Very little public information has been released about the situation surrounding Kansas University freshman forward Cliff Alexander, who sat out of Saturday’s 69-64 victory over Texas at Allen Fieldhouse after the NCAA made KU officials aware of an eligibility concern surrounding Alexander.
Following Saturday’s game, KU coach Bill Self admitted to having little knowledge about the situation — though it seems highly likely that Self has learned a ton more in the 24 hours since first hearing about it — but Self also made it clear that he did not believe the issue had anything to do with something the school, the coaches or the basketball program had done wrong.
While such a stance undoubtedly was refreshing for KU fans to hear, it did not erase the fact that Alexander is out indefinitely and there’s no telling at this point when or even if he might return.
Sunday morning, SI.com’s Brian Hamilton got in touch with the attorney helping Alexander work through the situation, Washington D.C.-based Arthur McAfee, and even McAfee was unable to shed much light on any kind of time frame.
> “I can’t handicap it for you, it
> wouldn’t be fair to either side to do
> so,” McAfee told Hamilton. “Our goal
> is to make sure there is clarity with
> whatever issue [the NCAA] may have.
> We’re always confident that whatever
> information [it is] looking for is in
> favor of Cliff. These things take time
> to develop. [It has] procedures [it]
> must follow, and I think there’s an
> attempt to do it fairly quickly. We
> will see here in short order, I hope.”
These things certainly are not new to college athletics or college basketball or even KU, but given the fact that this one has popped up in March, with just two games remaining in the regular season, one can’t help but wonder if things can and will be resolved in time for Alexander to return to the Jayhawks’ lineup this season.
Despite being unable to predict how long the ordeal would last or how long Alexander would be sidelined, McAfee seemed confident that things would move quickly one way or the other.
> “I would assume that [the NCAA]
> understands the pressures of the
> current basketball season,” McAfee
> told Hamilton, “and I’m sure [it] will
> try to do [its] job in a thorough
> fashion, to cause the least amount of
> harm to Cliff and the university.”
Whenever these situations arise, information can be tough to come by because everyone involved typically wants to say as little as possible as to not interfere with the process. Self said following Saturday’s game that Alexander would be able to practice while things played out, but until more is known or things are resolved, that’s likely all Alexander will be able to do and we probably won’t be hearing from him until KU knows his status for the rest of the season.
The good news, from a Kansas perspective, is that the university acted fast in sitting Alexander and has made it clear that it is 100 percent willing to cooperate with whatever the NCAA needs. It certainly would be foolish for them not to do so, but such swift action often is looked upon favorably by the NCAA.
Stay logged on to KUsports.com for any information we or others are able to learn about the Alexander situation.
