Weekend Hot Clicks: NCAA Sidelines Chase Young, James Wiseman Amid Scandals

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young and Memphis F/C James Wiseman were ruled ineligible before the start of the weekend.

A Young Wise Man Says

It was an eventful Friday for the NCAA.

In a period of about 10 hours on Friday, the best player in college football and the likely No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft were sidelined because of NCAA eligibility issues.

First, Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. From Letterman Row, who broke the story on Friday morning:

“Fresh off the finest performance of his career in a record-breaking win over Wisconsin, the Ohio State junior is now suddenly, shockingly unavailable for the nation’s top-ranked team heading into the final month of the regular season, according to multiple Letterman Row sources. Poised to break the school’s single-season record with his next sack, the captain won’t be available to do it for the Buckeyes on Saturday against Maryland — and now the wait is on to see exactly how much time Young will miss.”

Later, it was revealed — through various reports and Young himself — that Young accepted (and paid back) a loan in 2018. After speculation the loan came from an agent, Bruce Feldman confirmed the loan came from a family friend:

“The issue that has led to Ohio State defensive end Chase Young being suspended indefinitely dates to December 2018, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told The Athletic, when Young borrowed money from a family friend to fly his girlfriend to California to attend the Rose Bowl. Young paid that money back in April, the person said.”

Second, Memphis center James Wiseman. Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a #WojBomb on the college basketball world on Friday, hours before Memphis was scheduled to host Illinois-Chicago:

“The NCAA has ruled Memphis F/C James Wiseman -- the possible No. 1 overall pick in 2020 NBA Draft -- ineligible, his lawyers said in Memphis.”

Then things got messy as Wiseman’s attorney Leslie Ballin — a name instantly beloved by the internet — revealed that Penny Hardaway paid thousands of dollars for Wiseman to move to Memphis (from Nashville) in 2017 to play for Hardaway’s Memphis East High School team. That’s a problem because Hardaway gave $1 million to Memphis, his alma mater, in 2008 and is considered a booster. He was named Tigers’ head coach last spring and landed Wiseman, the No. 1 player in the 2020 class.

Ballin announced a lawsuit, which led to an “emergency temporary restraining order” and Wiseman’s appearance in Friday’s game, which might’ve been a huge risk for Memphis if their lawsuit fails and Wiseman remains ineligible. Because like it or not, a major NCAA rule appears to have been broken by Penny Hardaway.

Here’s a full timeline for the Wiseman events, and SI legal expert Michael McCann answers, “What’s next for Wiseman?”

Hot Seat

Chris Ash is out. Willie Taggart is out. Who’s next?

Eleven Power Five programs made coaching moves last season, five of which came after dismissals. This year, the only two coaching moves thus far in the FBS have been in the Power Five, though it might still be difficult to reach last year’s total of five fired coaches.

Entering Week 11, Dennis Dodd updated his hot seat rankings, which is lead by Clay Helton and includes a few SEC coaches.

It Was 2-2

Utah scored their 50th point against Mississippi Valley State on Friday night with four minutes and 32 seconds remaining in the first half. The Utes could’ve stopped scoring and still won.

Mississippi Valley State forward Gebreal Samaha made a layup with 18:13 remaining in the first half. The bucket tied the game, 2-2, and they were within six points four minutes later, losing 15-9 with 14 minutes remaining in the first half.

Then it got ugly: Utah scored a staggering 55 points over the final 14 minutes of the first half in building a 70-20 lead at halftime. They added 73 in the second half and won 143-49, the largest margin of victory ever in a Division-I game.

Please indulge yourself in this outrageous box score.

Camille Kostek

Bluegrass Miracle

That nose

Odds & Ends

A referee says he told Jim Jordan of sexual abuse at Ohio State ... College football National Coach of the Year rankings … UCF has two more losses this season than the last two seasons combined … Bold predictions for MLB offseason: Mystery teams and Monster Trades .. Chad Morris is crawling towards a depressing record … I talked some Big 12 football on the Ten12 if you’re looking for a Big 12-only pod … Is Cam Newton done in Carolina? … This was quite the Joe Burrow sign at GameDay.

Jackass

I wasn’t a diehard Jackass fan but thought I had seen every episode (and movie). I had never seen this Brad Pitt prank until Friday:

New Pixar Movie

Happy Weekend

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