Suspension: NAIT Basketball - Crellin |
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Commissioner's Rulings
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2010-11 SeasonFebruary 27, 2011 Facts: On February 24, 2011, NAIT’s Clayton Crellin received his fourth technical foul of the season. Pursuant to the ACAC Operating Code, I conferred with ACAC General Manager, Bob Day and Basketball Sport Management Convenor, Karla Karch, to determine the extent of the suspension to be imposed on Mr. Crellin. Ruling: Historically, players who have received their fourth technical foul of the season have received a two (2) game suspension. This will be the case for Mr. Crellin, whose suspension will be served as follows:
Unfortunately, this matter is far more complicated than usual. On November 30, 2010, following a weekend in which Mr. Crellin received two technical fouls, I sent a warning to NAIT indicating that Mr. Crellin had two technical fouls on the season and that a further technical foul would result in an automatic one game suspension pursuant to the Operating Code. At the time I sent the warning, I missed the fact that Mr. Crellin had already received a technical foul during an October 15, 2010 game. I regret the error. Therefore, at the time of my warning, Mr. Crellin, in fact had received three technicals and should have automatically sat out NAIT’s next scheduled league game, on January 14, 2011, a NAIT victory over RDC. I have been advised that Mr. Crellin played in that game. I was only made aware of this situation late Friday afternoon when Gregg Meropoulis contacted me to discuss the effect of Mr. Crellin receiving his “third” technical foul the previous evening. There is no Operating Code section that requires the Commissioner to send technical foul warnings. Nonetheless, I have historically chosen to do so as a service to the Conference. As stated earlier, I regret any confusion caused by the erroneous warning I sent to NAIT on November 30. Nonetheless, it expected within the Conference for institutions to track the discipline status of their own athletes in all sports. If NAIT had done so in this case it could have corrected my error prior to its next scheduled league match, which did not take place until more than 6 weeks following Mr. Crellin’s third technical foul. Article I Section 5 Rule 10.1 and Article I Section 13 Rule 10.6 of the Operating Code clearly state that the use of an ineligible athlete results in an automatic forfeit of any matches in which that athlete has participated. There is no discretion in that section of the Operating Code. Therefore, I have no choice but to rule that NAIT forfeit its victory over RDC on January 14, 2011. The ACAC standings should be altered to account for the forfeit result. Sincerely, Bill Hendsbee Postscript: March, 2011 Tribunal Ruling - NAIT's Appeal Due to the timing of the ruling/infraction before the Tribunal, NAIT will be issued a $1500.00 fine as a result of playing an ineligible student athlete. Altering conference league standing midway through play-offs is detrimental to all of the programs involved in the sport of Men’s Basketball. The final rankings and seeding achieved from the final league conference schedule and the first round of conference playoffs will be reinstated. NAIT will host the final four championships as the 1st seed in the North. The NAIT student athlete (Mr. Crellin) will be assessed a one (1) game suspension for his 4th Technical which has been served on February 25. |