Last Chance U’s DJ Law won’t return to UAB, possibly due to academic issues

One central figure from the Netflix series Last Chance U won’t be returning to UAB to play football in 2017.

On Thursday, Blazers head coach Bill Clark confirmed Law’s departure and implied that it was academic issues, and not a knee injury, that forced him away from the program.

“I think his knee is going to be in good shape,” Clark said. “He came in here behind the 8-ball academically. He’s done a solid job. He really just had a lot to overcome. I think we got his knee well, so we’re trying to make a decision. Is it NAIA or Canada?

“He’s our guy, and we’re going to stay with him.”

After joining UAB in August, Law dealt with a knee injury and the struggle to remain academically eligible over his brief time at the school.

Law, a running back, signed with UAB out of East Mississippi Community College. He qualified at the start of the fall semester, but wasn’t on the spring roster as he battled a knee injury and tried to maintain academic eligibility.

For those familiar with the series, Law was clearly a talent but struggled with his academics, one of the larger themes of the series. Law was in danger of becoming ineligible during the season but seemed to turn the corner academically late in the year under the constant mentoring of Brittany Wagner, his academic counselor.

Law had his work cut out for him just to become eligible at UAB and it seems that while his work in the classroom at EMCC was enough to admit him to a D1 program, he may have struggled to maintain good standing once admitted, which is a shame given how highly regarded he is (or was) among national scouts.

The acclaimed series will return for a second season, although it will be bittersweet. Wagner, the first season’s most compelling character, announced earlier this year that she would be leaving East Mississippi Community College for a job working as a sales and marketing director in the food industry.

[AL.com]