The final word is in and the decision is final, Christian LeMay, the highly-touted QB recruit out of North Carolina, will not play his senior season of high school football for the Butler Bulldogs.LeMay, suspended back in June for committing a violation of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School's (CMS) code of conduct rule, appealed the decision of the disciplinary board on July 26th—hoping for some leniency on what LeMay's father described as a "youthful infraction" which did not involve violence or weapons.
LeMay was given a 40-day suspension (total) for the act, and was told that he could return to Butler after his suspension was served. However, by doing so, LeMay would have all but forfeited his senior season as the starting quarterback for his high school football team.
The senior LeMay introduced the possibility of his son finishing out his career at a private school, but was hopeful that the situation would not come to that end.
However, after their appeal was denied, the family felt the best route for Christian to take would be to complete his studies in a "private setting" and enroll at the University of Georgia in December—as initially planned.
He will continue to work independently with a trainer and QB coache until that time so that he can remain in football shape.
His commitment to Georgia remains solid, as evidenced by the statement below, and also gives the impression that the touches Georgia Bulldogs are still high on him as well.
No word yet on how this might affect his overall recruiting ranking, or if there is any reason to believe that this will affect his standing with the UGA admissions committee—currently the latter is not thought to be a concern, but one never knows in situations like these.
The full statement, given by LeMay's father, read as follows:
We first want to thank all of those who have supported our family during this time. The e-mails, letters, text and words of encouragement have been life fueling from supporters of Christian both locally and nationwide. We specifically want to thank (incoming Georgia recruits) Christian Conley and Ray Drew for standing with our son and contacting him daily, Panthers wide receiver Kenny Moore and QB training coach Steve Calhoun for working him out over the summer. Also, Sporting News and all the other recruiting networks that maintained Christian’s National Ranking on their boards.
As a result of Christian’s youthful infraction (that does not involve drugs, weapons or any form of violence), Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools imposed a severe punishment on our son ... which we appealed to their highest form of due process.
On July 26th the CMS board maintained the merciless ruling of a 40-day reassignment to an alternative school “to possibly be reviewed in 30 days”. (This was) in addition to a four-day suspension already served. The ruling also states that after completing the reassignment days, he could “possibly” return to Butler, meaning it is “possible” that he could not return to Butler.
Adhering to such a severe ruling would not only prevent Christian from playing until November due to the 10-day conditioning rule (if he returned to Butler HS), but it would also hinder him academically as the alternative school does not provide the required classes needed for him to finish in the fall of 2010 and move on to the University of Georgia in January.
Given the unwillingness of CMS to apply a more reasonable consequence for such a youthful infraction, as disheartening as it is, we must make the decision to move on and focus Christian’s attention to preparing for enrollment at the University of Georgia in January. Although, rumors suggest that Christian would likely transfer to one of the excellent programs such as (Duncan) Byrnes (S.C.), (Rock Hill) South Pointe, Greensboro Dudley and even Victory Christian Center, Christian could not imagine playing his senior season at any place other than with his brother Uriah and his teammates at Butler High School.
Therefore, having come to resolve that following the CMS consequence would not accomplish “student achievement” for Christian, we as a family have concluded that he will forgo his senior football season and focus on his preparation to attend the University of Georgia.
We are quite honored that other colleges continue to show strong interest in Christian attending their school. However, we have continued healthy communications with (Georgia) coaches and the commitment remains the same on both ends.
Christian will now prepare himself for the next season of his life as he takes this time to become stronger, spiritually, academically and physically. With the help of fitness trainer Andy Hendel of Cross fit Charlotte and QB coach Steve Calhoun of Armed and Dangerous, Christian will certainly be prepared to arrive in Georgia this spring ready to compete. We are fully confident that his best days are still yet to come. GO BULLDOGS!!!
The LeMay Family
So, what say you? Are you concerned that LeMay won't have any on-field action this season?
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