Arizona State freshman point guard Jahii Carson will no longer have to answer daily Twitter questions about his eligibility.
Unfortunately for ASU fans, it’s not exactly what they wanted to hear.
The NCAA has ruled Carson ineligible to play, but he is allowed to practice with the team this year.
“It’s been very difficult but I try not to think about it,” Carson said. “I just look at the brighter picture of things and just come to games to support my teammates and just hopefully things will fall in place. I think God puts me situations for a reason and this is one of the reasons he was preparing me for.”
The Sun Devils will be without the 33rd best prospect in the country, according to Rivals.com, this season, but he will be able to sit on the bench with the team starting Saturday against North Dakota State.
“We’re really glad that he’ll have the opportunity to be together with us on a daily basis now in practice,” coach Herb Sendek said. “I think that’ll be really good for him, as well as for our basketball team.”
The 5-foot-11, 160-pound point guard from Mesa High will enter next season as a sophomore, with an opportunity to earn his year of eligibility back if he’s in good academic standing.
“If I’m on pace with my degree I get my lost year back,” Carson said. “It just gives me extra reason to push it 10 times harder in the classroom.”
Sendek was not at liberty to comment on what held up the process due to privacy laws. Carson said he was always in the dark with the situation by the NCAA.
“They really didn’t want me to think about the situation that I was in,” Carson said. “They would tell me updates, but I never really knew the full situation.”
Now that Carson is able to practice, he has some catching up to do. As the Sun Devils awaited word from the NCAA, Carson was not able to participate in team activities or use team facilities.
Nine games into the season, Carson will finally get the chance to practice with his teammates.
“Getting to bond with them is something that I wanted to do,” Carson said. “I have a lot of friends on the team and just being around them everyday and getting to know them better personally and athletically, it’s definitely something that I wanted to do.
“Sitting outside looking in like a normal fan is just something I couldn’t really take. Now that I’m able to get out there and play with my teammates is great.”
Throughout the whole process, Carson said he was going to stick with his commitment to ASU.
“Coach Sendek recruited me tougher than any other coach in the country did when I was a senior in high school and I felt like Arizona State was the place for me and (Junior College) never kind of crossed my mind or leaving Arizona State. I was apart of the Arizona State family when I signed in November of last year and I’m going to be with the ASU family.”
Sendek said he has no plans to change schematics now that Carson has officially been ruled ineligible.
“Back at one point, a good while ago before we started the season, we had some plans in place that most certainly included some things that he did best, but we’ve moved forward in a way that our adjustments here over the course of this season have been what is in the best interest of the guys who are able to play,” Sendek said.
Reach the reporter at master.tesfatsion@asu.edu
