SPORTS BRIEF: Former Crimson QB will have a tough time returning to Harvard

Andrew Hatch, the former Harvard quarterback and LSU signal-caller who briefly started for the Tigers in 2008 after transferring to LSU from Harvard the previous year, is planning to transfer back to Harvard, the Associated Press reported on Jan. 15. But according to Harvard’s admissions office, the well-traveled athlete might not have a spot reserved for him back in Cambridge.

In March of 2008, the college announced a two-year moratorium on transfer admissions due to housing limitations. That policy appears to also apply to Hatch, despite past instances of athletes transferring out and then returning.

“Transfer admissions has been suspended, therefore no candidates, regardless of previous admission, are eligible to transfer to Harvard College at this time,” director of transfer admissions E. Marlene Vergara Rotner wrote in an e-mail on Jan. 16.

The admissions office does not comment on the cases of specific students.

Hatch made national headlines by starting the season opener for LSU, last year’s national champions, before suffering a series of injuries that sidelined him for the second half of the year. He finished the season 25-for-45, passing for 282 yards and two touchdowns. Hatch also ran 35 times for 139 yards and two scores.

There is precedent for Hatch’s return. In 2003, Zachary M. Puchtel ’05-’07 transferred to Minnesota, where he played the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons as a walk-on for the basketball squad. After his eligibility expired, Puchtel returned to Harvard and received his degree.

In 2002, catcher Mickey Kropf ’04-05 transferred to Vanderbilt, where he played for two seasons before returning to Cambridge. Both those transfers, however, occurred before the current moratorium took effect.

—Jillian K. Kushner contributed to the reporting of this story.