UPDATE
According to The Commercial Appeal, a temporary court ruling will delay the NCAA’s ruling that James Wiseman is ineligible.
BREAKING: Attorney says Shelby County judicial court judge just ruled to put a hold on NCAA's ineligibility ruling. pending further litigation.
— Jason Munz (@munzly) November 8, 2019
James Wiseman can play tonight.
This according to @mgiannotto https://t.co/KCQ0UWlMjV
It sounds like quite the battle between the NCAA and Wiseman is about to ensue.
A Friday night bombshell just dropped, as the NCAA has ruled James Wiseman ineligible, according to Woj.
The NCAA has ruled Memphis F/C James Wiseman -- the possible No. 1 overall pick in 2020 NBA Draft -- ineligible, his lawyers said in Memphis.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 8, 2019
But oh, it’s so much worse than that. Apparently, the NCAA has determined that Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway helped get Wiseman’s family moved to Memphis and is now considered a booster.
BREAKING: Memphis attorney Leslie Ballin says James Wiseman has been ruled ineligible.
— Jessica Benson (@Local24Jessica) November 8, 2019
He says the NCAA determined Penny Hardaway helped Wiseman and his family move to Memphis in high school. They are considering Penny to be a booster.
This comes after the Tigers center scored 28 points in a win vs. South Carolina State on Tuesday.
For Kentucky fans, it’s hard to forget how close Wiseman came to becoming a Wildcat. It was all but a done deal until Wiseman’s high school coach, Penny Hardaway, was named Memphis’ next head coach. That relationship was ultimately the deciding factor in Wiseman picking Memphis over Kentucky, and that advantage was apparently was even more unfair than we realized.
Now, it appears Kentucky may have dodged a major bullet. Losing a player like Wiseman this early in the season can be mortally wounding in terms of remaining a title contender.