Derrick Jones Ruled Ineligible by NCAA: Latest Details, Comments, Reaction

UNLV freshman forward Derrick Jones was ruled ineligible by the NCAA on March 2 due to an apparent academic issue.  

According to Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News, citing attorney Don Jackson, one of Jones' test scores was canceled by the ACT following an investigation, which led to the NCAA's decision.

On Wednesday, Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported the NCAA has cleared Jones to practice and receive scholarship money, but he's still not eligible to play. Anderson adds UNLV is working on a full appeal.

According to Anderson, the NCAA's decision was based on the site at which Jones took the test:

While Jones was ruled eligible prior to the season, the NCAA changed its decision based on its findings, but Jackson believes other factors are at work, per DeCourcy:

"

The NCAA Eligibility Center has attempted to shift responsibility for this investigation to the ACT. The reality of the matter is that a number of high-profile minority student-athletes were specifically targeted by the NCAA Eligibility Center. Their use of NCAA legislation in a manner that is specifically intended to adversely impact African-American and international student-athletes violates federal law‎.

"

Jackson also said the ACT Test Security division was given ample evidence in support of Jones' strong academic record at UNLV and in high school

Despite Jackson's claims, Jones currently cannot play for the Rebels, and it is unclear if or when he could potentially be reinstated.

The Chester, Pennsylvania, native is second on the team in scoring with 11.5 points per game to go along with 4.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per contest.

UNLV would likely need to win the Mountain West Conference to play in the NCAA tournament as it currently sports a 17-13 record, but that becomes far more difficult without Jones' presence as bench forwards Ben Carter and Dwayne Morgan are both out through injury, making it harder for the Rebels to reach March Madness. 

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