NCAA backtracks, grants Will Barton eligibility

Two weeks ago, Will Barton was ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA.

Obviously, the kid was devastated. Instead of spending a year playing in front of packed houses at the FedEx Center, Barton had three choices: spend a year playing in the D-League and riding buses from South Dakota to Idaho; skip across the pond and spend the year playing in Europe; or go to class for a year, work out on his own, and get his grades to the point he would be eligible to play in 2011-2012.

None of those are particularly attractive.

Will Barton is eligible!
(photo credit: MemphisRoar)

Barton appealed the ruling, and he caught a break. The NCAA reversed its ruling. Now how often do you see that?

One of the top 20 recruits in the country, Barton's transcripts were called into question after attending multiple high schools. The general consensus seemed to be that Barton's decision to graduate in August of his senior year instead of June is what drew the most scrutiny. According to Dan Wolken, the NCAA found something they missed the first time they reviewed some 2,000 pages of documents.

So congratulations to Will Barton on officially becoming a Memphis Tiger. And congratulations to Josh Pastner, who will have arguably his most talented recruit in uniform this season.

Its nice when a story like this has a happy ending.