Once again the NCAA has shown why it cares more about the turf it holds as a giant bureaucracy than the welfare of one of its student athletes. They have lost touch with the people who make their jobs possible. The young men and women who want to compete.
In a recent ruling, Kenny Simms was denied a waiver to transfer and play at Francis Marion University. I guess the schools involved weren’t big enough to warrant any publicity, good or bad, to make a decision in what was in the best interest of the student athlete. Not like a year ago, when they approved Tyler Smith to play right away for Tennessee, which was a school he had turned down the first time they recruited him.
All Kenny Sims wanted to do was play for a coach that recruited him, but the ARS committee refused his request based on the grounds that he could have appealed to stay at UMKC. It seems UMKC had withdrawn his scholarship at the end of the academic year.
Let me get back to the beginning so you hear the whole story. Kenny was recruited out of high school by Donnie Marsh at FIU. He elected to sign there in the fall of his senior year in high school. Unfortunately for Kenny, Coach Marsh was fired that spring. Since he had signed the letter of intent he was bound to FIU. He ended up going there and playing for the new coach. After a year, his scholarship was not renewed. No reasons were given. A school doesn’t have to give a reason. It was just a case of the new coach wanting his own players.
He then transferred to UMKC. While sitting out a year in residence (as required by the NCAA) the coach that recruited him there was fired. Once again he was playing for a new coach. At the end of that year the new coach decided not to renew his scholarship.
Now Kenny wanted to finish his career playing for someone he knows and, more importantly, going to a school that would give him a scholarship. You see, he had no financial resources to stay and pay his own way at UMKC the additional year so that he could graduate.
Unfortunately, this week he was told by Matt Bergmeister of the NCAA that he would not be granted his waiver and would not be allowed to play. When explaining this decision, Bergmeister cited two things. First, it didn’t matter that coaches had changed. What world does he live in? Oh yeah, the fantasy world of the NCAA!
Secondly, that he could have appealed his scholarship non-renewal at UMKC. He is correct about that, but by the time the committee would have met and ruled he would have risked not having another school to go to.
Once again, the NCAA has taken away a young man’s future by taking away his economic wherewithal to graduate. It is time for the NCAA to stop burying its head in the sand and do what is right for the student athletes.
One final note, if there are any lawyers out there reading this blog who would be interested in trying to fight this injustice please contact me.
