NCAA basketball players suspended over impermissible benefits totaling as low as $84

A group of Wofford College basketball players have been suspended by the NCAA for receiving impermissible benefits as part of what they claim was a mere misunderstanding.

Six Wofford players have been ruled ineligible by the NCAA over an issue that they say stems from a miscommunication over off-campus housing. Mark Peper, an attorney who represents four of the players who have been suspended, told Jeff Goodman of Field of 68 on Thursday that the players opted to rent off-campus apartments for the upcoming semester after a promise regarding housing was not kept.

Goodman says the issue is the same one that led to Wofford head coach Dwight Perry and associate head coach Tysor Anderson being fired last week, which came as a shock.

According to Peper, the six players — five incoming junior transfers — were told over the summer that they would be living in upperclassmen dorms at Wofford that had ensuite bathrooms. They were then assigned to underclassmen dorms instead.

Anderson told the players at that point that they could either keep the dorm assignment or rent off-campus apartments but would have to pay for the apartments themselves. The players chose the apartments, and Peper says Anderson took steps to inform the school of the arrangement.

Five days after classes began, the players were informed by the NCAA that they would need to break their apartment leases to remain eligible. Peper says the players did so on Sept. 3. Two weeks later on Sept. 17, the players were informed they had been ruled ineligible for using their meal plans while living off campus.

Peper said the players were unaware of any issue with using their meal plans and that the impermissible benefits totaled between $84 to $108 per player.

“To penalize the student athletes for what can only be described as the college’s failure to properly communicate with coaching staff is completely unfair, and while the college and I fully expect the NCAA to swiftly reinstate them, the damage has been done,” Peper told Goodman.

Because of Wofford’s coaching change, NCAA rules state that all of the team’s players have 30 days to decide whether they want to transfer. Peper represents seven total players on the roster and says all could elect to enter the transfer portal if Perry and Anderson do not get their jobs back. With the college basketball season less than two months away, that could leave Wofford without enough players to field a roster.

Perry took over as the head coach at Wofford midway through the 2022-23 season after former coach Jay McAuley resigned over allegations that he violated practice rules. Perry led Wofford to the NCAA Tournament last season and has an overall record of 48-43.