Rutgers basketball: Court rules Jeremiah Williams immediately eligible
Rutgers basketball is getting a midseason boost for its inconsistent backcourt: Iowa State transfer Jeremiah Williams is now eligible after sitting out 20 games for violating the NCAA’s gambling policy.
The U.S. District Court of New Jersey on Friday granted an injunction to the 6-foot-5 combo guard so he can suit up at Michigan Saturday; the NCAA’s suspension was supposed to last four more games, which would have allowed Williams to begin playing Feb. 18 at Minnesota.
“We are thrilled that the Court has ordered the NCAA to reinstate Jeremiah Williams immediately and has ordered the NCAA not to punish him for doing so,” attorney Kevin Marino said. “Mr. Williams is on the plane with the team and will be on the floor for the first time as a Scarlet Knight when the team takes on Michigan tomorrow.”
Williams’ lawsuit contended that he should get credit for time served on his suspension while he waited for the NCAA to issue a belated ruling on his status; the NCAA handed him a 15-game suspension, some of it retroactive, on Jan. 31.
The Scarlet Knights are 10-10 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten. Williams has been practicing with them since July, though he last played in a game two years ago for Temple. In two seasons with the Owls he averaged 9.4 points and 4.2 assists there before transferring to Iowa State for the 2022-23 season. He never actually played for Iowa State after damaging an Achilles tendon during a workout in October 2022. After entering the transfer portal in the spring, Williams committed to Illinois early in June but then decommitted and landed at Rutgers.
In September Williams pled guilty to underage gambling in an agreement reached with prosecutors in Iowa City and paid a fine of $645. As part of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s sweeping probe into sports gambling by college athletes, Williams was charged with tampering with records for allegedly falsifying information used to register accounts on mobile sports wagering apps.
In his plea, Williams admitted to placing wagers while underage using the FanDuel account of someone over the age of 21. He also admitted to placing more than $1,000 in wagers while under 21, the legal gambling age in the state of Iowa.
Originally Williams was planning on sitting out this season as a two-time transfer, but the NCAA’s transfer penalty got blown up by the courts. The 21-year-old has two years of eligibility remaining after this one.
Williams is not a jump shooter – his career 3-point percentage is .267 – but he’s a good ball-handler (career assist-to-turnover ratio: 2-to-1) and a decent rebounder who will bring much-needed size to the backcourt. The question now is how head coach Steve Pikiell will weave him into a 10-man rotation that already is busting at the seams without infringing on the development of young guards Derek Simpson, Jamichael Davis and Gavin Griffiths.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Rutgers basketball: Court rules Jeremiah Williams immediately eligible
