The NCAA has disqualfied high-flying UNLV freshman forward Derrick Jones after his test score was cancelled by the ACT and his attorney says the move is racially motivated.
Jones, who initially chose UNLV over UConn and Auburn out of Radnor (Pa.) Archbishop Carroll, is now unable to practice or play with the Rebels.
“The NCAA notified the University of Nevada-Las Vegas yesterday that the ACT test score of Freshmen forward, Derrick Jones, Jr. had been cancelled by the ACT resulting in his status being changed to ‘non-qualifier,'” attorney Don Jackson wrote in a statement. “This decision came in the aftermath of the NCAA’s designating Jones as a full qualifier and Jones participating in thirty basketball games this season.”
Jones is averaging 11.5 points for the Rebels who are 17-13, 8-9 in the Mountain West Conference under interim coach Todd Simon.
Jackson said Jones “was provided with three options: (1) voluntarily cancel his test score, (2) re-take the test or (3) submit his case to binding arbitration” and would have to pay a $200 filing fee.
“These options were unsatisfactory and were declined,” Jackson wrote. “On at least five different occasions, ACT Test Security (at the urging of the NCAA Eligibility Center) attempted to coerce Jones to accept one of the three options. Neither the ACT nor the NCAA Eligibility Center has provided any evidence of academic fraud, nor have they alleged academic impropriety of any type. Further, no staffers or personnel from the testing site have been interviewed by the NCAA Eligibility Center or ACT during the course of their ‘investigation.’ Notably, all of the other student-athletes that were investigated were denied freshman eligibility; Mr. Jones has participated in thirty (30) UNLV basketball games and was previously deemed a “full qualifier” by the NCAA Eligibility Center.”
Jackson speculated that the move may have been racially motivated.
“The recent actions appear to be a blatant, calculated effort to impact post-season play and to assure that UNLV plays without an important player in next week’s post season tournament,” Jackson wrote.
“This ‘investigation’ has been ongoing for almost a year; there can be no other explanation for the timing. Over the past decade, I have routinely spoken about the selective application of NCAA initial eligibility rules to African American and international student-athletes. All of the student-athletes impacted by the “investigation” of the testing site in this case were either African American or international. The testing site was ethnically diverse. The NCAA’s methodology for “red flagging” student-athletes and demanding substantiation for their academic performances and standardized test performance is blatantly discriminatory and selectively applied to African American and international student-athletes. As it relates to the ACT’s timing of their decision to “cancel’ Jones’s test score, the University of Louisiana-Lafayette recently filed suit against the ACT over their failure to investigate alleged impropriety at a testing site in Wayne County, Mississippi. This decision appears to be a direct, ‘knee jerk’ response to that lawsuit and the result of coercive action by the NCAA. The actions of both the ACT and NCAA are clear, blatant violations of federal law.”
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