Memphis Plays Russian Roulette -- TRO Version -- with NCAA

As exasperating as dealing with it can be, the NCAA governing body is a necessary evil for college sports programs.

After all, someone has to handle all the administrative minutiae for each of them.

The bummer with that crew, though, is that evil keeps surfacing so wantonly in the form of turf-guarding, red-taping bureaucratic nazis.

 

Basically, the NCAA uses the same rationale as the NRA to justify its hardline stances:

Any concession to their policies would be the start of a descent down the proverbial but illogical slippery slope.

 

That outfit probably gets challenged as much as the gun lobby, too. They're beyond familiar with the inside of a courtroom, as any operation with kajillion-dollar revenues would.

So, if they winding up losing a case or see inevitable writing on the wall -- as they just did for college athletes winning the right to benefit financially from their likenesses -- their resolve to fortify their other positions hardens.

 

Ohio State and tackle-tron DE Chase Young did a quick calculation after it was discovered he'd received a loan the NCAA decided it didn't like ...

 

After looking at their upcoming schedule -- Maryland and Rutgers are up next -- the Buckeyes and Young decided to park his patootie for a couple of weeks in hopes of currying fealty and getting by with a slap on the wrist in time for the following Penn State and Michigan games.

That's logical, and odds are it'll be a successful strategy.

Why Memphis Tigers coach Penny Hardaway and one-&-done dude James Wiseman decided to not do that may become a mystery for the ages.

 

That's what everyone was asking after a Tigers booster who just happens to be a high-end attorney sued the NCAA and the school itself to fight a ruling that:

• Wiseman was ineligible because
• Hardaway, in the role of a booster,
• Paid $11,500 in moving expenses to shift Wiseman's family to Memphis from Nashville.

The capper is the attorney requested and the judge issued a temporary restraining order so dude could play against that juggernaut that is ... the University of Illinois-Chicago?

 

It was a given before the tip that this was merely a glorified scrimmage, an opportunity for the nation's No 1 recruiting class to blow out the Flames -- really -- and give the locals a hint of things to come.

In that respect, mission accomplished:

 

Before the game even began, the NCAA decreed from on high that Wiseman was not only likely ineligible, but that the school -- ironically, its co-defendant -- would be ultimately responsible for the consequences of getting him on the court.

In other words ...

 

So, why does the school, the coach, and the player think risking a season, a possible Dance ban or even worse is worth the risk?

For the University of Memphis, it seems like their president is tired of the NCAA monolith and has the balls to do something about it:

 

For Hardaway, he's bloody rich. He's coaching because he wants to coach at his alma mater. It's not like he's jeopardizing a career or anything.

And for Wiseman, this season is his college career. If the NCAA bans him, dude will be on his way to Europe or Australia and become a pro that much sooner.

 

Greek Freak 2.0, maybe?

So, the stars have aligned for what could be an epic throwdown.

Here's what's surely their case against the NCAA, and it's got a shot:

• The NCAA knew about Hardaway's loan to the family -- incidentally, Wiseman didn't at the time -- when they deemed him eligible in May;
• Hardaway was coaching high school at the time he made the family loan;
• Tubby Smith was the Tiger coach back then;
• This issue arose after the NCAA reinterpreted its own rules.

 

Hardaway made a charitable gift to the university back in 2008. The reinterpretation involved the NCAA deciding that this donation made him a booster.

As such, the loan he extended to Wiseman's family happend before he knew he'd be reclassified. In essence, the NCAA tailored its revised case against Hardaway to fit pre-existing circumstances.

 

Put all these details into the hands of Memphis Magazine's top-rated attorney -- dude's name is, fittingly for the case, Leslie Ballin -- and the NCAA just might have met its match.

There's definitely a cohort of interested parties in the college sports ranks who want to think so.