The NCAA has denied Royce White a waiver to play this season for the Iowa State Cyclones.
“We are disappointed in the decision but we will start the appeal process immediately,” Iowa State head coach Fred Hoiberg said in a statement. “We will exhaust every option available to try and restore Royce’s eligibility. Royce is disappointed as well, but he is appreciative of our intent to appeal the decision.”
If you remember, White is the former top 25 recruit that, well, youtube’d his way out of Minnesota last season.
Its a tough break for Iowa State, but not necessarily an unexpected one. White didn’t play at Minnesota last season, and it wasn’t the result of an injury or an illness in his family. It was because he was accused twice of stealing -- once from the Mall of America, where he plead guilty to reduced charges, and once from a dorm room on campus -- and White didn’t want to wait out his punishment from the school or the team.
I’ve said it before -- White deserves a second chance. I believe everyone deserves a second chance. We’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all done stupid things. I’m not saying I’ve stolen lap tops or shoplifted, but I can certainly tell you that I was no saint in college. No one was.
We all deserve a second chance. But that doesn’t mean that Royce White should have rules waived and corners cut for him to get that chance.
Take the year. Better yourself as a person, as a student, and as a basketball player. We’ll see you and Chris Allen in 2011.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @ballinisahabit.