James Wiseman’s case has been decided on by the NCAA with the result ending in a 12 game suspension. The 12 games includes the one he recently sat out on Saturday. In addition to the suspension, he must also pay $11,500 to a charity of his choice. That amount is equal to the amount Wiseman’s mother received back in 2017 from Penny Hardaway who the NCAA considers a booster. Hardaway, a former Memphis Tiger star gave Memphis a one million dollar donation in 2008 to build a sports hall of fame.
A year after giving the Wiseman’s the money, Hardaway was named head coach of Memphis and began recruiting Wiseman to play for him at the school. Memphis has already stated its intention to appeal the suspension. Although they are appealing Wiseman will sit tonight’s contest.
NCAA also says Wiseman "must donate $11,500 to a charity of his choice." Wiseman will be cleared to play on Jan. 12 at South Florida. https://t.co/PCNVC5V44u
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2019
Wiseman has been as good as advertised after entering the year as the number one ranked recruit in the 2019 class. He leads Memphis in points, rebounds, and blocks per game. He’s immediately come in and averaged a double-double and has easily been the Memphis Tigers best player.
Without him for 11 additional games will be tough for the Tigers but will also give the chance for a young team to get other players’ experience. Some of the other freshmen will now need to take on bigger roles which will be huge come later in the season when the games are more important.
Watching how the team integrates James Wiseman back into the chemistry of the team if his appeal is denied will be big. Sometimes a lengthy suspension can affect a team’s chemistry once that player returns. Although a player of Wiseman’s caliber should have no problem seamlessly fitting back in.
