Villanova Basketball: Omari Spellman dealing with uncertainty

Villanova basketball recruit Omari Spellman has not been cleared to participate in games yet.

Coming off a National Championship, the Villanova Wildcats haven’t exactly dealt with a burden of bad news.

While it’s too early to jump to conclusions, freshman Omari Spellman has not yet been cleared to participate in games by the NCAA. The five-star recruit from Ohio is cleared academically and is eligible to practice with the Wildcats, however, he is unable to play on the team’s trip to Spain (he will travel).

The crux of the matter is in relation to Spellman’s ninth grade school year. When he opted to transfer from his first school in New York to his second school in the Tri-State area, they re-classified him from a freshman to an eighth-grader.

From ESPN:

"“Once you start [high school] you have four years to complete it,” said Wright, who said he could not go into great detail about the situation. “When they started counting his four years, that’s what’s at question.”"

So now, Spellman, Villanova, Wildcat fans, and college basketball fans in general wait. And it could take a while.

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Every case is different, but the NCAA hasn’t exactly had a sense of urgency when dealing with eligibility concerns. Remember what happened to Cheick Diallo and St. John’s Kassoum Yakwe last year? They weren’t able to play until after the Maui Invitational (middle of non-conference play) because the NCAA was still looking at their high school, Our Savior New American.

It’s too early to jump to the conclusion that Spellman will miss games and may not be eligible at all, but it must be a least a minor concern at this point.

Obviously, Villanova (who is versatile, deep, talented and experienced) can win games without Spellman, who is ranked 18th in ESPN’s top 100 for the class of 2016.

However, it surely would help them on the interior if Spellman was on the floor. Daniel Ochefu is gone so they will need a big man to battle with strong forwards/centers in the paint. They will need someone to fight for rebounds and finish around the rim.

While Spellman is capable of contributing in all those ways, he can also step out on the perimeter and knock down threes consistently. That’s something that Ochefu couldn’t do at all during his four years in Philadelphia.

Spellman’s capability to knock down those outside shots will open up lanes for Phil Booth, Josh Hart, Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges to attack the hoop. And a team can always use an extra weapon from beyond the arc, right?

Next: VCU off-season question marks

Let’s hope the NCAA doesn’t rob us of watching a talented freshman that could be a rare one-and-done at Villanova. And let’s hope the NCAA doesn’t rob us of seeing Villanova at full-strength come March, because it could truly be a special sight.

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