Alabama denied offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy's initial appeal to transfer to another SEC school on Monday, sources told AL.com.

Kennedy, who decided to leave the Crimson Tide program in early May, is hoping to join either Auburn or Tennessee as a graduate transfer but is still blocked from even having contact with those two schools as well as any other SEC schools and any future Alabama opponents.

The next step for Kennedy, who graduated in December, is an in-person hearing with Alabama's appeal board.

"You know, the big thing when it comes to guys that are grad transfers is if they've shown the maturity to do what it takes to get their degree," Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt told Sports Radio WNML in Tennessee last week. "Obviously I don't think they would be leaving a situation where they felt like they could continue to have success. If they've earned their degree, in my opinion, they've earned the right to choose where they want to go by their maturity and the things that they've accomplished."

Kennedy was the Tide's backup center as a redshirt sophomore last year before suffering a season-ending injury and was set to enter fall camp as the second-team center behind Ross Pierschbacher.

The Wetumpka native received a medical redshirt after last season, according to his Alabama bio, so he's set to again be a redshirt sophomore and still has three years of eligibility remaining.

"We have an SEC rule about do we want to have free agency within our conference, and I think there's certain circumstances and situations where it may be better for the student-athlete," Tide coach Nick Saban said last week. "And in those cases, I would be supportive of guys doing it. I've done it in the past and I've not done it in the past. But I do think that this whole transfer thing is something that we should look at more from 1,000 feet.

"We don't like to get put in the middle of these rules as coaches. I think none of us do. We have rules. But yet, we're not supposed to abide by the rules and they reflect poorly on us when we try to support the rules that we have. And the rules that we have, we have for a reason. And I just stated the reason: Do we want free agency in the SEC? Should guys be able to leave your team and go play for somebody else next year that you have to play against? And I do feel that there are cases where that may be a viable option, if it's for academic reasons."

Matt Zenitz is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.