Top 100 college football prospect Chris Morris ineligible after transfer to Memphis Central

Chris Morris, the No. 3 college football prospect in Tennessee for 2020 and No. 79 overall prospect in the country, will be ineligible for his senior season in 2019 because of TSSAA transfer rules.

Morris, the No. 5 offensive guard in the country according to the 247Sports Composite, recently transferred from Freedom Prep in Memphis to Central. Morris announced his transfer on his Twitter account while posting Central's spring football schedule, which began Monday.

"I no longer play at Freedom Prep," Morris wrote on his Twitter account.

But Morris isn't alone in former Freedom Prep players transferring to Central.

Quarterback Tevin Carter, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound athlete, announced last month on Twitter that he had transferred to Central. Carter, who will be a sophomore, will also be ineligible during the 2019 season, according to TSSAA executive director Bernard Childress.

Childress said that Carter and Morris are eligible to participate in spring football, but are ineligible for the 2019 season because Freedom Prep has a system-wide school zone as a charter school. That zone encompasses all of Memphis.

Transfers must make a bona fide change of address into the school's zone or sit out one calendar year from their last date of participation to be eligible. Carter and Morris both moved into Central's zone, but haven't left the zone Freedom Prep encompasses, Childress said.

To become eligible immediately, the athletes would have to claim a hardship and have it approved by the TSSAA. That wouldn't happen until after they practice three days in the fall.

A message to Memphis Central coach Major Wright was not immediately returned to the USA Today Network - Tennessee. Freedom Prep coach Jerald Cook declined comment.

Carter, who is a class of 2022 prospect, has multiple offers, including Arkansas, Auburn, Florida State, LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Morris is a 6-foot-3, 300-pound offensive lineman. He has 34 offers, according to 247Sports, including Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Memphis, Ole Miss and Tennessee.

Morris was an All-Metro first-team selection by the Commercial Appeal in 2018 while at Freedom Prep. He had 71 pancakes and didn't allow a sack.

Memphis Central finished 8-3 in 2018, falling to Germantown 24-19 in the opening round of the Class 6A playoffs. 

Freedom Prep went 9-4, losing to Lake County in the Class 1A quarterfinals.