It looks like Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire has a decision date for his transfer destination, and that date may have just eliminated one school in contention for his transfer.
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According to Anwar Richardson of Yahoo.com, Zaire has set his decision date for May 19. The reason that date is important is because Florida is currently disallowed from taking on graduate transfers due to SEC rules, and a decision to change that rule won't come until after May 19.
Was told Malik Zaire may announce his decision on May 19, before SEC meetings. That could eliminate UF, leaving Texas, Wisconsin & Harvard
— Anwar Richardson (@AnwarRichardson) May 5, 2017
Florida is currently restricted from taking on grad transfers after past transfers failed to complete academic requirements once enrolling in Gainesville. The Gators could be getting that rule changed, though, as according to 247Sports, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said the rule will come up at the conference's spring meeting in May.
"It will come up," Sankey said.
"I do think we need to look where we've been restrictive in the past because of the absence of national rules and look at reducing some of those restrictions. I'm one who would position it as interest in freeing things up without just removing every restraint, because I think the restraints have been healthy for us."
The problem for the Gators, though, is that those spring meetings won't be until the end of the month. Although Zaire had expressed interest in transferring to Florida, it looks like the Gators are off the table for now.
With the Gators possibly out of the running, that leaves Wisconsin, Texas, and Harvard — yes, Harvard — as the three teams believed to be in contention for Zaire.
Zaire, a former four-star recruit, was showing promise at Notre Dame until an ankle injured sidelined him for the season in 2015. His starting spot was then usurped by Deshone Kizer, who didn't let go of that position. Kizer has since been taken in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.
