The NCAA can make some mind-numbing decisions, and they added to their history of terrible choices yesterday. The organization declared that it had declined Virginia Tech offensive lineman Brock Hoffman’s waiver for immediate eligibility on Wednesday, setting off a firestorm of criticism from around the college football world.
.@notthefakeSVP lays out why he believes the NCAA’s decision on Brock Hoffman is wrong.
Hoffman, who transferred to Virginia Tech to help care for his mother, was denied his appeal for an immediate-eligibility waiver and will sit out this season. pic.twitter.com/jgbgA1nsGa
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 29, 2019
Scott Van Pelt dedicated his 1 Big Thing to Hoffman and his case last night. Hoffman was enrolled at Coastal Carolina during the 2018 season, but he made the decision to transfer to Virginia Tech earlier this year because his mother was dealing with a serious illness. She had underwent surgery to remove a non-cancerous brain tumor in early 2017, yet she continues to deal with issues from the surgery and Hoffman transferred to move closer to home to help care for his mother.
Unlike other transfers who had their requests granted despite not having a clear reason why they should be immediately eligible, Brock Hoffman’s mother has documented medical problems. She is still suffering from partial facial paralysis, diminished eyesight, and hearing loss, and the family submitted detailed letters from four different doctors describing her ailments.
The NCAA showed how fickle the organization can be sometimes by casting doubt on the severity of her issues. The organization callously asked Hoffman’s mother why she didn’t retire from her job as a teacher following the surgery and continued issues, to which the family responded that they were over $1 million in debt and couldn’t afford to have her retire.
Hoffman was brutally honest when asked about the situation by The Roanoke Times, stating:
“I really thought after all the information we gave them — we gave them a book over the summer — we had this thing,” Brian Hoffman said. “It was like getting stabbed in the back.”
Others have criticized the NCAA for their response to this case too. SB Nation’s Alex Kirshner posted a diagram showing how nebulous the decision making process can be:
The NCAA's transfer eligibility rules are actually really simple if you just follow this flow chart pic.twitter.com/M9Rur1NnlZ
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) August 29, 2019
Hoffman posted this shortly after the decision was announced too.
2020 Loading…⏳ pic.twitter.com/qQpoG2woIf
— Brock (@BrockHoffman76) August 27, 2019
H/T The Roanoke Times and ESPN
