Rakeem Buckles The Latest Victim Of NCAA Ridiculousness

You remember Rock Buckles? The extremely likable, hard-luck former Cardinal who suffered four serious injuries (including two ACL tears) before leaving U of L and following Richard Pitino down to Florida International? Yeah, that same Rock Buckles is currently being reamed by the NCAA in one of the most unfair cases I can remember (which is saying something).

Buckles sat out last season in Miami, and because FIU was hit with a postseason ban for 2013-14, he was hoping to follow Richard Pitino to Minnesota to play his final season of college ball. Even though many players, including former FIU Panther turned Gopher Malik Smith, have already been granted waivers to play their final seasons immediately because of postseason bans, Buckles' request was denied by the NCAA.

The story gets even worse.

If Buckles wants to return to FIU, which might be his only option if the NCAA denies his appeal, he'd have to walk on to the team because there is no longer a scholarship available for him there.

If obscene, slightly edited language offends you, feel free to stop reading.

How in the f--k can this rule apply to a player in legitimately the exact same situation as Buckles, but not Buckles himself? Rock is attempting to leave the exact same school as Malik Smith to transfer to the exact same other school as Malik Smith for the exact same reason that Malik Smith did, and somehow one situation is deemed acceptable and the other isn't. It makes absolutely no f---ing sense and it's a prime example of why people think the NCAA is one of the most poorly-run organizations in the entire country.

Free Rock Buckles.