Ex-Villanova 5-Star PG Jahvon Quinerly Denied Transfer Waiver at Alabama

The NCAA has denied point guard Jahvon Quinerly's waiver request for immediate eligibility after transferring from Villanova to Alabama, per an official statement from Crimson Tide men's basketball head coach Nate Oats.

"We just received notification from the NCAA that our request for Jahvon Quinerly's immediate eligibility has been denied," Oats stated.

"We are disappointed in this decision and will be appealing. He and his family have been through a lot, and despite those challenges, Jahvon has done everything he's been asked since he's been here."

Quinerly also provided his own statement, per Matt Zenitz of AL.com:

According to Zenitz, "the Tide's waiver request is built around the belief Quinerly was in need of a fresh start after—as Oats put it in June—unfairly having to deal with his name being brought up during the FBI's college basketball corruption investigation." 

Zenitz wrote that Quinerly initially committed to Arizona but decided against heading to Tuscon when the FBI arrested his lead recruiter, Emanuel “Book” Richardson.

The ex-Arizona assistant men's hoops coach was caught on tape saying he gave $10,000 to Quinerly's mother, per Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports. However, concrete evidence proving the transaction occurred has not been revealed.

Per Adam Zagoria, Richardson told Villanova that he had not actually paid Quinerly or anyone else.

The 5-star recruit out of Hudson Catholic High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, averaged 3.2 points per game off the bench last season after losing out on a starting job to Collin Gillespie, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello.

He decided to transfer from Villanova on April 3 before committing to the Crimson Tide two months later, according to Emily Caron of Sports Illustrated.

Alabama went 18-16 overall and 8-10 in SEC play last year, missing out on the NCAA tournament. The Tide and head coach Avery Johnson parted ways after the season.

Oats, who guided the University of Buffalo to three NCAA tournament appearances and two first-round victories in the past four years, now runs the team in his first campaign.

Unless Quinerly wins an appeal, the Crimson Tide will start the season without its new transfer against Penn on Tuesday, November 5.