After an injustice at Xavier, Wells handed another by the NCAA
So why has the NCAA refused to grant a waiver to make Wells eligible this season rather than wait a year as athletes usually do when they transfer between Division I programs?
You would almost think the folks in Indianapolis have something against second-year Terps coach Mark Turgeon, after a decision by the NCAA clearinghouse this summer that denied eligibility to freshman guard SamCassell Jr. based on his prep school transcript.
The decisions involving Wells and Cassell come a season after Alex Len was hit with a 10-game suspension for playing on a professional team in his native Ukraine that
The news that Dez Wells was transferring from Xavier to Maryland over the summer brought mixed reactions from Terps fans who knew about the player’s triumphs and troubles.
Wellswas one of the best freshmen in the Atlantic 10, averaging better than 10 points for a team that won 23 games and reached the Sweet 16. But there was also the matter of the four-game suspension Wells served for his role in theXavier-Cincinnati brawl.
The biggest concern was that the 6foot-5 guard from Raleigh, N.C., had been expelled fromXavier after being accused of sexual assault. But the prosecutor dropped the charges and said the school’s decision was “an injustice.” reportedly paid for his travel and meals.
Itwasoneof thefewinstances last season that the typically bluntTurgeon had to hold his tongue. He is doing the same thing this time, saying he would wait until the appeal process is finished before commenting.
As unfair as the situation with Cassell seemed to be, the matter withWells smacks of some sort of vigilante justice.
Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Deters dropped the case and told my colleague Jeff Barker that Wells “was the unfortunate recipient of a bad process. This would never go anywhere criminally.”
Deters noted that Wells had no prior criminal record and said, “I think Maryland’s getting a good kid.”
While Turgeon saidWells’ case is unique in the eyes of the NCAA, there is a precedent local college basketball fans might remember. It involved Gary Neal, who left La Salle after being charged with rape andwound up at Towson. He, too, had to sit out after being acquitted.
Neal, who like Wells was Atlantic 10 Freshman of the Year, had a good career at Towson and made his way to the pros. Wells, who has a similar game, can useNeal as a role model.
TheNCAAunderstands the recruiting of the nation’s top players is hard to monitor, and it does the best it can.
But this is much different case with Wells. This is a player who was unfairly expelled from one school and trying to revive his career at another.