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SALT LAKE CITY — After losing a year of eligibility from the NCAA for playing church basketball, LDS athlete Nathan Harries has been awarded his full eligibility.
Harries, a freshman at Colgate University in New York, was stripped of a year of eligibility by the NCAA for playing three games in a league at Dunwoody Baptist Church after serving a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Thursday, the NCAA reversed its decision and granted Harries a waiver, according to the American Journal-Constitution. The waiver was approved before Colgate could submit an appeal to the NCAA.
Harries' father said his son was asked to play because a family friend said the local team didn't have enough players. Colgate questioned the NCAA because of the legitimacy of the church league, saying it shouldn't fall under competitive competition.
The NCAA rule says an athlete not enrolling immediately out of high school will lose a year of eligibility for every academic year they participate in competitive competition. Harries averaged 17.6 points as a senior at Centennial High School in Atlanta before serving his mission in Raleigh, N.C.
The NCAA made a similar reversal after Middle Tennessee State football player Steven Rhodes was denied eligibility after participating in an intramural league while serving in the Marines. The NCAA reversed its decision and granted Rhodes his full eligibility.
The NCAA is expected to release a statement later Thursday.
