC Ruling to Allow Maurice Smith to Transfer Inside the Conference [Audio]

It's been a topsy-turvy series of events concerning Maurice Smith wanting to transfer from Alabama to Georgia, and the SEC rule regarding grad transfers. It was ruled on Friday that the SEC would allow Smith to transfer wherever he wanted to, including inside the conference. Paul Maharry of UGASports.com joined Ryan Fowler to discuss everything that took place.

The SEC has allowed Maurice Smith to transfer within the conference, and many have argued that this will lead to opening Pandora's Box, opening the opportunity for chaos amongst all the team in the conference. Fowler asked Maharry for his thoughts on the situation, given that he covers the Georgia Bulldogs for Rivals and Yahoo Sports and it's a perspective from the other side of the coin.

"One argument of this whole thing is, are you going to hold a kid back that wants to go somewhere? Now that opens up a whole wormhole. [Are] graduate transfers going to be the new thing, is that going to be the new hot thing, kinda like it is with transfers in basketball. There are 800 some-odd kids each year in basketball that are transferring schools."

However, as much as people want to demean the educational opportunities these athletes are presented, many of those same people cast aside the fact that these athletes are still students, and the precedent that education should come before athletics is still present. Maharry brought up this side of the argument during the discussion.

"Let's say that a student gets a full grant to the University of Alabama, a 100 percent scholarship, and they want to transfer to Auburn because a major has gotten so much better at Auburn... You don't stop that kid from transferring. So why is it different for football? You know, that's the argument some people are making."

You can hear the conversation in its entirety below (including an appearance from The Morning Blitz host Martin Houston [from 6-7 AM]), and be sure to catch The Game each weekday from 2-6 PM.