August 28, 2013

NCAA Denies Rakeem Buckles to Minnesota

The NCAA has reportedly denied a waiver request that would enable Rakeem Buckles to compete during the 2013-14 season for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Buckles would be a promising addition to a Minnesota roster that could use help rebounding and blocking shots.

The school can appeal the decision and the ultimate resolution could favor Buckles and the U. However, with Minnesota’s fall semester beginning next week and classes having already started at Florida International, timing is an issue.

The traditional media will display “outrage” at the perceived inconsistency of the NCAA and point to “similar cases”, but there are several issues that could be unique to Buckles.

Who Plays if Buckles Doesn’t?

Before getting into Rakeem Buckles and his situation, let’s quickly consider who else is on the roster.

The Gophers have two redshirt junior centers in Elliott Eliason and Maurice Walker. Neither have logged many minutes during their years at Minnesota, but if they both stay healthy and produce then the situation at center seems relatively set.

Experienced guards Andre Hollins, Austin Hollins and Malik Smith all figure to see a ton of floor time. However, none of these players rebound well.

The need for a power forward to rebound and defend inside is significant. Redshirt junior Oto Osenieks, redshirt freshman Charles Buggs and – if he receives a waiver to play immediately – sophomore Joey King, all are possibilities to help Minnesota rebound the ball this season from the “4” position.

Gopher sophomore Wally Ellenson, a 6’4″ wing, may be a better offensive rebounder than any of the power forward candidates. With great leaping ability and fearlessness, Ellenson can make an impact crashing the offensive glass if given the green light.

Back to Buckles

The arguments and reasoning by the various parties involved in such eligibility matters are rarely made public. Non-disclosure does cause some of the angst and complaining displayed by the public when there is a perception that the NCAA “got it wrong”, but when you’re potentially dealing with issues of academics, health, etc., non-disclosure is appropriate.

We are not opining here as to whether Buckles should be eligible to play for Minnesota this season. Rather, we are taking a non-comprehensive look at what some of the issues could be.

There isn’t a checklist, unbiased computer program, or inflexible rules to look at. Ultimately most decisions include a degree of subjectivity.

1) Multiple 4-4 transfers.

In early April we talked about immediate eligibility for graduate student transfers as it relates to Rakeem Buckles. Although our understanding is that Buckles has not been accepted into a graduate program at the University of Minnesota, the discussion in this article from nearly 5 months ago remains potentially relevant.

Put simply, the NCAA could take issue with the belief that Buckles is following a coach around.

In April we discussed why approval of a waiver could be problematic for Buckles.

Graduate students are generally afforded a one-time exception (i.e., no waiver is required). However, if a student has previously transferred from one 4-year school to another (i.e., Louisville to FIU), the exception is not available and a waiver must be requested.

“A coach leaving is not generally seen by the NCAA as a valid justification for a transfer and in fact Pitino’s move from FIU to Minnesota might hurt the argument of Buckles being eligible up north. Most likely the argument would be that Minnesota has a grad program Rakeem has been accepted into, but the same program is not offered at FIU.

Would the committee reviewing the waiver challenge the reasoning behind the request because of what may appear to be (and might factually be) a player following his coach as opposed to a student-athlete excited by a particular program at the University of Minnesota? With his history of injuries you’d hope he gets a chance to do what he’d like next season, but it’s difficult to tell.”

2) FIU’s Postseason Ban

Contrary to popular belief, if your school is banned from postseason play and you’re going to be senior, you do not automatically receive immediately eligibility at a new school.

The NCAA Bylaws allow one of its groups to award a waiver based on the recommendations of another group in such circumstances.

Remember, this waiver is generally granted when a postseason ban “would preclude the institution’s team in that sport from participating in postseason competition during all of the remaining seasons of the student-athlete’s eligibility”.

Minnesota’s Malik Smith did transfer to Minnesota and was granted a waiver to play immediately, however his history is different from Rakeem’s.

When Buckles and Smith decided to attend FIU before the 2012-13 academic year (and when Richard Pitino decided to coach there), the expectation was that the school would be banned from postseason play in 2013-14.

Malik transferred in from a junior college. He was eligible to compete in 2012-13 and had a chance to participate in the postseason, even though the prospects for being eligible for postseason in 2013-14 looked dim.

Buckles transferred in from Louisville and was not eligible to compete in 2012-13.

Therefore, it could be argued that Buckles essentially knew what his situation would be at FIU. In his one year of remaining eligibility to compete, he’d be at a school that was ineligible for postseason play.

Does this mean it makes sense for Smith and Buckles to be treated differently? In some minds it might.

3) Academic progress

When transferring, student-athletes can run into situations where classes at one school do not help their progress toward degree at another school. A player might not declare a major early on and take some more “general” type classes or certain classes (physical education, for example) that may help toward progress of only specific degrees offered by their school.

Some classes taken previously may not transfer over. Some classes may transfer over only if a specific degree at the new school is being pursued.

In addition, when players are injured (especially early in a semester) they may be able to reduce their course work and still maintain eligibility under NCAA rules. Buckles tore an ACL about a week into the spring 2012 semester and could have withdrawn from some classes after this major injury.

Delaying a decision on your major isn’t unusual and there’s nothing wrong with scaling back your course work if you need to have a major surgery performed during the semester (not to mention the need to dedicate a tremendous amount of time to rehab).

However, such circumstances and decisions can result in cutting it close with regard to your progress toward degree.

@LateNightHoops is on Twitter.

Sharing Options: