NC State's Braxton Beverly to Miss Season After Losing NCAA Eligibility Appeal

Freshman Braxton Beverly will not be suiting up for the North Carolina State Wolfpack during the 2017-18 men's basketball season. 

The school announced Monday the NCAA denied its appeal for Beverly to gain immediate eligibility, per Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports.

As Eisenberg noted, Beverly initially planned to join the Ohio State Buckeyes before they fired head coach Thad Matta. He elected to leave the program as a result, but he had already attended summer classes at the school before he transferred to North Carolina State.

"Even though Beverly hadn't played a single game for Ohio State, the NCAA viewed him as a freshman transfer instead of an incoming prospect since he had already enrolled in classes," Eisenberg wrote. 

Eisenberg went as far as to call it one of the NCAA's "most nonsensical decisions" and argued it went against precedent.

"The NCAA has a history of going strictly by the rule book on its initial decisions only to take common sense into account during the appeals process, usually after a firestorm of negative publicity."

North Carolina State head coach Kevin Keatts released a statement regarding the situation Monday, via Eisenberg: "Disappointed would be an understatement for how I feel for Braxton. He's devastated. This is a situation where adults failed a young man and he's paying the price."

Beverly's team will be without a talented playmaker who would have had the opportunity for early development against powerhouse programs in the ACC.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, Beverly was a 3-star prospect and the No. 64 overall point guard in the class of 2017 with three-point range.

Joe Giglio of the News & Observer noted new Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann did his part after granting Beverly his release from the school, and Matta even wrote the NCAA a letter supporting the point guard's case.

The failed appeal comes after the NCAA denied Beverly the waiver needed for undergraduate transfers to play immediately on Oct. 13.

Despite sitting out the upcoming season, he will still have four years of eligibility remaining when he returns to the Wolfpack's active roster.