On Friday yet another top NCAA athlete was ruled ineligible to play by the NCAA. James Wiseman, the top high school recruit of the class of 2019 and potential top pick in the NBA in 2020, was ruled ineligible to play by the NCAA. Why you might ask, because his family got help moving in 2017. Yep you heard that right.

In the Summer of 2017, Current Memphis coach Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway gave Wiseman’s family $11,500 to move to Memphis to go to a new high school. Hardaway was Wiseman’s AAU coach and coach at Memphis East High School, the school Wiseman was transferring to. After problems with that occurred he was eventually ruled eligible in high school, and also ruled eligible by the NCAA after committing to Hardway’s current team, the University of Memphis Tigers.

Problems arrived when the NCAA found out about the paying money to move. They considered Penny Hardaway a booster for the University of Memphis. A booster is a person who donates to a schools athletic team or program. Hardaway donated $1 million to the university in 2008 so the NCAA considered him a booster, and only official team staff can attempt to recruit players to a program.

So long story short, the NCAA believes that Hardaway “attempted” to recruit Wiseman to Memphis back in 2017 before he was even the coach there, or payed Wiseman that amount rather than actually helping his family move. However, Wiseman was able to get a restraining order on the decision and Wiseman is still playing. This is because when the NCAA rules someone ineligible they can’t do anything it is all up to the university, although everyone also listens to them because they don’t want to face consequences down the road. If Wiseman continues to play that will most certainly be the case. Whether they take the wins away from the schools, take scholarships away so the school has less basketball scholarships to give out, give them a postseason ban (meaning no matter how good the team does they can not make the postseason NCAA tournaments), or even in extreme case take national championship wins, and player awards won (if applicable). This has happened before University of Southern California Trojans had their 2004 national championship stripped and their running back Reggie Bush had his 2005 Heisman Trophy taken away for breaking NCAA rules.

Overall, if Wiseman keeps playing Memphis it could do serious damage to the team. He does have a court day on November 18th to take about the ruling however, him playing even in a game or two could lead to serious consequences from the NCAA, not necessarily him as he is probably going to the NBA after his Freshman year, but the team for the next three to five years. The team is showing the NCAA isn’t a dictatorship and doing what they believe in which is commendable on the other hand and might start a trend in the future.