College basketball eligibility does not exist. It just doesn’t. Players in their seventh and eighth years of collegiate athletics are still on active rosters in multiple sports, while former professionals are suiting up night in and night out against 18-22-year-olds.
Somehow, that rule doesn’t apply to Kansas State and women’s basketball player Tess Heal.
Heal, a 5-foot-10 guard from Melbourne, Australia, has already played 20 games with the Wildcats this season, averaging 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per contest, and yet, the NCAA decided to pull her out of the lineup Saturday due to a violation.
The program released a statement about the situation late Saturday night, without detailing the violation. Many believe it’s her decision to sign a contract with the Keilor Thunder, a professional organization in the NBL1. The funny part of this is that the NCAA doesn’t allow active athletes to sign a professional contract. Makes sense, until you consider the fact that the Thunder’s season doesn’t kick off until after K-State’s season ends.
“We hope for a quick resolution,” K-State head coach Jeff Mittie said. “I don’t think she made a mistake regarding the timing of it, but there’s nothing else; we feel good that as soon as it gets through the reinstatement process, we’ll have her back.”
In case you needed this simplified: the NCAA is keeping an athlete sidelined for signing a contract to play for a team whose season doesn’t even start until after K-State’s. What an awful thing college sports have truly become.
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