Tales of the NCAA Being Stupid: Chase Young and James Wiseman Edition

In their never ending circle of stupidity, the NCAA doubled down with 2 of the most baffling suspensions I have ever witnessed in my history of watching college sports this past week.

First off, you all know how I feel about the University of Ohio State. I think it says a lot the way I type it, I loathe that team, I think they cheat and Urban Meyer is a supreme asshole. But, to suspend Chase Young, for what now looks like 2 of the most meaningless games on their schedule, is absolutely ridiculous. I get that players cannot accept money from boosters, and that, somewhere deep, deep in the rule book what he did was "wrong", still, this was so stupid. Yes, he took money from a "booster", but it was to fly his family, and his girlfriend, out to the bowl game last season. And Chase Young paid the loan back. I swear the only reason he got the suspension was because the "booster" has ties to the NFL. Or his family does, or something like that.

Herein lies one of my biggest problems with the NCAA and their never ending rule book. Chase Young is not allowed to get a job while he is enrolled in school. One, he doesn't have time, but college athletes cannot get work outside of the program. It is one of the billion dumb rules passed down by the NCAA to further police these kids. I had a friend who I have mentioned before that played division 1-AA football, and even he couldn't work a summer job that wasn't connected with the school. Chase Young is a star player. He is one of the favorites to win the Heisman. He is the best player on the number one ranked team in the country. He will, almost certainly, be a top 3 pick in the upcoming draft, and the NCAA decided now, near the end of the regular season, they were going to suspend him? Look, I do not like standing up for a player from that school, but this is so bogus. I mean, by all accounts, he goes to class, he has had zero off field issues and he paid back the loan. Why the suspension? The NCAA is as crooked, if not more so, than FIFA. And this suspension is just another unwanted feather in their, and Mark Emmert's dumbass hat. Again, the games he will, and already has, missed are glorified scrimmages. But still, this all but takes him out of the Heisman race, and makes the NCAA look really, really bad.

Then, to almost try and outdo themselves, the NCAA decided, one game into the men's college basketball season, that they were going to suspend the number one recruit, and most likely number one pick in the upcoming NBA draft, James Wiseman out of Memphis for the rest of the season because he accepted a "gift" from a booster. This booster, his head coach Penny Hardaway. Never, ever in my life have I heard, or been told, or read that a head coach can also be considered a "booster". This is asinine. I mean, Penny Hardaway did nothing wrong at all. He did exactly as Coach K or John Calipari would do. But, because he is young and new, the NCAA decided they were going to target him. I guarantee that if Wiseman went to Kentucky or Duke, this wouldn't even be a story. But, because Wiseman chose Memphis, and Penny Hardaway, the NCAA decided they needed to suspend him.

Even further, I don't know what the suspension is for. All I have read so far is that he is "ineligible". Is it grades? Is it impermissible benefits? Did the coaching staff at Memphis give him money? The NCAA has answered none of this, and just deemed him "ineligible". But, not to be taken prisoner by the corrupt NCAA, James Wiseman and Penny Hardaway are fighting the suspension, and until he is for real punished, he is allowed to play. The very same day he was deemed "ineligible", he went out and played and had a monster game. Look, Wiseman is going to be in the NBA regardless next year, but this one year at Memphis can mean the difference in draft position, and that could mean millions upon millions of dollars. But does the NCAA care about that? Of course not. They want things done their way, no matter how stupid and pointless their crazy rules may be.

Like I said before, if he were at any other school, one of the blue blood schools, this wouldn't even be an issue. But since Penny Hardaway is able to go into any recruit's home in the country, and is infinitely cooler than say Coach K or John Calipari or Roy Williams or Tom Izzo, the NCAA gets their feathers all ruffled. I told my dad, that if my son grows up to be a college level basketball player, and I had to pick a team or a coach I would want him to play for, Michigan and Juwan Howard were one, but Penny Hardaway and Memphis were a very close second. I grew up watching those guys play in college and the NBA. I didn't sit down and watch Coach K coach Duke, or John Calipari cheat at UMASS and now Kentucky. I loathe Tom Izzo. I think Roy Williams is okay, but he is old school. I would want my kid to play for a young, hip and fun coach. Not some crusty old man.

These 2 suspensions are so blatantly stupid and pointless from the NCAA and Mark Emmert. Every time they do anything that is slightly good, like agreeing to eventually pay athletes for their likeness, they go and do something like this that reminds me how disgusting and corrupt they are. This is so stupid and I like that these kids are fighting back. They aren't just accepting it because the NCAA says so. Good for these kids, and good for Penny Hardaway for attacking the system.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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