The Jerrell Powe saga has pretty much exhausted the patience of Ole Miss fans and non-fans alike, but the situation appears to be reaching some semblance of a conclusion — or as much of a conclusion as we can expect. After a pair of appeallate boards yesterday upheld the NCAA’s ruling that prohibits Powe from playing for the Rebels this season, I spoke late last night with Joe Barnett, a close friend of the Powe family who has tried to guide Powe through his 3-year struggle to gain athletic eligibility.

As I reported in a story that appeared in today’s edition of the paper, Barnett said Powe will remain at Ole Miss. Though he cannot play or practice in games, he will attend classes with the hope of playing next season. The family does not plan to file a lawsuit against the NCAA (as Powe’s attorney, Don Jackson, had suggested in recent weeks), and Powe will not transfer to an NAIA (an erroneous piece of information that apparently made it onto a local sports broadcast last night).

“We’ve been weighing every situation and every scenario,” Barnett said. “The thing that’s been paramount from my point of view is that he get an education so he can have a better life and enhance his own opportunities and the opportunities for those around him. And while it would be great and wonderful if he were playing football this year, he’s in school, and I expect that he will remain in school and concentrate on his coursework. He’s got a never-say-quit, never-say-die attitude. So we don’t expect things to change at this point.

“Although this is a tremendous disappointment and we feel this isn’t right, because we followed the NCAA’s plan to gain eligibility with extremely close detail, and we still didn’t get the attention of the Gods in the tower, we’ve got to do what is most prudent. And that means staying focused, staying at Ole Miss and working to overcome this. He’s totally dedicated to the university, and the university has shown taht they want him and they’ve accepted him. He’s comfortable there with his university family, his football friends and the coaching staff, so I think that to change for another avenue would not be in his best interest.

“We’re all on a mission. All of us in the Powe family and the Barnett family are on a mission to prove those people wrong who made the decisions that we feel were unjustified. Only time can prove that. We’ve got the time, and Jerrell’s got the determination.”