After nearly a year of a waiting, the NCAA has finally made a decision on the eligibility of freshman Mississippi State University basketball player Renardo Sidney.
The national recruit, who signed with the Bulldogs last April, has been suspended for the remainder of this season, naturally, and will have to sit out one-third of next season – roughly nine games. He will also have to pay back $11,800 of improper benefits received, which he can do over the time of his eligibility.
The NCAA ruled Sidney lost one full year of eligibility (this season) due to unethical conduct, and suspended him another nine games for receiving improper benefits.
The NCAA said preseason games will not count towards Sidney’s suspension next season, like they did with Kentucky freshman John Wall, who was in a similar situation this season.
In a release, MSU said they will appeal the ruling, and have already notified the NCAA of its plans.
Athletic director Greg Byrne said in an e-mail the ruling does not change the university’s view of Sidney.
“From the beginning, Dr. Keenum [university president] gave us the charge to provide every resource available to help Renardo gain his eligibility, while maintaining the integrity of the university,” he said. “We felt from the beginning Renardo deserves the opportunity to be both a student and athlete at Mississippi State, and this is still our belief today.”
Sidney is a native of Jackson, Miss., but after being ruled ineligible to play at Piney Woods, a private school in Jackson, he and his family moved to Los Angeles where he played at Fairfax High School. During his senior year of high school Sidney was considered one of the top basketball prospects in the nation, and ranked top 10 by a number of recruiting publications.
The NCAA investigation has centered around Sidney’s father who had a consulting agreement with Reebok, questions about how the Sidneys paid for unofficial college visits to multiple states and credit his family received in 2008.
The main concern for Sidney is the unethical conduct charge relating to interviews about his eligibility.
Bulldog head coach Rick Stansbury said in an e-mail he is happy to be getting somewhere, but is not satisfied with the current ruling.
“Sid is a great kid, and I’m glad we finally have a decision,” he said. “Now, we can move forward with the appeal process.”
The one question remaining for the 6′ 10″ forward is, will he come back next year?