Graney: NCAA madness, and recent court ruling about 2022 prep grads, won’t stop Josh Pastner from forging ahead

Josh Pastner is still recruiting among all the madness, still searching for players who can immediately help his UNLV basketball program, still fielding calls from agents about possibly linking their clients to the Rebels.

It’s a wild and crazy time.

“That’s why I keep saying in college athletics, you literally have to wear loose fit clothing,” Pastner said. “Meaning, you have to be willing to adapt, to change, to be flexible. Things are changing in real time. It’s not five years down the road. It’s literally day-by-day where things are changing.”

It was on July 31 when a District Court judge in Colorado granted a preliminary injunction allowing college athletes from the high school class of 2022 another season of eligibility.

The NCAA requested the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the injunction while filing for a stay.

Meaning this thing appears far from over.

Legal talk

So if you’re a coach like Pastner, you do your best to stay up with the news, to meet with your compliance folks and educate yourself on all the goings on with lawsuits and injunctions and what it might mean for your specific team.

“It’s an interesting dynamic,” Pastner said. “We’ve been following it closely. It’s a lot of legal talk. What does this all mean? Who can play and who can’t play? It’s confusing to a person not in the legal world. I just want to know, ‘Is this guy eligible or not?’”

Crazy times? Pastner has had agents reach out to him about players who last month were competing in the NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center and now, as members of the class of 2022, would prefer returning to school instead of signing a professional contract.

But then it becomes about affording such talent. And that’s not an easy thing when most or all of your NIL money is already earmarked elsewhere on the roster.

“I think it really affects sports like football and volleyball, which are about to play here in a couple weeks,” Pastner said. “We’re still trying to figure it out. We start school on the 24th. You want to know what’s going on. You don’t want to take a guy and then three weeks later, there’s a court case that says he’s ineligible.

“Absolutely, we’re (recruiting) if these guys are eligible. We don’t have a lot of time. School starts here shortly. But if they’re eligible and we have spots available, we should be in the hunt for players.”

It was last week when Connecticut coach Dan Hurley told reporters college basketball can’t go on like this, that you have high school players who fall victim to the rules and are the ones who end up getting hurt. Kids who are 17 and 18-years old who might potentially lose out on opportunities as more and more additional years of eligibility are granted.

The NCAA sees light at the end of the tunnel by imploring Congress to pass the Protect College Sports Act, which, among several other issues, includes lawsuit protection over eligibility rules.

But the bill failed to reach a vote in the Senate before its recess, only to be put on next month’s calendar.

If you’re the NCAA, you more than desire a win. Its losing streak continues.

“There are so many different court cases all throughout the country where judges are making decisions that supersede NCAA rules,” Pastner said. “That’s the world of college athletics we’re in today.”

Its own case

UNLV is still awaiting word on its own NCAA case regarding N.C. State transfer guard Alyn Breed. He has applied for a medical hardship waiver that would give him a seventh college season.

The Rebels at this point have 12 scholarship players, meaning they would have one remaining should Breed be deemed eligible and two if not.

“No final decision yet,” Pastner said. “We’re hoping it happens sooner rather than later.”

For now, as Pastner awaits such a ruling and figures out how best to fill a roster, the Rebels find themselves in a similar position as countless teams across the country.

Trying to sort this all out on a daily basis. Trying to determine who’s eligible and who’s not and how that might impact the program.

What does it all mean?

When in doubt, wear loose fit clothing.