University of Central Florida freshman Tacko Fall has received an official academic waiver from the NCAA to allow him to play as early as Saturday's opener against Davidson, according to ESPN.Starting last Friday, Fall—a 19-year-old, 300-pound center from Senegal who stands a modest 7-foot-6—was under scrutiny by the NCAA for potential academic fraud, the Orlando Sentinel reported. This is due not to any misconduct on Fall's part, but rather the sketchiness of his small high school, Liberty Christian Prep in Tavares, FL.The irony is that Fall not only got a 3.6 GPA in his final two years of the school—which has been around, legitimately, for 25 years—but was also kind of a giant nerd there. Like, maybe to the point that he'd ditch basketball for a chemistry or engineering job. Take a look at his nerdery:Initially, the NCAA said that they'd only accept 7 1/2 high school credits of his potential 16, and that Fall was not allowed to even practice with UCF, according to ESPN. But now the NCAA has rescinded their ban after Fall's guardian for the past two years said that the family was prepared to sue the NCAA if they did not grant the waiver. It's not entirely clear if the threat to sue had a causal effect, but the NCAA changed their minds nevertheless."I'm so happy for Tacko," UCF head coach Donnie Jones told ESPN. "He handled this with such humility, and we're so thankful the NCAA understands his story."It's a good thing the NCAA let it pass. Now the world can see more of this:Or, better, give a budding engineer the education he needs to make a career out of it. Seems like it's a win-win.
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