Highly touted UCLA freshman and native Australian Jonah Bolden was deemed ineligible by the NCAA for his freshman season, UCLA said Friday.
The 6-foot-9 Bolden can’t practice (for now) but will remain on scholarship all year. He can practice after the first quarter if he maintains a certain GPA, a source close to the situation told SNY.tv.
“The NCAA has ruled that UCLA freshman Jonah Bolden is a partial qualifier, and as such, will not be able to compete for the men’s basketball team this season,” UCLA said, according to ESPN.com. “The ruling allows for Bolden to continue on athletic scholarship.”
The issue for Bolden — who committed to UCLA last December — relates to the fact that his clock expired before he graduated high school in the United States. Bolden began last season at Findlay Prep before transferring and finishing up at Brewster (N.H.) Academy.
“He started his senior year in Australia and the Australian school calendar goes January-November, so they’re saying since he started his senior year there he theoretically should’ve graduated his senior year with his original classmates in November so it was an issue of his clock expiring,” the source said.
“He didn’t have his 16 cores completed at the time of his school graduation. If they counted the work he did at Brewster he would’ve been a full qualifier.”
The source said Bolden “can be on a scholarship after January.”
