By
Ryan Finley and Connor Doyle
Ruling potentially crippling to team's chances next season
The NCAA yesterday denied a petition by the Arizona athletic department that would have made the defending NCAA runner-up immune to the new "5-8" scholarship limit rule.
The "5-8" rule states that a program cannot give more than five scholarships in one year and no more than eight in two years.
While the Wildcats expected the ruling - no NCAA team this year has successfully appealed the rule - officials in the athletic department and men's basketball program are clearly disappointed with the outcome.
UA senior associate athletic director Kathleen "Rocky" LaRose said yesterday Arizona is considering legal action to prevent the rule's implementation.
"The denial is not a surprise," she stated in a press release. "However, it's our understanding that there are several conferences that are preparing legislation to address this issue because the limits can have a profound effect on a program."
The "5-8" rule was implemented this year by the NCAA in an attempt to promote parity in the recruiting of high school and junior college players. Also, the rule aims to prevent coaches from entering a program and overhauling the roster.
UA has used five scholarships on recruits for next season already in an attempt to replace the five departing seniors from the team. The Wildcats will have just nine or 10 scholarship players next season with the departure of three undergraduates - Richard Jefferson, Michael Wright and Gilbert Arenas - and the probable departure of sophomore guard Jason Gardner.
A team can hold a maximum of 13 players, and requires at least 10 to conduct a full-court five-on-five scrimmage in practice.
The Wildcats are one of a number of schools - including Texas Tech and new head coach Bob Knight - that are opposed to the scholarship limits.
In essence, the "5-8" rule penalizes schools with players who leave early for the NBA.
Many of the programs that will be hit the hardest are schools like Arizona, which routinely recruit the top high school players in the country.
While Arizona's case may have been exactly what the NCAA had in mind when implementing the policy, UA associate head coach Jim Rosborough felt that an exception should have been made for the Wildcats.
"The NCAA's denial is very disappointing," he said. "I thought our case was somewhat different than others. The bottom line is that the rules, as they are written, can put us at a competitive disadvantage through no fault of our own. We had a number of players who decided to turn professional, and there is nothing we can do about it."
Undergraduate assistant coach Josh Pastner agreed.
"How can you penalize a program that does a good job of coaching players and getting them ready (for the NBA)?" he said. "It's ridiculous to punish programs like ours. We didn't force these guys to go pro - they wanted to go on their own."
If the ruling by the NCAA stands and Gardner decides to leave for the NBA, the Wildcats will have to fill out the roster with walk-ons - players who do not receive scholarships.
Pastner made it clear the team wasn't likely to land any quality players without the extra scholarships.
"We've had some guys who want to transfer - junior college guys and upper-level high school kids," he said. "But they're not going to walk on."
