Gophers, Pitino must navigate NCAA transfer gray areas

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For almost every rule, there is an exception. Extenuating circumstances. Special cases. The world is not black and white, and there is plenty of gray in the middle.

This offseason, the new Gophers men?s basketball coaching staff is taking full advantage of gray areas when it comes to filling out a roster.

Coach Richard Pitino came to the program in April. After two recruits decommitted and Joe Coleman announced he would transfer, Pitino was quickly staring at a depleted team and five available scholarships. Other programs with sitting coaches were way ahead in the game, and most of the solid-to-elite range high school recruits had long since been snatched up.

The solution, at least in part? Find transfers who could be eligible for a waiver from the NCAA to play immediately instead of having to sit out a season, which D-I basketball transfers typically have to do.

The Gophers have two incoming transfers involved with a waiver, Joey King and Malik Smith, and they could possibly seek a third if they land Rakeem Buckles, another transfer.

The school announced earlier this month that Smith will be eligible this season after being granted a waiver because his former school, Florida International, was banned from the postseason because of his team?s inadequate Academic Progress Rate. The Gophers are still gathering materials for King?s waiver, which revolves around a family health concern. King, who played high school ball at Eastview, was a freshman at Drake last season before transferring.

?I don?t think it?s common for basketball programs to do this,? said J.T. Bruett, the University of Minnesota director of compliance. ?I do think it?s a result, though, of when Coach Pitino was brought in. ? I think you see it more often in coaching changes and things of that nature where they?re a little bit behind at that particular institution.?

There are a few basic types of waivers used for transfers to become immediately eligible, which essentially means their year of establishing residency is waived:

?? Hardship waivers, including illnesses in the family or any other urgent personal circumstance. This is what the Gophers will seek for King.

??Waivers for a student- athlete whose institution is penalized for a violation of which that student had no involvement.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/sports/217501571.html

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