May 29, 2009
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Air Force's Wright Declared Ineligible
CHN Staff Report
Air Force junior-to-be Kevin Wright has been declared ineligible because of an NCAA technicality.
The Falcons' defenseman took junior college classes on a full-time basis prior to arriving at Air Force, thus starting his "NCAA clock." Players can do this without effect, only if they are part-time.
Wright said he was told at the time, by a counselor, that his classes would not effect his NCAA eligibility. Further, those credits didn't even carry over to Air Force, where his grades, as a biology major, have been strong.
"Frustration. Disappointment. Those words come to mind because you work for something for so long - pretty much my whole life," Wright told the Colorado Springs Gazette. "I've been playing since I was 7, and I always wanted to go as far as I could in hockey. College hockey is one of the higher levels you can make it to, and to have it be cut short by something that I thought was a positive decision when I was 17, and now it's coming back to haunt me, it doesn't feel very good."
The NCAA by-law in question is 14.2.1, which states that a student-athlete "has five calendar years in which to complete his four seasons of participation."
The NCAA dismissed his application for waiver, and denied his appeal.
Wright has letters from the junior college, in California, admitting error on part of the part-time school counselor. That counselor told Wright that his eligibility would not be affected, because the school did not have a varsity hockey program.
According to an NCAA spokesperson, the intent of the five-year NCAA clock is to ensure a level playing field. Even though Wright was given bad advice, his waived was denied because an NCAA committee determined that Wright delayed his college education for athletic reasons.
This rule does not apply to prep schools and playing junior hockey, which many players do for one or two years — to better prepare themselves athletically. That is something college hockey administrators fought to ensure.
Wright played 26 games for Air Force last season, and was considered the team's sixth defenseman.
"This is not a guy that we're trying to create a case for because he's going to lead us to the promised land," AFA coach Frank Serratore told the Gazette.
"You read about people that are cheating and taking short cuts and getting second and third chances, and then you see this and you're going, ‘Are you kidding me?' ... Somebody needs to put the common sense test to this, because this kid is being wronged."
