J.P. Olukemi was embroiled in one of the weirder eligibility appeals I’ve come across.
The high school that Olukemi was attending got shut down in the middle of a school year, so the coaches at the program sent him off to a Junior College to finish up that academic year. He never played basketball at the first JuCo he went to, transferring to a different JuCo where he began playing basketball.
But the way the NCAA rules work, his five-year clock -- you have five years to use up four seasons of eligibility -- started ticking when he enrolled at the first JuCo. Fast forward five years to this season, and Olukemi’s eligibility was scheduled to run out at the end of the first semester.
Luckily, it appears as if he got a waiver:
Oklahoma State's J.P. Olukemi's been granted full season waiver by NCAA. Big news for Cowboys, especially with Brian Williams done for year.
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) October 31, 2012
This is huge news for the Pokes.
Marcus Smart and Le’Bryan Nash are a great 1-2 punch, but without a strong supporting cast, this team won’t go far. With Brian Williams already out for the year with a wrist injury, Oklahoma State couldn’t afford not having Olukemi the second half of the season.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.