Him and his father have some f**k**g nerve. Really?!
Sidney Wilson, Sr.: St. John’s wasn’t helpful in son’s waiver request
Photo: David Borges / Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo
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Sidney Wilson has had to sit out the entire season at UConn so far after transferring from St. John’s.
Ask Sidney Wilson, Sr. what’s been going on lately, and the answer is quick and straightforward.
“Frustration,” Wilson said on Monday. “That’s what’s going on.”
Wilson’s son has been in a sort of college basketball limbo this season, after transferring from St. John’s to UConn in early September. Since he was enrolled in summer courses at St. John’s, the Bronx native was considered a transfer and had to apply for a waiver to avoid sitting out this entire season.
Wilson was hoping to get that waiver, but the NCAA initially denied it right around Christmas. UConn recently appealed, and was slated to have presented its final case on Monday. The school could learn as early as Tuesday whether Wilson will be eligible to play this season.
Why has the entire process taken so long? According to Wilson, Sr., it’s because St. John’s has been less than helpful.
“St. John’s doesn’t support it,” Wilson, Sr. said, matter-of-factly. “They said one thing and did another. That’s the difference with the Ohio State kid — Ohio State supported it.”
Wilson is referring to the case of Braxton Beverly, who transferred from Ohio State to NC State this summer, shortly after OSU head coach Thad Matta was fired. Beverly was initially ruled ineligible for the season, but a wave of criticism — not to mention backing from Ohio State and Matta, who sent a handwritten note in support of Beverly — caused the NCAA to reverse its decision in early November and make him immediately eligible.
Typically, getting a waiver to play right away as an undergrad transfer is a long shot. Wilson earned credits during an early summer session at St. John’s and only attended one class two or three times in another session. Still, for a variety of reasons, including the Beverly situation, there was optimism that Wilson might receive the waiver.
“I think they were mentally prepared for him to be approved,” said Wilson, Sr. said of UConn.
But UConn didn’t get much cooperation from St. John’s. According to Wilson, Sr., St. John’s coach Chris Mullin told the UConn staff that he supported Wilson’s transfer and eligibility. But when asked to provide that backing in writing, he balked.
“That’s the same guy who said he wasn’t gonna hold him back, that ‘you’ve got a great kid coming your way,’” Wilson, Sr. said.
According to St. John’s athletic director Anton Goff, the NCAA asked St. John’s if it wanted to provide a letter either supporting or opposing Wilson’s waiver.
“We decided to do neither,” said Goff, “and let UConn apply for the waiver on their own merits. If the young man gets in, fine. But we didn’t support it, and we didn’t not support it.”
Goff said Mullin was never asked to provide any written support for Wilson.
Wilson’s mother, Pauline, passed away in March, 2015. Sidney, Sr. sent his son to prep up at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire for a year, and the family thought he was ready to return home when he committed to St. John’s last May.
But Wilson never felt right back home.
“The memory of his mother was just a little too much,” Sidney, Sr. told Hearst Media Connecticut in September.
While the Huskies are 10-9 and seemingly in the midst of a second straight lost season, Wilson would still jump at the chance to play this season if his appeal is somehow granted, according to his dad.
“Sure, he’s on it,” said Wilson, Sr. “He wants to get out there.”
Becoming eligible would, at the very least, allow Wilson to travel with the team. Currently, transfers are only allowed to attend road games on their own dime.
It would also allow the Huskies to see what they have in the athletic, 6-foot-7 wing. And who knows: add Wilson, a four-star recruit, to a roster with Jalen Adams, a healthy Terry Larrier and an improving Josh Carlton and Isaiah Whaley and maybe — just maybe — the Huskies could make some noise in the AAC tournament.
Meanwhile, St. John’s is 0-8 in the Big East.
“I guess that’s karma” did Wilson sr said.
