National Analysts Slam NCAA’s Suspension Of BYU Star Yoeli Childs

PROVO, Utah – BYU basketball star Yoeli Childs nine-game suspension from the NCAA for hiring an agent before filing the proper paperwork with the governing body of collegiate athletics has raised some strong opinions.

ESPN College Basketball insider and analyst Jay Bilas who has always been willing to share displeasure with the decisions made by the NCAA weighed in on Childs nine-game suspension saying, “Wow. Sanctioned for choosing to come back to school. What purpose does this serve? None. Embarrassing.”

Bilas chimed in again on Monday telling the NCAA to reverse the “unconscionable” suspension.

Wow. Quick action to admit a dumb decision. Now, reverse the unconscionable decision on BYU’s Yoeli Childs. https://t.co/ni7r3f8vmP

— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) August 12, 2019

Bilas hopped on BYUtv’s BYU Sports Nation on Monday and said he was hearing from reputable sources that the NCAA was looking at suspending Childs for the entire 2019-20 season.  Imagine the meltdown had Yoeli lost his entire senior season?

ESPN and Pac-12 Network play-by-play voice Roxy Bernstein, who has called numerous BYU basketball games the past few seasons, shared his thoughts on Yoeli’s suspension.

So Yoeli Childs gets horrible counsel in between coaches at @BYUbasketball, pays everything back the next day after he went through the process clean last year with no agent. He could have easily swept this under the rug but instead comes clean and tells the truth. https://t.co/n5fDqQwPKu

— Roxy Bernstein (@roxybernstein) August 10, 2019

ESPN college basketball analyst and former Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg weighed in on the big picture of the NCAA letting student-athletes come back from the NBA Draft process.

Why is the @NCAA making it hard for players to return back to school. Isn’t it about the student athlete. Unless there is something i am missing or hasn’t been reported this is another bad look for the @NCAA . Best rule is the rule of common sense.

— Seth Greenberg (@SethOnHoops) August 10, 2019

Former New Mexico Lobos head coach and current ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla had a tongue in cheek remark, but honestly, makes you wonder.

Bad move, BYU. Should have put him on the road recruiting this summer & have him break a couple of rules. He would have gotten three games. https://t.co/N6V2QIHYRV

— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) August 10, 2019

Anyone who has a reasonable line of thought has looked at this suspension and slammed it, yet the NCAA has denied BYU and head coach Mark Pope in their appeals for the suspension.  Pope went on to say he was “incredibly disappointed” on the denial of the appeal.

No official statement has been issued from the NCAA regarding this suspension of BYU’s star basketball player.  But the NCAA could amend the suspension, just like they did with the requirements to be an authorized agent.  The NCAA would be well served to show that they support student-athletes actually coming back to college to enjoy the collegiate experience.

With their decision to suspend Childs for nine games, they are making it clear to college basketball players that if you declare for the Draft, stay in, because your eligibility could be up in the air at that point.

It’s good to see some common sense from the significant talking heads in college hoops slamming this suspension.  But it would be even better if the NCAA had a little bit of that common sense in their decision making.

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.