Charlie Strong still confident DE/OLB Erick Fowler will be able to enroll at Texas|Texas Hot Topics|Team BattleGround|College BattleGround

The final 2016 signee for the Texas Longhorns is not on campus in Austin for the second summer session, but head coach Charlie Strong continued to express optimism on Tuesday at Big 12 Media Days that Manor defensive end/linebacker Erick Fowler will be ready for fall camp.

Strong said that the US Army All-American is finishing up a final summer school class and expects him to be cleared by the NCAA when practice begins in roughly two weeks.

However, there may be another hold up, according to the Football Brainiacs:

I spoke to a source yesterday who let me know that Fowler’s SAT score was flagged by the NCAA. This can often occur when a student athlete dramatically improves on the previous test score.

Burnt Orange Nation was able to confirm that belief with its own source, though Fowler later told TFB that his score was not flagged and that he will be able to enroll in the near future.

The nation’s No. 7 weakside defensive end had told various media outlets in the middle of June that he received the necessary test scores.

If Fowler did have his test score flagged, as 2015 tight end signee Devonaire Clarington had happen with his ACT score, he would have to re-take the test and score highly enough to receive his clearance from the NCAA, a process that could take some time and extend into the season.

Given the contradictory information and the fact that Strong might not be willing to be forthcoming about any potential issues with Fowler and his qualification, it’s difficult to say exactly what is happening right now beyond the fact that the local product is not currently enrolled.