When the NCAA decision ruling Shabazz Muhammad ineligible was announced on Friday night, UCLA indicated that it would waste no time filing an appeal on their student-athlete’s behalf. Well, now five days later, it looks like the UCLA athletic department is finally getting around to it. According to Baxter Holmes of the Los Angeles Times, UCLA submitted its formal appeal of the NCAA’s ruling today. The school’s case before the NCAA appeals committee on Friday and there could be a ruling as early as that day. If the ruling swings UCLA and Muhammad’s way, he could become eligible immediately. If the appeal is denied, however, UCLA and Muhammad would have to go through the reinstatement process. Holmes reports that since the season is already underway, both the ruling by the appeals committee and the potential reinstatement process could be expedited, meaning that it is likely that Muhammad will not be kept in the dark about his future much longer. It is possible that he could know by Friday whether he is immediately eligible, and if not, what steps he would need to go through in order to have his eligibility reinstated. More likely, however, if Muhammad needs to apply for reinstatement, a final decision on that could be delayed into next week.
UCLA Filed An Appeal Today Of Friday’s NCAA Ruling That Declared Muhammad Ineligible; A Decision Could Come As Early As Friday
As Holmes reported earlier in the week, if Muhammad’s appeal is denied, the most likely length of time that Muhammad will miss is ten games, putting his UCLA debut on 12/15 against Prairie View A&M. If that’s the case (and that figure is based on Muhammad repaying the roughly $2000 paid for a pair of unofficial visits to Duke and North Carolina by financial advisor Benjamin Lincoln, who the Muhammad family claims is a family friend, and being suspended for 30% of the season), Muhammad will be back for four non-conference games (including the Bruins’ final non-con game against Missouri) prior to the start of Pac-12 play. Muhammad’s lawyers contend that Lincoln sought, and received NCAA approval before paying for the trips.
After two games, the Bruins stand at 2-0, but last night’s tightly contested one-point overtime victory over UC Irvine makes it clear that the team could use an infusion of talent. And, given that there is arguably no bigger talent in this year’s freshman class, Muhammad could make a significant difference for the Bruins. While the team has been solid defensively against two run-of-the-mill offensive teams (they’ve held Indiana State and UCI to 0.9 points per possession, the offense has dragged at times. With Muhammad at the wing, you can bet that problem would be resolved fairly quickly.