McLean ruled ineligible for Quinnipiac

Quinnipiac officially announced junior college transfer Giovanni McLean is ineligible for 2014-15 season. (Photo courtesy of Adam Zagoria via ZagsBlog)

A situation that began as a promising addition and transitioned into cautious hope has now been resolved, albeit not with the ending all parties involved would have anticipated.

Quinnipiac's Giovanni McLean, a junior college transfer who arrived in Hamden during the offseason and was expected to be a key contributor for the Bobcats before being implicated in a case of transcript fraud at Westchester Community College; from where McLean transferred, was officially ruled ineligible for the remainder of the 2014-15 season earlier this afternoon, as per Jon Alba of Q30 Television.

"The NCAA has granted a partial waiver supporting the university's decision to allow Giovanni to continue his studies at the university for the remainder of this academic year," Quinnipiac vice president of public affairs Lynn Bushnell told Q30. "He, however, will remain prohibited from practicing and playing with the basketball team for the rest of this season."

McLean came to Quinnipiac after initially committing to Oklahoma, before his transcript lacked the requisite amount of credits needed to maintain eligibility in the Big 12 Conference. He was deemed ineligible in November shortly after the NCAA's probe of Westchester Community College and alleged transcript forgery by former assistant coach Richard Fields reached Hamden. Despite his inability to compete, he is still listed on Quinnipiac's roster, however, and maintains access to the facilities at the TD Bank Sports Center.

Alba's report goes on to mention that McLean has been permitted to remain at Quinnipiac as an active student, but also reveals that his status for the 2015-16 season is presently uncertain.