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Yale, Varga still waiting
Yale expected a ruling on the Tyler Varga situation from the NCAA Thursday, but it never came.
"Nothing yet," said a disappointed Varga following Thursday's practice.
Perhaps Friday. But coach Tony Reno said he did not know for sure. So Yale may be without its leading rusher for a second straight game Saturday against Lafayette.
"Nothing yet," said a disappointed Varga following Thursday's practice.
Perhaps Friday. But coach Tony Reno said he did not know for sure. So Yale may be without its leading rusher for a second straight game Saturday against Lafayette.
posted by Chris Hunn at
7:53 PM
10 Comments:
I don't think a delay of this length portends a positive response, do you?
@Anonymous. Maybe, but not necessarily. I think this is a unique situation that the NCAA is concerned will set a precedent. Yale's position, apparently, that by coming from a scholarship situation to a non-scholarship situation Varga is in the clear. the NCAA is trying to decide if Canadian partial scholarships in an inferior league count.
But what about the matter of wiping out his year of college in Canada altogether and starting him as a freshman (with 4 years of eligibility?
If he ends up ineligible, then I guess the delay is irrelevant, but if they declare him eligible, it is a travesty that Yale would lose him for one, maybe two games only to find out what they already believed/knew... namely, that he WAS eligible all along!
If the NCAA doesn't make a decision today, Yale should just play the kid. The heck with these bureaucrats and their idiocy.
They're playing with a kids life.
I think there is more to this story then Reno is telling us. You mean to tell me if they are truly not in the wrong, they can't do anything to speed this along??? They don't seem to be puting up much of a fight.
From the Ivy League Sports Board: http://www.voy.com/152805/
The rule in question is on page 20 of this pdf (free download):
http://www.ncaapublications.com/p-4288-ncaa-transfer-guide-2012-13.aspx
By a strict, literal reading ("letter of the law"), Varga should have sat out a year. Coming from a Canadian school, he does not fulfill any of the conditions for exception on page 20, which (I think by oversight) do not account for cases of international transfers.
But Yale should argue for the "intent of the law" to be enforced in this case: the rules for exception on page 20 are designed based on the reasonable assumption that a transfer coming from a scholarship to a non-scholarship school, having foregone his athletic scholarship, should not be asked to sit out a year when he would have to pay tuition on that year without scholarship aid. Effectively this would unfairly require the athlete to pay one more year of tuition (w/o scholarship support) for the same number of years of eligibility.
It seems this is the intent of the NCAA transfer regs--they simply forgot to include in the "letter of the law" the case where the transfer comes from an international university (non-FBS, non-FCS school). I think Yale has a good case, but the ruling on Varga depends finally on how reasonable the NCAA bureaucrats are. And being bureaucrats, they will take their time.
But again, what is the case for arguing that Varga's freshman year in Canada can be ignored, and that Yale can extract 4 years of varsity service from him?
If he is eligible, the reason he has four years remaining is that NCAA regulations normally have five years of eligibility of which one, the redshirt year, the player can't compete in NCAA activities. Since Varga participated in no NCAA activities last year, that's why he still has four years left... if he is in fact eligible this year.
That's not the point. The question is how Yale can get away with calling him a "freshman" if he's already completed a year of college?
You say his year playing football in Canada "doesn't count" because the NCAA doesn't regulate Canadian sports... but what is the argument for saying his whole year of college in Csnada - including all the classes he took - "doesn't count" either?
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