Mother of Maurice Smith on Alabama: 'They're being difficult. Intentionally'

Maurice Smith is having trouble obtaining his release from Alabama, and his mother Samyra is not amused.

According to Seth Emerson of DawgNation, Samyra Smith said she drove to Tuscaloosa to visit with head coach Nick Saban on Tuesday, and that the two could not come to an agreement on Maurice Smith's release.

"The university is continuing to be resistant to any request to release my son. That's where we are," Samyra Smith said. "In (Saban's) mind, the best decision is for him to stay here. And he doesn't think anything other than that is best for the kid."

Maurice Smith has made his intention clear that he wishes to transfer to Georgia. Saban was asked about the situation during SEC media day and offered his opinion on the matter.

"Maurice Smith has been a good player on our team," Saban said. "He's a good person, and he would be a significant contributor to our team this year if he decided to stay at Alabama...We have told him, 'Because we support the SEC rule, it would not be in your best interest to have to sit out. If you want to go some place else (outside the SEC), we'd be glad to help you do that."

One of the main issues Smith's mother has with the whole process is the discrepancy between how her son's appeal is being handled, and the fact that Chris Black, a former player for Alabama, was granted a release to transfer to Missouri, another SEC program.

"So what is it, is it really about my son, or is it about Kirby Smart and Nick Saban? I don't know what it is," Samyra Smith said. "You just had a player leave, Chris Black, and he's at an SEC school, Mizzou. So don't tell me it's about a violation of rules, I can read you the rules, I understand them well. It's not a violation of rules or else the SEC would've stopped it, the commissioner would've stopped it. But it's allowed."

The SEC handles graduate and regular transfers in the same manner when it comes to transferring within the conference.