“Well, as per NCAA rules, we asked for permission…”

“… to visit with (Carter), but unfortunately that permission was denied by Georgia Tech…”

Yeah, that one’s a basketball call, but I see no reason the Tech AD’s logic – if you want to call it that – wouldn’t apply in a football setting:

“Our practice has typically been to (not grant permission) to the ACC schools and anybody you play in a given sport every year,” he said. “We play Georgia every year. This is not something which is so much a Georgia thing as it is we compete against them every year. That’s a pretty standard industry-wide practice.”

In his transfer, Carter was restricted from transferring either to Georgia or another ACC school. Given that he would have to sit out two years if he were to transfer to another ACC team, it’s essentially a restriction against Georgia.

Still, Bobinski said, the policy is not airtight. If an athlete were transferring due to a coaching change or if there were extenuating circumstances such as a family situation, the school would be willing to adjust the restriction list. However, “none of that applies in this case,” Bobinski said.

That is why he didn’t see Georgia’s 2009 release of Daniel Miller from his letter of intent in order to play at Tech as comparable. Miller left Georgia due to a coaching change, Dennis Felton’s firing, and had yet to play.

“It’s a completely different deal,” Bobinski said. “Robert’s been a big part of our program for two years.”

Um… if it’s “a pretty standard industry-wide practice” to block a player from transferring to a school you face every year, then what difference does it make whether the kid’s suited up for you yet?

Again, the fault here lies more with the bullshit transfer protocol than anything else.  The NCAA is enabling Georgia Tech to behave as it is.  Also, again, it sucks for Carter more than anyone.  But players don’t need a union or some other way of making their voices heard, right?

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UPDATE:  I know you’ll be shocked, shocked to learn that Mark Bradley has weighed in with another classic piece, entitled “Tech won’t let Carter go to UGA, and I understand”.  That he manages to do so without taking even a moment to consider the situation from the player’s standpoint – it’s all about this:  “It’s bad enough when a guy leaves your program; it’s worse when you have to face him.” – is about what you’d expect.  But it’s not even the dumbest point he makes.  This is:

Surely Georgia would have gnashed its canine teeth if LSU, working behind the former Bulldog Zach Mettenberger, had held its late lead in Sanford Stadium last fall. (Mettenberger had been dismissed from the football team and wound up in Baton Rouge after a JUCO stint.) It’s no fun seeing a guy who accepted your scholarship and wore your uniform playing against you.

Did Bradley miss the Auburn game?  And what difference does that make to Robert Carter, Jr.’s future, anyway?