UCLA Basketball: Shabazz Muhammad Ruled Ineligible, Number Of Games To Be Missed Unknown

Brian Spurlock

The NCAA has ruled UCLA freshman Shabazz Muhammad ineligible.

It’s still unknown for how long Muhammad will sit, or for how many games. For now, the amount of games he’ll miss can best be described as “indefinite.”

Here’s the statement from UCLA regarding Muhammad’s ineligibility:

"The NCAA has finally determined that a violation of the NCAA amateurism rules has occurred involving UCLA freshman guard Shabazz Muhammad and his family. As a result, he is ineligible for competition at this time. We are extremely disappointed that the NCAA has made this determination.The University and our compliance staff have fully cooperated with the NCAA throughout this entire period, and we believe the decision is incorrect and unjust to Shabazz. UCLA will expeditiously pursue its options to challenge this determination. When a final resolution has been reached by the NCAA, we will swiftly communicate the news to the entire Bruin family."

Essentially, the entire ruling seems incredibly vague. There’s no time-frame given and there’s no intimation that Shabazz could miss more than the Indiana State game.

Of course, the timing is also suspect, just a couple of hours before tip-off against the Sycamores. This might be speculation, but it’s fair to think that the NCAA made a premature ruling on the situation to avoid bad publicity for having Shabazz Muhammad miss a game due to the length of the investigation.

As it stands, info is clearly lacking.

More to come.