The NCAA does Kraidon Woods a solid

Believe it or not, sometimes the NCAA gets it right.

And as easy as it is to bash on the NCAA for the multitude of issues it has, praise also must be given when the NCAA does the right thing.

Kraidon Woods is a lithe 6'8" athlete with a self-proclaimed "37-to-38 inch" vertical. When you have that kind of size and that kind of athleticism, you're bound to be noticed. One of the coaches that noticed Woods was Mark Phelps, then an assistant coach at Arizona State, who was able to convince Woods to come to Tucson to play his college ball.

The problem?

Kraidon Woods, in one of his few moments of playing time.
(photo credit: Daylife)

Woods didn't have the skill level to match his athleticism. So after two seasons with saw a grand total of 21 games played, Woods decided to transfer after the 2008-2009 season.

The school he eventually chose? Binghamton.

Bad decision.

Woods spent last season sitting out the required season at Binghamton, before deciding that the upstate New York school wasn't where he wanted to finish his college playing career. Understandable. When you only have two years of eligibility remaining, you don't want to join a rebuilding program.

"They went through some things beyond my control," Woods told the Des Moines Register. "I just kind of said, 'Hey, you know, maybe this is not a great idea.' It was pretty clear-cut."

Meanwhile, Phelps had taken over for Keno Davis at Drake. Woods was granted his release form Binghamton in February, and after Phelps had big man Sean Davis transfer out of the program, a scholarship was opened up for Woods. He visited the school in March and decided that he would be transferring to Drake.

"I heard what Drake had to offer," Woods said. "Then, when I visited, they've got great guys on the team, really cool coaches, they seem eager to win. One thing led to another, and now I'm a Bulldog."

The only problem was that NCAA rules stipulated that Woods would have to sit out the 2010-2011 season. Not only would this mean that Woods would have to sit out two full years, but because of the rule that says a student athlete only has five years to use up his four years of eligibility, Woods would only be able to play one more season at Drake.

And that is where the NCAA stepped in.

Due to the circumstances surrounding Woods' time in Binghamton, they granted him a hardship waiver, meaning that Woods will be eligible the second he steps on the court in Des Moines.

The NCAA got this one right, and they deserve to get some credit for it.