[Dave in Green]

@zippyman23, I'm no attorney, but I once stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. My understanding of an NCAA medical hardship waiver is that you can apply for it at the time of the injury. If Xavier did this for Walsh at the time of his injury and got it approved, my understanding is that Walsh would have been granted an extra season of eligibility at that point, and that his eligibility to compete four seasons within a five-year window would have been reset. I guess we'll know for sure at next season's final home game when they honor the seniors.

[zippyman23]

@zippyman23, I'm no attorney, but I once stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. My understanding of an NCAA medical hardship waiver is that you can apply for it at the time of the injury. If Xavier did this for Walsh at the time of his injury and got it approved, my understanding is that Walsh would have been granted an extra season of eligibility at that point, and that his eligibility to compete four seasons within a five-year window would have been reset. I guess we'll know for sure at next season's final home game when they honor the seniors.

There are two different waivers in play here. Xavier filed for a medical hardship waiver to get his freshman year of eligibility back and not have it count against his 4 years of competition. That gave Walsh a 5th year of eligibility since he still had 4 years of competiton left. However, that did not reset his 5-year window. Walsh then sat out the 2010-2011 season as a transfer which wouldn't count against his years of competition but doesn't extend that 5-year window.

Since Walsh will still have 1 year of competion left after the 2012-2013, he would then have to petition for a second waiver to remove the 5-year rule and allow him to compete in a 6th year. In that petition, he will need to make his case as to why he wasn't able to complete his 4 years of competion in the 5-year window and why it should be extended to 6th year. That's where things become more difficult. It comes back to the year he sat out as a transfer. If Walsh stayed at Xavier, he would have been able to complete his 4 years of competition in that 5-year period. Based on that, the NCAA has previously ruled against allowing an additional year to complete that 4 year of competition because it was not beyond the control of the athlete. The burden of proof would then lie in the hands of Walsh to prove otherwise. I believe Walsh participated in practice during his transfer year, so he wouldn't be able to make the case that his injury would have prohibited from participating in competition even if he was eligible to participate. So it comes down to proving that the transfer was beyond his control, which will be tough thing to do and not something that I would be optimistic about.

[Dave in Green]

Good analysis. I'll throw in my analysis of Walsh's situation at Xavier based on what I've read. He was recruited by an Xavier head coach who then left the program. Walsh met with the new coach, who informed him that he didn't fit in with the program's new direction and was unlikely to get much if any playing time. At that point, Walsh decided to transfer to a program where he believed he could be a productive member of the team.

I assume the NCAA judges each of these cases on its individual merits. I don't know how all of the details of Walsh's situation match up with other players in similar situations. I do know that KD and UA are optimistic that Walsh is going to play three seasons for the Zips. I see no reason to list him as a sophomore other than the fact that they fully expect him to play his junior and senior seasons here.

Either they have information that we don't or they're just bluffing.

[Dave in Green]

@zippyman23, I did a little checking around, and it appears that your analysis of the situation is 100% accurate. Odds are against Walsh getting a sixth year to complete four seasons due to the fact that one of the years he used up was from a voluntary transfer. It depends on the strength of the case that can be put together that there were extenuating circumstances for transferring out of Xavier that were not entirely within Walsh's control. But the NCAA is pretty tight with its six-year exemptions, so it's looking more as if next season may be Walsh's final year of college eligibility. Listing Walsh as a sophomore this season is just being optimistic.

[Dave in Green]

Proving that the NCAA does make exceptions, they just decided that Trey Zeigler can join Pitt immediately without sitting out for a year. The reason given is because his daddy coach was fired from CMU.

Well, the reason that Walsh transferred to UA from Xavier is because the coach who recruited him left and the new coach flat out told him he was not in the new plan.

Is it fair that the NCAA gives favored treatment to players who happen to be sons of coaches because it might be awkward for the son to continue to play for the team from which his daddy coach was fired?

If I were KD, I'd sure as heck cite the Zeigler case among others when applying to get Walsh his lost year of eligibility back.

Pitt basketball transfer Zeigler will be eligible this year

[Sergeant Zip]

Dez Wells expelled for “a serious violation of the Code of Student Conduct.”

[ZachTheZip]

That whole program seems to be in it pretty deep. A good thing Walsh left when he did.

[ZachTheZip]

Dez Wells expelled for “a serious violation of the Code of Student Conduct.”

Wells cleared of everything by Grand Jury, but Xavier decided to keep him expelled. Xavier does not look good right now.