RE: So what happened that caused the NCAA to change their minds on Wiseman?
From the NCAA website
"Boosters play a role in providing student-athletes with a positive experience through their enthusiastic efforts. They can support teams and athletics departments through donations of time and financial resources which help student-athletes succeed on and off the playing field.
Boosters, referred to by the NCAA as “representatives of the institution’s athletic interests,” include anyone who has:
Provided a donation in order to obtain season tickets for any sport at the university.
Participated in or has been a member of an organization promoting the university’s athletics programs.
Made financial contributions to the athletic department or to a university booster organization.
Arranged for or provided employment for enrolled student-athletes.
Assisted or has been requested by university staff to assist in the recruitment of prospective student-athletes.
Assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student athletes or their families.
Been involved otherwise in promoting university athletics.
Once an individual is identified as a “representative of the institution’s athletics interests,” the person retains that identity forever."
Penny has done almost all of these, don't you think?
I understand this is a very rare circumstance. Hardaway is a extremely unique coach in almost every way and Wiseman is a special player, definitely already worth over $100,000,000.
The problem with the whole thing is that, yes, Penny was a "booster". He donated his time and money on several occasions to help the university and the athletic department.
He was also involved in a very meaningful way in youth basketball, as a AAU coach and in a coaching capacity at East high school. In performing his "job" (I know he didn't need the money) he was in constant contact with kids who may or may not be recruited by NCAA institutions in the future.
He must have given something (from a meal at Krystals to helping with living or moving expenses when he felt so moved or when he thought, within the rules that applied, it would help the kid and/or his team) to dozens, if not hundreds, of kids during his years at Lester, AAU and East.
I'm sure, at some point, he gave Lomax, Dandridge, Jefferies, and who-knows-how-many-more that didn't end up playing for him something.
If that made all these kids ineligible, wouldn't the NCAA have said something 2+ years ago and forced the university to never recruit anyone Hardaway had ever been involved with in his past? Of course it would, but they didn't.
I maintain that through the actions of the NCAA over the last 2+ years that Hardaway has been our coach, they had plenty of time to sort all of this out. Their decision to act last week after all this time is absolutely ludicrous and was done solely to hurt the Memphis basketball program and Hardaway, Wiseman, and all the players who joined Hardaway.
I also believe that the ground swell of support from media folks, as well as, other college and professional players, that the NCAA and the university should settle this with the proverbial "slap on the wrist" and the NCAA should go back to work fixing these stupid rules.
(This post was last modified: 11-11-2019 03:27 PM by cmt.)
|
/
So what happened that caused the NCAA to change their minds on Wiseman?
