New York Post:
NCAA denies hardship waiver for Rutgers’ Okoro, despite death of father and brother
The NCAA grants transfer waivers to student athletes based on injury, illness or financial hardship of an immediate family member or legal guardian. If a family member is given a specific amount of time to live, that also merits a waiver.
Death, however, isn’t part of the criteria, it seems.
Rutgers transfer Kerwin Okoro lost his father Stanislaus and brother Idiongo in the span of two months last year, which made The Bronx product decide to leave Iowa State and come closer to home to attend Rutgers. Yet the NCAA denied the 6-foot-5 St. Raymond graduate’s transfer waiver request yesterday, a source told The Post.
Okoro, 19, was scheduled to be a key part of new head coach Eddie Jordan’s program in the winter, but now he might have to wait before beginning the final three seasons of his collegiate career.
It’s a head-scratching decision considering Okoro’s losses would seem to meet the waiver guidelines more than many other student athletes who have been approved in recent years. For example, Iona guard Tavon Sledge, who left Iowa State, received a waiver and was allowed to play immediately last season because his father was sick, while Hofstra guard Shaquille Stokes was granted one because of his sick grandmother.
The rest here.
This was a big story last year and from the looks of it, the NCAA has done nothing to clarify or fix its policy on when an athlete is allowed to transfer.