The eligibility case of South Alabama basketball transfer Michael Flowers is beginning to receive national attention.
Flowers, who joined the Jaguars this past summer from Western Michigan, announced Monday that his eligibility waiver had been denied by the NCAA. That means unless new information comes to light, Flowers will have to sit out this coming season at South Alabama, rather than playing immediately as he had hoped.
In a lengthy Twitter post Monday, Flowers said he chose to leave Western Michigan in March after the Broncos fired former coach Steve Hawkins following a 17-year tenure, and subsequently entered the NCAA transfer portal. Flowers claimed new Broncos coach Clayton Bates gave his scholarship to another player, leaving him no other choice than to leave the team and look for another place to play.
“From the beginning the communication has been inconsistent and unprofessional on Western’s end, causing certain schools to be forced to move on,” Flowers wrote in part. "I then committed to the University of South Alabama this past May and bad communication and lied have continued.
“… Western’s lack of support has been a surprise and something that shouldn’t go unnoticed. My goal was never to make Western look bad; however, these circumstances have forced me to break my silence and share what I have been going through.”
Here’s Flowers' full post:
Flowers, who averaged 17 points per game at Western Michigan last season, committed to South Alabama in May. At the time, Jaguars coach Richie Riley was optimistic Flowers would receive a transfer waiver, but that waiver was denied.
Riley retweeted Flowers' statement, including the message, “Unbelievable kid that has been through more adversity than most can imagine! If anyone deserves to play it’s this guy!!”
Western Michigan released a statement Tuesday, disputing Flowers' version of events. The statement indicated Bates invited Flowers to return next season, but that he needed to make a timely decision.
“The decision regarding Michael’s immediate eligibility at a new institution rests with the NCAA,” the statement concluded.
Also on Tuesday, two of the country’s most-popular and respected college basketball personalities took up Flowers' cause. Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale, both analysts with ESPN, argued that Flowers is being treated unfairly and should be granted an eligibility waiver.
“This is more evidence of the NCAA’s broken transfer policy,” Bilas wrote on Twitter. “Western Michigan’s inaction should not be a barrier to Michael Flowers' immediate eligibility. The NCAA need to do the right thing here.”
Following the Western Michigan statement, Bilas wrote a second tweet that read, “Flowers insists that WMU’s assertions in this statement are untrue. WMU has an obligation to admit Flowers had no scholarship to which to return. Clearly, WMU is not trying to help Flowers, but to hurt him.”
Vitale followed suit by criticizing the lack of cooperation between the NCAA and the two schools, tweeting: “I thought schools & the @NCAA were in the business to help kids. Why is this young guy being penalized? Come on @WesternMichU & @UofSouthAlabama you must be better than what I am reading.”