Cairo Santos (#39) gets benched while the NCAA reviews his high school transcript
Tulane (1-1) got one of its legs clipped yesterday as freshman kicker Cairo Santos has been declared ineligible pending an NCAA investigation. Santos’ high school transcript and ACT scores are at the heart of the inquiry.
Cairo was a Brazilian exchange student who attended St. Joseph Academy in St. Augustine Florida. Apparently, his scores improved so much that it shocked the NCAA clearing house. Santos had an impressive 8 point jump in his ACT score from the first time he took it, to the last time. A feat that the NCAA doesn’t think is possible for the young Brazilian. Also, his GPA inexplicably sky rocketed while at St. Augustine.
This is not good news for Bob Toledo and the Green Wave who are coming off of a 3-9 season with only one win in conference play last year. This season, Santos was a bright spot on the team going 4-4 on FGs and 4-4 in PATs. The Green Wave have a bye this week and then travel to Houston to face the Cougars on September 25th. Hopefully by then, Coach Toledo will know the fate of his young kicker. After all, if the NCAA cleared Masoli, there is no reason not to clear Santos.
In the meantime, redshirt freshman Ryan Rome will assume all kicking duties.
