NCAA Clears Mo Bamba of Receiving Impermissible Benefits, Remains Eligible

The No. 2 prospect in the country and incoming University of Texas freshman Mo Bamba recently found himself at the center of an eligibility controversy before he ever stepped foot on a college basketball court when his brother let loose a Facebook Live tirade accusing him of receiving all kinds of impermissible benefits. Today, the NCAA announced that they found no violations and that Bamba's eligibility remains intact.

Last month, Bamba's brother Ibrahim Joseph alleged that a financial adviser named Greer Love approached his brother and the family, plying Bamba with free shoes, weekly stipends, TVs, and expensive vacations. In the video he claimed that Bamba would not play at Texas because he "exposed" his brother, and as a result the NCAA was investigating him. In its statement today, the NCAA did not find that these accusations were without merit, rather it claimed they fell under its "pre-existing relationship" exception to impermissible benefits. Here, from the NCAA code, is the relevant language:

The NCAA said that since Love met Bamba in the fourth grade through an after-school mentoring program he established in Harlem in 2008—the same year he met Bamba—it passed the sniff test. Even though there was an athletic aspect to the program—specifically basketball Love's relationship with Bamba was not based on Bamba's "ability or reputation as an athlete." The NCAA also said that any future benefits provided by Love would also be permissible as long as the nature of those benefits don't dramatically change from previous ones.

If that all sounds confusing and arbitrary to the point of absurdity, welcome to the NCAA, where decisions appear to be made by getting drunk and spinning a wheel of options. The pre-existing relationship rule is one that makes sense on its face—just because you have a rich, generous friend shouldn't screw up your eligibility—but it also seems absolutely ripe for abuse and seemingly encourages slimy individuals to prey on young athletes. So instead of a scummy agent swooping in on a family for a year in high school, you've got guys planting flags for years, with an NCAA codified blueprint for navigating the waters. Not convinced? Here's what Love said shortly after Joseph made his allegations, in an interview with 247Sports:

Maybe Love, a financial advisor from Michigan who went to school in Indiana, just happened to open up a mentoring program in Bamba's NYC hometown and it's all a huge coincidence. He was in fourth grade after all, and maybe it doesn't matter that two years later, in 2010, his older brother Sidiki Johnson was being recruited by Arizona, St. John's, Providence, and West Virginia. But Love knew exactly what to do to avoid running afoul of the NCAA's eligibility problems and in the process became a trusted advisor and financial benefactor.

He's also an NCAA-inspired middle man who would be wholly unnecessary if they would JUST. PAY. THE. PLAYERS.