NCAA: Memphis center James Wiseman must sit out next 11 games

James Wiseman will miss the next 11 games, the NCAA announced Wednesday.

The Tigers’ center will be reinstated in time for their Jan. 12, 2020 game against South Florida. He also must donate $11,500 to a charity of his choice.

The school declared the Tigers’ 7-foot-1 basketball star ineligible on Nov. 14, nine days after it was notified by the NCAA of a violation that occurred more than two years prior. The preseason All-American and projected No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft played in the team’s first three games this season, two of them thanks to a temporary restraining order issued by Shelby County Chancery Court in response to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Wiseman on Nov. 8.

Wiseman dropped the pending litigation against the NCAA and the university (which was named as a nominal defendant) on Nov. 14 as a show of good faith.

The full suspension was announced as 12 games, but because Memphis held Wiseman out of last week’s game against Alcorn State, it will count as time served.

According to the NCAA, its ruling is because an impermissible benefit was provided to Wiseman’s mother, Donzaleigh Artis, in May 2017. That’s when she accepted approximately $11,500 from then-East High School coach Penny Hardaway (now in his second season as Memphis’ head coach) to help the family offset the cost of moving from Nashville to Memphis.

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Hardaway’s classification as a booster – which he earned in 2008 when he donated $1 million to the school’s athletic department – made his payment to Artis a violation as soon as he was hired by Memphis, according to NCAA bylaws.

Tiger freshman Precious Achiuwa said he and his teammates have been supportive of Wiseman – who has not been made available to the media – since the ordeal began.  

“At the moment, we all talk to James every day,” Achiuwa said. “We tell him, ‘Yo, just keep your head in the game and stay locked in. Everything’s going to get cleared up and you’re going to be back on the floor playing with us.’”

This story will be updated.

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.