Friday, October 30, 2009

Wall cleared to play at UK

Former Raleigh Word of God basketball star John Wall has been cleared to play this season -- after he sits out an exhibition game and regular season game, and pays back almost $800 in travel expenses "incurred during Wall's unofficial visits to various institutions during his junior year at Word of God Christian Academy."

Here's the full news release from Kentucky after the jump:


University of Kentucky men's basketball student-athlete John Wall has been certified with conditions by the NCAA. The conditions are repayment of expenses and a two-game withholding, including the first exhibition game versus Campbellsville (Nov. 2) and the first regular-season game against Morehead State (Nov. 13).

Wall, a 6-4 freshman point guard from Raleigh, N.C., was one of five freshmen on the Naismith Preseason watch list. A pre-season All-American according to several national publications, Wall was the top recruit in the country last season according to Rivals.com.

"I'm grateful to have this decision behind me. All I ever wanted was to go to school and play ball with my team," said UK freshman John Wall. "This has been really hard for my mom and I want to thank her for her support during this process."

The repayment of expenses includes a total of $787.58, consisting predominantly of travel expenses incurred during Wall's unofficial visits to various institutions during his junior year at Word of God Christian Academy.

"We're appreciative of the process and the NCAA's willingness to listen," said UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart. "The NCAA staff worked to keep the welfare of the student-athlete in mind throughout this process. I'm happy for Coach Calipari and John Wall that he will get a chance to represent the Wildcats this season. He's a great young man and deserves to be able to concentrate fully on his academics and basketball."

"John Wall is a great kid who always tries to do the right thing and his mother is a great lady," said UK head coach John Calipari. "I'm just happy this is behind us."

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who would have gue$$ed it? LOL!

Anonymous said...

UK's incoming class mysteriously all qualified. How? The NCAA is a really stretching this one...

Anonymous said...

The REAL question/answer is where will the $$ come from to pay those fines?!!!

Anonymous said...

Don't worry. Calimari will pa$$ Wall some walking around money.

Anonymous said...

I $$$$$$MELL A $$$$$$$$NAKE.

Anonymous said...

The NCAA is a joke. They are obviously on the take. Whatever happened to Wall's breaking and entering charge?

Anonymous said...

December 5th is when John Wall lights up Tarheels and I can't wait. I seem to remember a certain Tarheel point guards legal troubles but Roy welcomed him right back.
GO CATS!!

cardrunners said...

John Calipari is clearly willing to do whatever is necessary to win. NCAA rules violations have occurred at every step along the way, and UK faithful should be not surprised if this happens there in the near future.