Conway Leaves Nebraska, Will Try SAT Again

When Curtis Conway announced two weeks ago that he was going to enroll at Nebraska, some interpreted it as his way of attending a major college without taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test again.

The former Hawthorne High quarterback had failed to score 700 on the SAT in five attempts. Under the NCAA’s Proposition 48, athletes must score 700 or more to be eligible to play as freshmen. Those scores prevented him from attending USC, with which he had signed a letter of intent, contingent upon his passing the SAT.

But if Conway had fear of facing the SAT again, he overcame it last week by leaving Nebraska and announcing that he will try to pass the SAT and play football for USC next season.

Conway said he came to his decision last Thursday while waiting in line to enroll at Nebraska. He left Lincoln on Sunday and attended USC’s practice Monday. Under NCAA rules, USC cannot comment on a prospective athlete.

Conway, a two-time All-Southern Section quarterback and the state 100-meter champion, could not enroll at USC this fall because of the school’s policy of not accepting athletes who do not meet the requirements of Proposition 48.

Nebraska has no such policy, but the NCAA penalty for attending a member college without meeting Proposition 48 requirements meant that Conway could not play or practice for one season and would forfeit a year of eligibility.

Now he’s back to square one, with all of his eligibility restored. The only thing standing in the way of a career at USC is his old nemesis: the SAT.

Without the distractions of athletics and recruiting, Conway feels strongly that he can score 700 at some point this year and perhaps enroll at USC before the second semester. USC reportedly has told him it will honor its commitment to him, if he passes the SAT.

Until then, all anybody can do is wait. The ball is in Conway’s hands and, as he has proved, what he does with it is anybody’s guess.