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Nate Oats: new NCAA transfer rules 'more difficult' for Alabama basketball

Alabama basketball’s optimism concerning a hardship waiver for transfer Jahvon Quinerly appears to have waned a bit in the past week. A day after the NCAA released changes to its transfer guidelines, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said the alterations could complicate Quinerly’s chances of being granted immediate eligibility for the upcoming season.

Alabama Crimson Tide basketball coach Nate Oats. Photo | Getty Images
Alabama Crimson Tide basketball coach Nate Oats. Photo | Getty Images
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“I’m guessing it will make it more difficult,” Oats said during the SEC basketball coaches teleconference on Thursday. “I don’t really know. It seems like they fluctuate every couple of years. All of a sudden they say they're going to get more strict. They get more strict for a year or two and then all of a sudden they start granting a lot more waivers then they get back to more strict. I don’t know if we just caught the bad end of the pendulum swing here with that.”

Quinerly spent his freshman season at Villanova before transferring to Alabama this summer. The former five-star point guard originally committed to Arizona out of high school but changed his path after he was involved in an FBI probe and accused of taking money from former Arizona assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson. The charges against Quinerly were dropped earlier this month after Richardson’s lawyer said Richardson “made it clear” he never paid Quinerly or his family.

Last week, Oats said Alabama was “optimistic” toward Quinerly’s chances of gaining instant eligibility. The point guard’s hardship waiver will likely center around the distractions he faced caused by the allegations against him. Oats and Alabama claim that contributed to his quiet season at Villanova where he averaged 3.2 points and saw the court for just one minute over the team’s final eight games combined.

“I do think he has a really good case,” Oats said Thursday. “Our compliance office thinks he has a great case with just being accused of being put under the spotlight of all that FBI stuff when his family had nothing to do with it. It’s unfortunate that somebody else lied about him. He kind of was put in a precarious situation, kind of affected his freshman year in a real negative light, and he needed a fresh start.”

Under the NCAA’s new rule policy, players can be granted immediate eligibility if they are a “victim of egregious behavior directly impacting his or her health, safety or well-being.” While Quinerly has been cleared of charges, it’s debatable how much the distractions affected his safety or well-being. Quinerly could claim that the wrongful accusations caused a significant amount of mental distress which would possibly fall under the NCAA’s rule change stating that students could gain instant eligibility due to “illness or injury.” However, that would require the New Jersey native to choose a school within a 100-mile radius of his home.

One advantage Quinerly has in the situation is the support of Villanova. Whichever way Alabama attempts to approach the hardship waiver, it will need a statement from Villanova athletic director Mark Jackson describing the incidents concerning the move. Last week, Oats said he has been in contact with Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright through voicemails and that he believes Villanova is “going to support the whole thing.” However, even with the support of his former school, Quinerly’s instant eligibility is not a certainty.

“It’s not one of those deals though where he’s coming back close to home. I don’t know how it will affect it,” Oats said. “I’m going to let our compliance handle that. Jahvon’s in a great place. Hopefully we get him to play. If not, he’s working hard. We’re going to get him a lot better if he’s not able to play this year. Either way, we’ll be all right.”

Oats gives updates on Bolden, Rojas

One addition Alabama won’t have to worry about is James “Beetle” Bolden, who is immediately eligible after joining the team this offseason as a graduate transfer from West Virginia. Bolden arrived on campus this past weekend and took part in Alabama’s shooting drills this week.

Bolden, who will have one year of eligibility remaining, averaged 12.2 points, 2.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game last season. The 6-foot, 170-pound point guard played in just 18 games and did not return after spraining his ankle during a Jan. 26 game against Tennessee.

Oats said Bolden has been withheld from live drills while he continues to rehab from the injury. However, the senior still stood out during his time on the court.

“He doesn’t miss much,” Oats said. "In all the shooting drills, he’s immediately one of the best shooters on the team, which that’s the biggest reason we brought him in because we needed shooting. So, he’s going to definitely provide shooting.”

Bolden is the only senior on Alabama’s roster. While Alabama has four veteran returners in juniors Herbert Jones, John Petty Jr., Alex Reese and Galin Smith, Oats believes Bolden’s presence in the locker room should make an impact during the coming season.

“He’s also a leader. He’s our only senior on the team, and he’s vocal,” Oats said. “Even when he’s not in the drills, he’s been pretty vocal. His freshman and sophomore years, they won a lot of games at West Virginia, so he knows how to win. Hopefully, we can get him healthy, he can bring us some shooting and some leadership and help us win a lot of games next year.”

Alabama will also welcome JUCO transfer James Rojas, who earned NJCAA First Team All-American honors for Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College last season. Oats said the 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward isn’t expected to join the team until mid-August as he continues to finish up some necessary summer courses.

Oats eager to work with full unit

The Crimson Tide is also without starting point guard Kira Lewis Jr., who was named to Team USA’s U-19 squad for the FIBA U19 World Cup. Lewis earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors last season, topping the team with 13.5 points, 2.9 assists and 31.6 minutes per game.

“I think that will give him some great experience,” Oats said. “He’s one of the better point guards in the country, so it’s nice to walk in your first year and have a really talented point guard, especially with the way that we play and how fast we play, and he’s one of the better transition point guards in the country.”

While Alabama hasn’t been able to work as a full unit yet this summer, Oats said the players currently on campus are “starting to figure each other out.” During his time at Buffalo, the head coach took his players on summer retreats. Oats said he still plans on making some trips but will wait until August when everyone arrives.

“I think that stuff matters, I think it means a lot,” Oats said. “It’ll be nice once we can do some of that here in July and August. But I think the new guys are meshing well with the returners. Right now, it’s about half and half, so I like the way our roster’s coming around.”

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