Whitehead will have to sit out one season

Kendarius Whitehead was attempting to graduate from Georgia Military College by the end of the summer, but fell just short.

Credit: 247Sports

Credit: 247Sports

Kendarius Whitehead was attempting to graduate from Georgia Military College by the end of the summer, but fell just short.

The anticipated arrival of Georgia Tech signee Kenderius Whitehead will apparently take longer than expected.

Following the Yellow Jackets’ first practice of the preseason, coach Paul Johnson said that Whitehead will have to sit out a year before being eligible to play. The widespread belief after Whitehead had announced on Twitter that he would be reporting for the preseason was that he would be eligible to play immediately.

“Right now, he’s a transfer student like everybody else,” Johnson said. “He’s got a year of residency.”

Whitehead was attempting to graduate from Georgia Military College by the end of the summer, but fell just short, senior associate athletic director Ryan Bamford said. While Whitehead could have earned immediate eligibility with an associate’s degree, his case will essentially be treated like a transfer from another four-year college and require him to sit out a year. He will have two years of eligibility beginning in 2015.

It is a setback for the Yellow Jackets, who had been hoping that Whitehead would be eligible this season.