An answer to perhaps the biggest question of Georgia Tech’s Orange Bowl preparations will have to wait. Defensive lineman Jabari Hunt-Days’ eligibility status is still up in the air.

“We’ll have to wait to get final grades,” coach Paul Johnson said Monday following Tech’s second bowl practice. “We should have them at the end of the week.”

Hunt-Days was declared academically ineligible in May for failing behind an NCAA-mandated checkpoint measuring progress towards graduation. Hunt-Days could regain eligibility with sufficient progress this semester. Grades were due Monday.

He has remained with the team, practicing as a member of the defensive scout team. He was named the defensive scout team player of the year at the team’s banquet last Friday.

“I thought he played hard all year,” Johnson said. “He was a load.”

To prepare to play Mississippi State in the Orange Bowl Dec. 31, Tech is scheduled to practice every day until Saturday. The team will gather again Dec. 26 for one final on-campus practice before traveling to Miami that evening.