NCAA denies Memphis’ DeAndre Williams extra year of eligibility

Memphis forward DeAndre Williams‘ request for an additional year of eligibility was denied by the NCAA, the school announced Friday.

Williams had applied for a waiver for an extra year, but his initial request was denied. He and the school appealed the NCAA’s decision, but that was denied this week as well.

“We are extremely disappointed a waiver for an additional year of eligibility for DeAndre Williams was denied, which came following a request for reconsideration of the initial denial and then an appeal,” the school said in a statement. “We felt the evidence about academic misadvisement prior to his initial collegiate enrollment that was uncovered and provided to the NCAA was sufficient to grant this waiver, and we also strongly believed the depth of additional information shared with the NCAA on an ongoing basis would be on DeAndre’s side.

“Unfortunately, after multiple months of back-and-forth, the NCAA arrived at a different conclusion. We appreciate DeAndre’s contributions to our men’s basketball program over the past two-and-a-half years, and he will always be a Memphis Tiger. Nevertheless, we are very much looking forward to an exciting season on the court for our men’s basketball team.”

Williams, who turned 27 in early October, initially signed with Evansville in the class of 2018. He was ruled ineligible for his first season in 2018-19, then played in 18 games in 2019-20 before transferring to Memphis. Williams started 80 games over the past three seasons for the Tigers, averaging 14.1 points and 6.8 rebounds during his time in the AAC.

He earned first-team All-AAC honors last season after putting up 17.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists.

Even without Williams, Memphis should have one of the oldest teams in the country this season. The Tigers were busy in the transfer portal last spring, landing Jordan Brown (23), David Jones (21), Caleb Mills (23), Jahvon Quinerly (24) and Jaykwon Walton (22).

Memphis opens its season at home against Jackson State on Monday.