Maurice Smith given full release by Alabama, now waits on SEC

— -- MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Alabama?has cleared the way for defensive back Maurice Smith to transfer within the SEC, with the school granting him a full release,?his mother confirmed to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.?

The Tuscaloosa News first reported the decision.

Smith will have to be granted a waiver from the SEC, which has restrictions on athletes with less than two years of eligibility remaining transferring to league schools, including graduate transfers. Smith graduated earlier this month.

His mother,?Samyra Smith, cautioned that Maurice's battle is "not over," but she told the AJC a decision from the conference is expected within the next 24 hours.

Maurice Smith has been trying to follow former Alabama assistants Kirby Smart and Mel Tucker to Georgia?but was blocked from moving to another SEC school.

A statement from the SEC said the league doesn't comment on such waiver requests, but they are reviewed on an individual basis.

"The SEC does not provide waivers of SEC rules absent circumstances that demonstrate a clear reason for granting an exception to those rules," the league statement said. "Each waiver request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis."

The requirements for granting of a waiver include that the athlete's athletic scholarship was not renewed.

After Wednesday's practice, coach Nick Saban said Alabama had done everything it could "to allow the conference to make the decision about whatever they decide is in the best interest of the conference and the SEC rules relative to Maurice Smith."

"So that is past us now," Saban said. "It is beyond us. We don't really need to talk about that anymore, and I don't have any other comments to make about it."

Smith was a first-team nickelback for the Tide during the spring. He played in every game last season, making 15 tackles.

Smart, now Georgia's head coach, disagreed with Saban's decision to block Smith's transfer and has said that he would "absolutely" support a graduate transfer's right to transfer to another SEC school.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.