Memphis is withholding top prospect James Wiseman from playing in a pivot from its original defiant, anti-NCAA stance

When he was coaching at a high school in Memphis, current Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway issued payments to Wiseman and his family so they could move to the area in 2017.
Instead of complying with the NCAA issuance, the preseason first-team All-American sued the collegiate athletics governing body and received a temporary restraining order to play in Memphis' last two games.
Since then, however, Wiseman has pulled his lawsuit and the Tigers have seemingly walked back their defiant, anti-NCAA stance by declaring their star ineligible for the foreseeable future.
Wiseman's formal punishment from the NCAA remains to be seen, but CBS analyst Gary Parrish suggested Thursday that it likely will include "restitution" in the form of "a charitable donation" and "some sort of game suspension."
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Just a week after the Memphis Tigers actively defied the NCAA's issuance that freshman phenom James Wiseman was likely ineligible, the program is changing its tune by withholding its young star from competition.

Wiseman a 7-foot-1 center widely expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft sued the NCAA and received a temporary restraining order in order to remain eligible for the Tigers' game immediately following the collegiate athletics governing body's injunction on Friday. In a highly unusual move, the university ignored the NCAA's decree and chose to play its star in both of its games since.

james wiseman memphis tigers.JPG Joe Rondone / The Commercial Appeal via USA TODAY NETWORK

But as of Thursday morning, both Wiseman and Memphis have chosen instead to comply with the NCAA. The preseason first-team All-American pulled his lawsuit against the association and the university subsequently labeled him ineligible for upcoming competition while they apply for reinstatement. The move marks a major shift from their defiant stance earlier in the week.

The NCAA is alleging that current Tigers head coach Penny Hardaway issued an $11,500 payment to Wiseman and his family to cover their "moving expenses" back in 2017 when Hardaway was coaching a high school team in the Memphis area. Hardaway was considered a university booster at the time thanks to a previous donation he made to the school, so his payment to Wiseman a potential recruiting target for the basketball team is considered an "impermissible benefit."

While many applauded the university for not immediately bending to the NCAA's will, experts suggest that fighting the punishment would have been an uphill battle. The payment was very clearly a violation of NCAA rules, and allowing Wiseman to play more than likely would have resulted in vacated games for Memphis.

james wiseman 1.JPG Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

According to CBS college basketball expert Gary Parrish , the program and the NCAA will now have to agree on a punishment.

"I'm told that they are close to doing that," Parrish said Thursday. "It will include, based on NCAA history, a repayment of the impermissible benefit to a charity and some sort of game suspension."

Just how long Wiseman will be forced to watch his team from the sidelines is up for debate. While Parrish estimates that, due to the amount of money exchanged, NCAA precedent would see the 18-year-old benched for roughly nine games, the "unusual set of circumstances" surrounding the case could skew the result in Wiseman's and Memphis' favor.

Although it's more than likely that Wiseman will return to the court for the Tigers this season, his extended absence will undoubtedly affect the projection of No. 13 Memphis' season. Wiseman is the team's most lethal asset despite the fact that his team features a number of top-ranked recruits from this year's class. Whether the NCAA's punishment impacts Wiseman's NBA Draft prospects still remains to be seen.

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