How dumb is Memphis for playing Wiseman?

[Go Budaw]

Basically, the ncaa is saying that once you donate a big check, you are a booster forever. There is no end date according to them. Its absurd and it should be challenged.

Hardaway didnt give that money so Wiseman would attend Memphis. If the money were so Wiseman would attend Memphis, then sure that's shady. But it wasnt for that.

So you are saying that Penny somehow isn’t (or shouldn’t be) a booster of Memphis? A guy who literally played there and turned around and donated a million dollars to the same school where he played? If that isn’t a booster, I don’t know what ever could be considered one. Can the Seals take a 10 year hiatus from donating to MSU, then just start cutting million dollar checks for 5* football players? If so, how do we sign up for that? Obviously you see the slippery slope here.

And as far as we all know, he very well could have been giving him the money to go to Memphis, even if it was indirect. It could have been other Memphis boosters funneling money through Penny. It could have been Penny himself paying him in hopes that his relationship with Wise would help land him a college job, where he could then deliver Wise to that program, whether it be Memphis or somewhere else (oh hey wait, that part actually happened).

Or maybe, just maybe, Penny just wanted the kid on his AAU team and didn’t really think of the future ramifications beyond that. But even in the practically impossible world of crazy coincidences where that would be true, Memphis STILL obtains a decisive recruiting advantage by having one of their own in his this kid’s ear, and paying him money to be in his ear. That’s the whole reason for the existence of rules against illegal benefits. Even in the case of negligence, the rules still apply because advantages are gained. Nobody else in college basketball can even remotely claim to have gotten a fair shake in recruiting against Memphis for this kid, now that all the facts are on the table. It’s ridiculous to suggest otherwise.

What makes this truly “sleazy” is that Penny paid out to more or less become this kid’s handler / advisor / whatever without any real regard to what the final impact would or could be for the kid’s future. And now its a situation where it may cost the kid a significant part or even all of his college basketball career, because Penny either didn’t know better or just didn’t care. One or the other, but either way he was focused on what was best for Penny.

 

[ckDOG]

Penny is far from sleazy

Penny has been a beloved pillar of the Memphis community for some time now and has impacted much more than just kids with basketball talent. We need more Penny Hardaways in the world and less keyboard warriors that want to judge a man’s character based on cutting a check to move a family from A to B. Argue he should face some kind of punishment for breaking a rule, but sleazy is ridiculous.

 

[MarkDallas]

Memphis should just keep playing him and call this an exhibition season.***

 

[Maroonthirteen]

Or could have just not signed with Memphis and played somewhere else then there’s no issue.

Or Moma Wiseman could have paid her own moving expenses like every else or...... just not moved and continue to play in Nashville.

 

[Maroonthirteen]

That’s my thought as well because there’s really no other reason for Memphis to suddenly drop it’s lawsuit and declare Wiseman ineligible on the same day. They’re waiting on an agreed upon ruling that will likely be coming any day now.

My question, though, is how in the world would the NCAA defend a minimal suspension when it has banned guys for entire seasons for less? Our own Renardo Sidney got 1.3 years for < $12k in benefits

You answered why Memphis urges Wiseman to drop the lawsuit, revisiting the Sidney saga. Shoving the NCAA and daring them to “do something about it” was just going to slow the process and put them in jeopardy for maximum punishment.

Bending the knee, sitting him and properly asking for reinstatement is the correct way to get him actually reinstated sooner and resolve the matter.

 

[Seinfeld]

No kidding. The point that a lot of people seem to keep missing here is that there was nothing at all that Penny did that was wrong UNTIL Wiseman decided to enroll at Memphis. Only at that point was it an NCAA violation, and it took a lot of things changing over a 2-year period for that to occur

This wasn’t a case of kids getting cars, moms getting jobs, or brothers being hired to the university staff like in Oxford. This was a weird case of certain things falling into place that morphed a series of actions into a violation over time, and as you said... the world needs more guys like Penny. That dude has done more for the city, university, and youth in general than most of us will ever dream about

 

[johnson86-1]

You answered why Memphis urges Wiseman to drop the lawsuit, revisiting the Sidney saga. Shoving the NCAA and daring them to “do something about it” was just going to slow the process and put them in jeopardy for maximum punishment.

Bending the knee, sitting him and properly asking for reinstatement is the correct way to get him actually reinstated sooner and resolve the matter.

That answers why memphis would want to resolve it, but not Wiseman. Memphis's mistake was not toeing the NCAA line to begin with. They should have just said they are a voluntary member of the NCAA and abide by its rules, but they are bound to follow the court's order, and they will reassess after the hearing to extend the TRO.

At the TRO, they could have dared the judge to throw them into the briarpatch, and basically said it would be unfair to continue the injunction against them unless the NCAA was prohibited from punishing them after the fact with probation or other sanction or refusing to count games wiseman played in for the purposes of determining tournament eligibility. If he granted injunctive relief during the trial, then Memphis would be protected. If he didn't, then Memphis wouldn't be on the record as bucking the NCAA.