Omari Spellman ruled academically ineligible for 2016-17 season

According to a lot of news outlets, Omari Spellman will have to sit out the season due to an academic infraction. A couple months ago our writer Clay Sauertieg wrote about Omari and his potential impact for the upcoming season.

The 6’9 275lbs power forward was supposed to give Villanova a reliable big man in the paint, something they’re lacking with the departure of Daniel Ochefu. Now they’ll have to rely on Darryl Reynolds to carry the weight.

Getting a 5-star freshman a redshirt of any kind, in a system run by Jay Wright, can’t possibly be a bad thing. The hangover that comes with winning a national title may carry through to next year - let’s not kid ourselves, it isn’t like the Wildcats had the depth or the wherewithal to win another national championship, plus Wildcats aren’t greedy like that.

This way, Spellman will have a year on campus without the stresses of hoops getting in his way of ‘finding himself.’ To be a college student and a guy who occasionally plays pickup basketball with his peers will be a blessing in disguise for a young man like Omari Spellman. To be in your late teens-early twenties in a beautiful town like Villanova, Pennsylvania will breathe a sense of ease into a young man’s heart; the atmosphere of a genuine pseudo-ivy league college ushering in an osmotic rush of intellect. O! The things he will learn! The things he will read! The things he shall see! The beauty of the journey, laying right in front of young Mr. Spellman’s feet, awaiting his first step! How delightful.

Before I leave you I just want to plug Clay’s piece one more time and give you some tweets.