Pittsburgh Sports Now has some new information on the surprise news from Thursday of the NCAA denying the waiver request of Pitt guard Nike Sibande.
The former Miami RedHawks star applied for a waiver to play this season in order to avoid the year of residency that is usually required when transferring programs.
Considering the volume of waivers that the NCAA has granted to transfers this off-season, Sibande’s request was viewed as just a formality to many, but that wasn’t the case.
PSN has learned from a source that the reason for Sibande getting denied was because the Miami basketball program challenged and “didn’t support” his waiver request.
It’s not clear what issue Miami (Ohio) had with his request but apparently it was enough to convince the NCAA to grant a denial, which will force Sibande to out the 2020-21 season.
In three seasons for Miami, Sibande averaged over 15 points per game and Pitt was hoping to immediately add his scoring and experience to their rotation.
Sibande has one season of NCAA eligibility remaining. If he is unable to secure a waiver, he will have to sit out the 2020-21 season and play his final year at Pitt in 2021-22.