Memphis basketball: NCAA denies DeAndre Williams' eligibility request
The NCAA denied Memphis basketball star DeAndre Williams an additional season of eligibility on Friday, dealing a significant blow to the Tigers' roster while bringing sudden closure to a long-shot waiver pursuit.
Williams (6-foot-9) spent the past three seasons at Memphis, landing first-team all-AAC honors last season after averaging 17.7 points and 8.2 rebounds. Before that, he spent two seasons at Evansville, with the NCAA ruling him ineligible for the 2018-19 season due to delayed enrollment.
“We are extremely disappointed a waiver for an additional year of eligibility for DeAndre Williams was denied, which came following a request for reconsideration of the initial denial and then an appeal," Memphis athletics said in a statement Friday. "We felt the evidence about academic misadvisement prior to his initial collegiate enrollment that was uncovered and provided to the NCAA was sufficient to grant this waiver, and we also strongly believed the depth of additional information shared with the NCAA on an ongoing basis would be on DeAndre’s side."
Williams, a native of Houston, Texas, thought his collegiate career was over following the Tigers' loss to FAU in the first round of the NCAA tournament in March. But after consulting with sports attorney Don Jackson, he attempted a Hail Mary to restore his eligibility with the Tigers. In July, the school asked the NCAA to reconsider the initial ineligible ruling. The appeal focused on the argument that Williams made decisions based on "several layers of misadvisement" before enrolling in college that cost him his first season of competition, Jackson told The Commercial Appeal in July.
The NCAA has disagreed.
Why the NCAA denied DeAndre Williams' eligibility
Jackson told The Commercial Appeal Friday afternoon that the NCAA's rationale for denying Williams another season of eligibility "represented a departure from NCAA case precedent."
Jackson said the NCAA denied the waiver request because "neither an NCAA certified summer coach, a high school teacher nor a high school coach is authorized to provide initial eligibility advice to a prospective student-athlete."
"The decision and rationale are inconsistent with NCAA initial eligibility legislation," Jackson said.
Memphis basketball roster without DeAndre Williams
The denial of Williams' request means Jayden Hardaway and Malcolm Dandridge are the only Tigers from last season's roster in line to return.
DEANDRE WILLIAMS: Tiger star's quest to return to Memphis basketball moves forward
Memphis has brought in eight scholarship transfers (including point guard Jahvon Quinerly, guard Caleb Mills, wings David Jones and Jaykwon Walton, and center Jordan Brown) and three scholarship freshmen (including wings Ashton Hardaway and Carl Cherenfant) on board. The Tigers also welcomed Temple transfer Nick Jourdain (6-9, 220), who could be a candidate for the starting job at power forward.
The Tigers will face Jackson State at FedExForum Monday (7 p.m., ESPN+) in its season opener.
Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball: NCAA denies DeAndre Williams' eligibility request
