Former St. Raymond’s star Kerwin Okoro was denied a hardship waiver to transfer to Rutgers. (Denis Gostev)
The NCAA grants transfer waivers to student athletes based on injury, illness or financial hardship of an immediate family member or legal guardian. If a family member is given a specific amount of time to live, that also merits a waiver.
Death, however, isn’t part of the criteria, it seems.
Rutgers transfer Kerwin Okoro lost his father Stanislaus and brother Idiongo in the span of two months last year, which made The Bronx product decide to leave Iowa State and come closer to home to attend Rutgers. Yet the NCAA denied the 6-foot-5 St. Raymond graduate’s transfer waiver request yesterday, a source told The Post.
Okoro, 19, was scheduled to be a key part of new head coach Eddie Jordan’s program in the winter, but now he might have to wait before beginning the final three seasons of his collegiate career.
It’s a head-scratching decision considering Okoro’s losses would seem to meet the waiver guidelines more than many other student athletes who have been approved in recent years. For example, Iona guard Tavon Sledge, who left Iowa State, received a waiver and was allowed to play immediately last season because his father was sick, while Hofstra guard Shaquille Stokes was granted one because of his sick grandmother.
The transfer waiver rules, it should be noted, says nothing about death in the family.
I'll make the wise decision of staying off social networks today,cause if I express my feelings right now, I might just say the wrong thing
— Nkereuwem Okoro (@The_KO_Campaign) August 20, 2013
Rutgers declined comment and didn’t make Jordan or Okoro available for interview requests. The NCAA didn’t respond to a request seeking comment.
The Scarlet Knights also are waiting to hear back from the NCAA on Pittsburgh transfer J.J. Moore, a sharpshooting 6-foot-6 forward, regarding his own waiver based on an ill grandfather.
Okoro’s 72-year-old father, Stanislaus, died in December of a stroke. Then two months later, his 28-year-old brother, Idiongo, died from colon cancer. Okoro came back to be closer to his mother Eno and older brother Freddie, 26.
“I think it’s crazy,” Okoro’s AAU coach, Abdu-Allah Torrence, told The Post. “It was hard on the whole family. The biggest [reason for coming home] was being a support system for his mom.”
Because of the family tragedies, Okoro missed 14 games this year to be back in New York with his family. He averaged 3.6 minutes and one point per game, though he did play in four of Iowa State’s final 11 games, including the NCAA tournament victory over Notre Dame.
Okoro led St. Ray’s to a city title his senior year as one of the city’s top prospects.
For the time being, Rutgers has just 11 eligible players. Prized recruit Junior Etou, a highly ranked forward from Bishop O’Connell High School in Virginia, has yet to be cleared by the NCAA.