Cincy OL says NCAA denied transfer waiver because he didn't speak out about mental health soon enough

Former Michigan offensive lineman James Hudson’s transfer waiver was not granted by the NCAA.

Hudson, who played in three games at Michigan in 2018, is already enrolled at Cincinnati. He had applied for a waiver to play immediately with the Bearcats, but tweeted Tuesday that the waiver had been denied.

Hudson said in his tweet that he had not been forthcoming with Michigan’s coaching staff about his mental health issues out of fear for being stigmatized and claimed the NCAA denied his transfer waiver because he didn’t say anything while he was at Michigan.

The NCAA has the right to deny a player transfer waiver if it feels the reasons for the waiver do not meet certain criteria.

My NCAA waiver got denied. Clearly mental well being isn’t as important as playing time. The stigma is REAL.

The University of Cincinnati filed a waiver for me to be immediately eligible. The NCAA has denied my waiver specifically because I never spoke up about my mental struggles to administration at the University of Michigan.

Like many football players I was afraid to speak up about my depression not wanting to look weak. Now the NCAA is telling me that my courage to step forward and speak about my issues was done too late and subjectively my ‘Circumstances do not warrant relief.’

I want to thank my family and friends for their love and support throughout this entire process.

A spokesperson for Cincinnati said the school had applied for a legislative relief waiver on Hudson’s behalf. Per NCAA rules, the school has the opportunity to appeal the NCAA’s decision. The NCAA officially declined to comment on the decision.

Hudson, a four-star defensive end in the class of 2017 who switched to the offensive line in college, had been practicing as the starting left tackle with Cincinnati during spring football as the team hoped that he would be eligible in 2019.

Hudson was a redshirt freshman with Michigan in 2018. Since he redshirted in 2017, he’ll have two seasons at Cincinnati if he sits out the 2019 season.

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

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