Robert Nkemdiche has been an absolute monster on the football field, but don’t expect him to have his name considered for any national awards.
Since Nkemdiche isn’t doing well in the classroom, Ole Miss is having his name withheld from any award considerations.
Here are the details from Bleacher Report:
Mississippi defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche is widely regarded as one of the nation’s best defensive players, but his apparent academic standing has kept him off of the list of candidates for the Lott IMPACT Trophy.
According to Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports, Nkemdiche’s name was not on the most recent quarterfinal ballot for the award.
“When the Lott Impact Trophy folks sent out the lengthy ballot of quarterfinalists for the award for the nation’s top defensive player, there was a surprising footnote at the bottom: ‘ROBERT NKEMDICHE, DE, Ole Miss – School does not feel he meets academic standards,'” Forde wrote.
Nkemdiche has never been suspended or missed a game due to academic problems in three years at Mississippi, but his apparent issues in the classroom will cost him a shot at winning at least one major postseason award.
I’m not sure if this is a common move, but it is definitely interesting. Nkemdiche wasn’t the only player with a note next to his name on this list, but he was the only one being withheld by his respective university.
This can be looked in a few different ways, but it is interesting to see a school hold its athletes to some kind of academic standards if they want to be considered for awards.
