<h1 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline-style: none; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">Attorney: Mississippi State mishandling Renardo Sidney's eligibility case</h1> PUBLISHED 10 months and 4 days ago
LAST UPDATED 10 months and 3 days ago
Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News
Sporting NewsSporting News
Attorney Don Jackson, who represents the Sidney family in the fight to establish the eligibility of Mississippi State freshman Renardo Sidney, accused the university of being “brow beaten into assisting the denial of Mr. Sidney’s rights.”
Based in Montgomery, Ala., Jackson made the accusation in an e-mail early Friday morning. He wrote that in previous eligibility cases, including one involving former MSU forward Mario Austin, “I have worked cooperatively with universities and Athletic Departments to protect the interests of student-athletes.” He wrote that in the Austin case, Mississippi State even used the school plane to fly to Indianapolis to argue on behalf of Austin before the NCAA membership staff.
“The current Athletic Department staff has taken a decidedly different approach in this case, despite the fact that they have privately acknowledged the absemce of violations in this case,” Jackson wrote (all quotations appear in their original written form). “In effect, at times in recent months, it has appeared that MSU's Athletic Department has entirely abdicated it's obligation to protect the interests of their student-athletes.”
Mississippi State responded to Jackson’s charges in a Friday afternoon release:
“We have devoted considerable resources and attention to the issues relating to Renardo’s eligibility,” MSU president Mark E. Keenum said. “We hired Mike Glazier, who is recognized as one of the best in handling eligibility matters with the NCAA. Mike advised us the most affective means for accomplishing our goal was to deal privately with the NCAA.
“We have received support in that endeavor from all areas of the university and the Southeastern Conference. We also encouraged all others with involvement in this case to handle those issues privately, not through the media. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.”
Sidney is a 6-10 power forward ranked among the top 10 prospects in the 2009 recruiting class by most scouting services. He grew up in Mississippi but moved to California with his family following his freshman year of high school.
There, he attended Southern California basketball powers Artesia and Fairfax, and Sidney’s father, also named Renardo, began a summer basketball program sponsored by Reebok with Renardo as the star player. Renardo Jr. committed to attend Southern California last winter after UCLA withdrew from recruiting him. Then, in the spring, USC withdrew its scholarship offer and Sidney wound up signing at Mississippi State.
In an April story about why UCLA and USC withdrew from recruiting Sidney, the Los Angeles Times reported the Sidney family lived for a time in a home valued at $1.2 million despite, in the paper’s words, “what was perceived as a limited income.”
Sidney was cleared academically to attend Mississippi State and has been permitted to practice and train but has not been declared eligible to compete for the Bulldogs. He has missed 14 games. The 12-2 Bulldogs are scheduled to open their Southeastern Conference season Saturday with a road game against rival Ole Miss.
Jackson wrote that in attempting to discover whether the NCAA had evidence of rules violations by Sidney or his family he recently made an open records request to Mississippi State for “all information in their possession” relating to the Sidney case.
“Following the request, I was advised that the ‘copy costs’ for the production of the requested documents would be several thousand dollars,” Jackson wrote. “Every effort to requests production of such information has been met by such resistance despite MSU representatives, private assurances that they have seen no major violations of any type.”
Jackson said in a September interview with Sporting News he had turned over volumes of documents relative to the Sidneys’ family finances. He continues to insist the NCAA has provided no hard evidence of rules violations committed by Sidney or his family.
“MSU representatives participated in a meeting in my office on December 23rd when NCAA staffer Steve Webb acknowledged that they have no ‘on the record’ statements to establish a violation,” Jackson wrote. “In effect, the NCAA has badgered and intimidated this Athletic Department into sacrificing a student athlete. Statements from Athletic Department personnel (from early on) regarding the University's protecting their interests now appear to imply that the University's protection of their interests translates to their sacrificing this student-athlete without justification.”
NCAA spokesperson Stacey Osburn said in an e-mail Jackson's comments "miss the mark completely" and that the delay in resolving Sidney's eligibility case rest with "Jackson and his client."
"The initial eligibility process is designed to be a collaborative effort between the NCAA, the school and the prospective student-athlete. As a member of the NCAA, Mississippi State University is obligated to work within the framework of the process and they have done so. To suggest otherwise is inaccurate," Osburn wrote. "Mr. Jackson’s comments that imply his client committed no violations are also misleading. Mr. Jackson alleges an NCAA Eligibility Center staff member acknowledged 'they have no on the record statements to establish a violation.' At that point in time, the NCAA Eligibility Center was still gathering evidence to determine if any violations may have occurred.
"Since the process was still in the investigative stage and the facts were unknown, any comments on the possibility of a specific violation or numerous violations either occurring or not occurring would have been premature and unofficial. In addition, the staff member in question denies making such a declaratory comment."
Jackson, who has represented multiple athletes in eligibility cases, does not cite Mississippi State athletic director Greg Byrne by name but places clear blame for the inability to gain a resolution to the Sidney case on Byrne's leadership.
“Since the day we signed Renardo to a National Letter of Intent in May to play basketball, we have been at the forefront of the attempt to establish his eligibility,” Byrne said in Friday’s statement. “Mississippi State has cooperated fully with the NCAA in providing complete and accurate information and has encouraged all other parties involved to do the same.
“We initially certified his academic preparation to be a student-athlete at our institution and have afforded Renardo all the support that every other scholarship student-athlete here receives.
“We have spent countless hours in conversations with the NCAA. In fact, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive, MSU President Dr. Mark Keenum, Associate AD for Compliance Bracky Brett, outside legal counsel Mike Glazier and myself visited Indianapolis last month at the university’s expense to resolve those eligibility concerns with Kevin Lennon, NCAA Vice President of Academic and Membership Services, and his amateurism and eligibility staff.
“We continue to communicate directly with the NCAA for Mississippi State and in Renardo’s behalf to attain his eligibility.”<div class="KonaBody" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline-style: none; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline-style: none;"></p><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline-style: none;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline-style: none;"><i style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; outline-style: none;">Mike DeCourcy is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him
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