Al Pena Leaves Georgia Tech

Freshman quarterback Al Pena has decided to leave Georgia Tech, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Pena, a member of the 2003 recruiting class who graduated high school early in order to enroll at Tech this spring, is reportedly back home in Leander, Tex. Factors surrounding his decision to leave are unknown.

The loss of Pena comes at an unfortunate time as Tech also received news late last week that 10 additional football players are academically ineligible for the 2003 season, including starting running back Tony Hollings and defensive end Tony Hargrove. It should be noted however that Pena's departure has nothing to do with academic issues.

Pena had committed early to Tech, doing so last July.

"I pretty much had narrowed it down to three schools and I told my dad I just wanted to go to three camps," Pena explained to JacketsOnline last fall. "The three were Texas Tech, Oklahoma State and Georgia Tech. I just wanted to see which ones I'd like better after I narrowed it down to three. When I went to Georgia Tech I liked it better than the other schools. It was this one-day recruiting camp that I went to and they offered me there."

Tech still has two additional quarterback recruits expected to report this fall-- Reggie Ball of Stone Mountain (Ga.) Stephenson and Patrick Carter of St. Petersburg (Fla.) Lakewood.