The NCAA is maybe best known for its blind bureaucracy and warped morality. Decisions about who is and isn’t eligible sometimes seem random, as if someone in Indianapolis is flipping a coin.
Still, this one is pretty shocking.
The NCAA looked at Isaiah Brock, a decorated Army veteran who did tours in Afghanistan and Kuwait, a man whose job was to extract dead bodies from the battlefield, a guy who has received As and Bs in the college courses he enrolled in while serving, and they declared him ineligible to play college basketball.
Um, what?
Brock is hoping to play at Oakland University, where coach Greg Kampe noticed him playing with other troops in Afghanistan, grew intrigued by his story and invited him to suit up for the Grizz. And, per CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish, the NCAA said no, citing a high school transcript that’s now five years old.
Via Parrish’s piece:
To be clear, Brock has a qualifying standardized test score. And he’s shown the ability to do college-level work. It’s just that the NCAA is focused on a high school transcript from five years ago and using it to refuse to allow Brock to play this season.
“I don’t want to speak for the NCAA, but I think they put an emphasis on Isaiah Brock in 2011 and what his credentials at that time would suggest,” [Oakland athletic director Jeff] Konya said. “But Isaiah Brock in 2016 is a different person. He’s taken college classes and passed them with a 3.0. So if the issue is that he’s not prepared academically to do college work, I’d argue the proof is in the pudding.”
Sheesh, can you even imagine being the person at the NCAA who looks at Isaiah Brock and decides he’s not allowed to play college basketball.
Luckily, the NCAA has a chance to make this right.
Here’s Parrish again:
Oakland plans to appeal the initial decision and simply make the case that this 22-year-old freshman who spent the past four years serving his country doesn’t deserve to have an unnecessary hurdle placed in front of him now. He’s been awarded the Army Commendation Medal, a National Defense Service Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Medal, a Army Service Ribbon, and a Certificate of Achievement. He’s already doing college work and flourishing. He’s developed into a leader on campus and in the locker room. So the idea that he’d be judged from a college-readiness perspective based off of five-year-old transcripts from a substandard high school is nonsensical.
“He never even thought about getting eligible out of high school,” Kampe said. “He was always just going to join the Army.”
The NCAA messes up all the time, but this one is ridiculous. Let’s let Isaiah Brock play.
[CBS Sports][Photo via CBS Sports]
