In the latest bewildering ruling by the NCAA, recent Arizona Football Transfer Robert Congel is another example why it needs a lot of fixing.
It’s tough being an Arizona fan, it’s even tougher being an Arizona Football fan. So many times we have felt a bit slighted by the NCAA and perhaps over the years, that’s made us a bit bitter.
A perfect example of this is with the recent incoming transfer of Robert Congel. As some of you may recall, Congel was a former walk-on at Texas A&M this past season and played in just a few games for Kevin Sumlin and the Aggies.
Arizona Wildcats
Over the summer still, not on scholarship, the sophomore-to-be decided to leave College Station for Tucson. Easy choice for the NCAA to grant eligibility, right? Apparently, that’s not the case.
Because he played in a few games last year and Arizona would be eventually awarding him a scholarship, the NCAA still considers this a “transfer”, so he is ineligible as per transfer rules.
Okay, but he wasn’t a scholarship player, if he walked-on at A&M and initially walks-on in Tucson, what’s the big deal?
So far in 2018, we have yet to see Congel appear for the Wildcats and at this point, I’d say it’s unlikely he will appear in 2018 at all for Arizona.
The decision is clearly a frustrating one, as Congel could surely help the offensive line in a big way this year. Even more frustrating, is that at Oregon State, offensive lineman Brandon Kipper was ruled eligible (citing “special circumstances”), despite playing in 11 games at Hawaii last season.
It seems history has not favored Arizona well in situations like these and certainly adds a bit of confusion and frustration to the matter. The NCAA clearly has no precedent in its transfer rules, and they surely have been inconsistent to say the least.
One example in particular would be with the transfer of former Wildcat, Davonte Neal. As you may recall, Neal was a former player at Notre Dame, before deciding to transfer to Arizona.
At the time, Neal had a daughter that was recently born and despite the move back home (he went to High School in Scottsdale), the NCAA did not rule in his favor. To me, those seem like “special circumstances” too.
Regardless, the NCAA needs to find more consistency, or have more, clearly defined transfer rules.
At Zona Zealots, we can’t wait to see Congel play here in Tucson, but will just have to be patient until he finally does! Bear Down, Arizona!