NCAA Refuses Waiver for UNC/USC Florence Charity Game

RALEIGH – If you needed another reason to dislike the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), this ought to do it.

“North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams said he thought he had a good idea.

After the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina were hit by Hurricane Florence, Williams said he wanted to help.

So Williams said he reached out to South Carolina basketball coach Frank Martin to see if he would be interested in having a preseason charity game with the two teams.

All the money, Williams said, would go to relief efforts and families who were displaced.

“When you see the scenes of people’s stuff out on the streets, you want to do something,” Williams said, his voice stern. “And that’s sadly what we saw. We saw so many situations, people losing everything they have.””

This idea is in keeping with the spirit exhibited by communities across the Carolinas after Hurricane Florence ravaged the sister states. According to the report, Michael Jordan, who owns the Charlotte Hornets, agreed to let the teams use the Spectrum Center in Charlotte for the charity game. All the parts were there to contribute to recovery efforts and provide some fun entertainment after a trying several weeks.

All the parts, except one: a waiver from the NCAA. Teams are limited to two pre-season exhibition games and the UNC/USC charity game would need special permission to tip off with out violating league rules. So, UNC reached out to the NCAA a couple weeks ago to float their plan for the game and intentions on applying for a waiver.

The NCAA shut them down, essentially saying, ‘Don’t bother,’ because the waiver would not be accepted.

“Williams said he was stunned that the NCAA would not allow the game. The schools had the option to alter one of its two preseason games, but declined. Kirschner said UNC had already established its preseason games.

“Guys if you can convince me how that was going to help North Carolina’s basketball team or South Carolina’s basketball team over somebody else, then I’ll listen to it,” Williams said. “But that was not the intent.” Clemson and UNC-Wilmington are among schools hosting a hurricane relief game. UNC will host Mt. Olive on Nov. 2 at the Dean Smith Center. “I still don’t understand why we didn’t get it,” Williams said.”

The NCAA apparently decided in June to not grant extra waivers and weren’t making any exceptions. Leave it to a bloated and self-important bureaucracy to create arbitrary barriers to charity.

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