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Braeden Anderson ruled ineligible to play at KU

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Braeden Anderson’s dreams of being a player at Kansas were shattered on Friday afternoon after speaking with Bill Self in his office.  Kansas announced that the freshman will not be eligible to attend the University of Kansas in the 2011-2012 academic year.

KU Athletics released a statement on Friday.

The NCAA deemed Anderson to be a partial qualifier, which would make him eligible for financial aid and possibly earn the right to practice second semester with no competition. However, due to Big 12 Conference policy, all partial qualifiers must be approved by the league’s faculty athletic representatives and Anderson’s case was not approved for aid and therefore will not attend KU.

“I am very disappointed but I know Braeden is even more crushed,” said Self. “He has worked very hard to be in a position to come here. I certainly understand the uniqueness of his academic record coming from Canada. I understand the NCAA ruling and I understand the Big 12 policy that states that the faculty athletic representatives must approve, but I am extremely disappointed in the outcome.”

Anderson originally committed to DePaul back in November of 2010 but he was released from his letter of intent and committed to Kansas in April.

The news was originally reported by Jeff Goodman of CBS:

The 6-foot-8 Anderson, who grew up in Alberta, Canada, said he was advised by his summer coach, Ro Russell, to attend Christian Faith in North Carolina and re-do his junior year, not knowing the implications.

“That was technically my fourth year of high school by NCAA standards,” Anderson said. “My mother paid a lot of money to go there and we thought everything would be fine. That’s what he told us.”

Anderson then transferred to Wilbraham and Monson Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts with a strong academic reputation where he spent all of last season. He said he earned all A’s and B’s, but it didn’t matter because he had already completed four years of high school.

“So the NCAA didn’t count anything I did last year,” Anderson said.

Anderson is one of six siblings who was raised by a stay-at-home mother. He said he doesn’t have the financial means to pay his own way at Kansas.

“I’m not sure what I’m going to do now,” Anderson said. “My dream was to play at Kansas.”

Anderson said he attended summer school at Kansas at part of a bridge program and received a pair of A’s, even scoring high enough on an exam that allowed him to test out of certain freshman classes. He also scored a 1450 on the SAT.

“Basketball was my ticket, my future,” Anderson said. “It’s the only way I can afford to go to college.”

The decision is hard to swallow for KU fans who were excited to see Anderson contribute at the University of Kansas.

What’s disturbing to me is that the NCAA has allowed players such as Derrick Rose to play in the NCAA and it was later reported that Rose paid someone to take the SAT for him.

Last season, Josh Selby was suspended nine games and had to pay back more than $4,500 (to a charity of his choice) after receiving improper benefits, which was believed to be from Robert Frazier, the business manager of New York Knick’s Carmelo Anthony.

This decision on Anderson is a joke. If the NCAA wants to protect the student-athlete, then this decision doesn’t make sense. Even worse is that the Big 12 had academic advisors who ruined everything for the young man.

He clearly wants to be a student, as well an athlete. He has post-grad plans of going to law school. A 1450 on the current SAT is equivalent to a 950 on the old SAT, which is a lot better than the majority of collegiate athletes.

What’s worse for him is that because he is Canadian, he isn’t allowed to get financial aid so he can continue going to classes at Kansas.

And that is where the NCAA and the Big 12 have failed everything for an 18-year-old, trying to better himself.

Shame on the NCAA.

Photo Credit: Lawrence Journal-World

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