Controversial transfer Mikey Williams not allowed to enroll at UCF for months | Commentary

Running off at the typewriter …

I hate to be the party-pooper who spoils all the fun, but it’s going to be months before controversial basketball commitment Mikey Williams suits up for the UCF Knights.

If, in fact, he ever suits up for the Knights.

Understandably, it was huge news when Williams, the former five-star recruit from San Diego who originally signed with Memphis, announced last week that he is transferring to UCF. What wasn’t widely reported is that Williams isn’t even eligible to enroll at UCF for seven months because of a serious criminal issue involving a shooting outside his San Diego County home last March.

San Diego County authorities originally charged the then-18-year-old Williams with multiple felony counts of assault with a firearm. According to police, a dispute just before midnight ended with gunshots being fired at a car that was leaving Williams’ house with six passengers inside it. Bullets hit the back of the car and the back windshield yet thankfully nobody inside was injured.

As a result, Williams was never allowed to suit up for Memphis and decided last week he wanted to transfer to UCF. However, UCF and other state colleges have a rule that says an athlete charged with a felony cannot be enrolled or eligible to play until the felony charge is either dropped or reduced. Hence, the famous quote from legendary FSU coach Bobby Bowden years ago when prosecutors were considering charging FSU star wide receiver Peter Warrick with a felony for shoplifting. Cracked Bowden: “I’m praying for a misdemeanor.”

So, too, is UCF.

Williams had originally faced nine felony counts and up to 30 years in prison, but in exchange for him pleading guilty to one lesser felony count of making a criminal threat, eight of the felony counts were dismissed. If Williams completes a gun-safety course, attends anger-management classes and does 80 hours of community service, the remaining felony would then be reduced to a misdemeanor.

However, sentencing isn’t set until Aug. 12 in San Diego County Superior Court. What that mean is this: Unless the sentencing hearing is moved up, Williams wouldn’t be eligible to play at UCF until next basketball season.

Here’s hoping Williams eventually does enroll at UCF because, quite frankly, if anybody can mentor him and set him on the right course, it’s Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins.

But in today’s topsy-turvy world of the transfer portal where a player is committed one day and decommitted the next, a lot can happen between now and August.

Stay tuned. …

Short stuff: Why do we put so much credence in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary when determining our presidential candidates? If you ask me, Iowa and New Hampshire are the political equivalent of the Pop-Tarts Bowl, but we treat them like they’re a part of the College Football Playoff. … In regard to my column earlier this week about super agent Jimmy Sexton having a monopoly on the best college football coaches, my operatives tell me that Sexton’s next conquest will be to corner the market on marching bands, cheerleaders and mascots. … Bad news: The Dolphins-Chiefs playoff game Saturday night drew an average of 23 million viewers on Peacock and set a record for the most-watched live event in the history of a streaming service. If Peacock will pay $110 million to televise one wild-card game, how long until Amazon offers the NFL a billion-zillion dollars to stream the Super Bowl? It’s as inevitable as death, taxes and the text-messaging driver in front of you taking 5 seconds to start moving after the light turns green. … After seeing the number of female viewers Taylor Swift has lured to NFL broadcasts, isn’t it only a matter of time before Major League Baseball tries to get one of its stars to start dating Billie Eilish? …

Florida Gators AD Scott Stricklin tells the Sentinel’s Edgar Thompson that Billy Napier is NOT on the hot seat. With all due respect to Stricklin, ADs don’t get to determine who’s on the hot seat and who’s not. That’s the job of us fans and media members. ADs get to hire and fire, but the fans and media are in charge of the coaching-seat thermostat!!! … Speaking of feeling the heat, the state college football figure who’s under the most pressure next year is FSU radio voice Jeff Culhane, who has to correctly pronounce new quarterback DJ Uiagalelei’s name about 75 times per game. … Admit it, you had given up on the Magic’s Chuma Okeke and thought he was a wasted first-round draft pick. Hey, maybe we should all take a lesson from author A.A. Milne, who conveyed with Winnie the Pooh: “Rivers know this: There is no hurry. We shall get there someday.” …

The three most expansive stretches of frozen wasteland on the planet: (1) Antarctica, (2) The Greenland Ice Sheet, (3) Andy Reid’s mustache. … Did you see where former Texas, Nebraska and FAU quarterback Casey Thompson is transferring to Oklahoma for his seventh season of eligibility? After college, his next stop won’t be the NFL; it’ll be the AARP. … Mikey likes: Lions over Bucs by 2, Ravens over Texans by 12, Packers over 49ers by 3 in Upset Special, Bills over Chiefs by 7, ESPN’s 37 fake Emmys over Rosie Ruiz’s 1 fake Boston Marathon by 36 (cases of fraud). …

Last word: With Thursday being National Thesaurus Day, did you know that I have the world’s worst thesaurus? Not only is it terrible, it’s terrible!