By DYLAN LUTEY
The University of Memphis announced Friday forward DeAndre Williams’ request for an additional year of eligibility was denied by the NCAA for the second time.
Williams’ initial request at the beginning of the summer was denied which triggered him and his legal team to appeal the decision again.
“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 said in a statement.
“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.
“Unfortunately, after multiple months of back-and-forth, the NCAA arrived at a different conclusion. We appreciate DeAndre’s contributions to our men’s basketball program over the past two-and-a-half years, and he will always be a Memphis Tiger. Nevertheless, we are very much looking forward to an exciting season on the court for our men’s basketball team.”
Williams started his career at Evansville in 2018, but was ruled academically ineligible that year. However, the NCAA counted that year as one of his eligible years because of a “delayed enrollment” violation.
The “academic misadvisement” mentioned in the school’s statement is referring to advice from people with authority that Williams and his team thought was misguiding.
The 6-9 forward ended up playing one year at Evansville where he averaged 15.2 points and 6.9 rebounds before transferring to Memphis. Last season with the Tigers he averaged 17.7 points and 8.2 rebounds earning All-AAC honors.
This news comes just a few days before the Tigers tip-off their season against Jackson State on Monday.
They will also be without head coach Penny Hardaway who is serving a three-game suspension for recruiting violations. Assistant coach Rick Stansbury will fill the role until Hardaway returns.
(Photo: Memphis)
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