The NCAA has a set of rules it says it abides by when assessing which student-athletes are granted waivers following a transfer and which are not.
It just seems like they are making up the rules as they go along.
The latest example came Thursday when Georgetown center Josh Smith was granted a waiver after he bolted UCLA last season for the Big East program.
Smith, a 6-foot-10, 350-pound load who is a former McDonald’s All-American, isn’t from the Washington, D.C. area – he’s from the state of Washington — and he doesn’t have a sick family member he needs to take care of, guidelines the NCAA follows when granting a waiver. He was not only given a waiver to play immediately for Georgetown, but also given a Seasons of Competition waiver, meaning he has two full years of eligibility remaining despite playing in six games last season.
“I can confirm that the waiver request was approved after a thorough review by NCAA staff,” NCAA spokesperson Chris Radford told The Post in a statement. “The decision was based on the totality of circumstances and well-being of the student-athlete.”
Radford said he couldn’t offer any other details due to “student-athlete privacy.”
After the ruling was announced, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman tweeted Smith was given the waiver because of his weight issues and treatment from former UCLA coach Ben Howland. If that were the case, there is precedent: The players who left Rutgers amid the Mike Rice scandal were granted waivers.
Others disputed those claims about Howland’s abuse, however. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who has emerged as a critic of the NCAA, said weight was a problem throughout Smith’s career at UCLA, not something that just came up last winter.
Bilas made sure to emphasize he has no problem with Smith being cleared to play immediately. His problem is with the other players who are being forced to sit out, players who seem to have more of a case.
“The issue is all of these other players, in my judgment, being mistreated,” he said.
Rutgers transfer Kerwin Okoro was initially denied a waiver even though his brother and father passed away last year and he wanted to be closer to his family. The NCAA granted him the waiver after an appeal and the media firestorm it begot. Old Dominion’s Donte Hill was denied an extra year of eligibility because as a sophomore at Clemson he took part in one –one! — scrimmage, according to CBSSports.
NCAA bylaws state any participation in officially sanctioned competition — scrimmages included — starts the clock on a player’s eligibility in that given year, yet those bylaws apparently don’t apply to Smith.
“It’s absurd, especially when you relate it to this,” Bilas said.
Bilas suggested the NCAA either allow all transfers to play the season after they switch schools or make everyone sit out rather than doling out waivers arbitrarily, which seems to be the case.
“The NCAA mandate is they are just amateurs playing for the love of the game and this is just an avocation,” Bilas said. “An avocation means for fun. Well, why would you make somebody sit out if a student happens to be an athlete who is in endeavor just for fun?”
Bilas made the point that a musician who transfers from one school to another does not have to wait to join the band.
“This is a money issue,” he said. “These players are assets, and they don’t want their assets they’ve invested in moving around.”
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— St. John’s hosted a group of elite prospects for its Red Storm Tip-Off event Friday night: Roselle Catholic (N.J.) junior point guard Isaiah Briscoe, Long Island Lutheran sophomore guard Devonte Green (the younger brother of Spurs guard Danny Green), Our Savior New American (L.I.) senior forward Cheick Diallo and junior forward Kassoum Yakwe and Christ the King senior center Adonis Delarosa.
— Seton Hall hosted verbal commits Isaiah Whitehead of Lincoln, Khadeen Carrington of Bishop Loughlin, Angel Delgado of Huntington Prep (W.Va.), Ismael Sanogo of Newark East Side (N.J.) and Wings Academy junior point guard Desure Buie for its Midnight Madness event.
— Freshman Kentan Facey, a top UConn recruit from Long Island Lutheran, was granted a waiver by the NCAA after it questioned whether the 6-foot-9 Facey’s college eligibility started early while he was attending high school in Trelawny, Jamaica.
— Rhode Island came to see Tottenville junior forward Nakye Sanders on Wednesday and Wagner was in on Thursday.
— Virginia, Stanford and Boston College visited with Iona Prep sharpshooter Matt Ryan this week. The highly ranked junior has upwards of 20 scholarship offers.
— Colgate, Bucknell and Central Connecticut State recently have been to Brooklyn to see Xaverian junior wing Sayon Charles.
— New Jersey point guard Matt Farrell of Point Pleasant Beach verbally committed to Boston College on Monday over Monmouth and Virginia.