Walt Waters eligible for GB?

[dylanrocks]

So, based on what we know of Walter (he was declared academically ineligible at CSU on Jan. 15) and Rock Rote's halftime interview with BP, are we to understand that W-squared will be eligible for the GB game on Jan. 15? After all, he wouldn't start the 2005-06 season with two and a half years of eligibility, would he? Anyone?

[mcdadenets50]

Wouldn't Walt be eligible starting in January of 2006 and have 2 1/2 years?

[dylanrocks]

I'm not sure why he'd be inactive for two years, though. Again, he hasn't played a minute at Schoolcraft and it's my understanding that J.D. will be eligible in the fall and have two years on the team.

[Kingsbury]

Mcdade is correct. When you trasfer in conference you need to sit out two years. Since he left after the Fall Semester 03, he would be elgible to play after the Fall semester 05 next year but I am not sure if he would have 2 1/2 or 3 1/2 years left. I believe he should have 3 1/2 years left. I did hear that Walt might be coming to school here for the spring semester. I think that would be to his advantage to come for the spring semester to start working with the team.

[dylanrocks]

Here's the clarification on the status of Walter Waters and James Douglas directly from the coach. Walter is enrolled at UWM for the second semester and either is or will be practicing with the team the rest of this season and will be eligible for the second semester of the 2005-06 season. He will have 2 1/2 seasons of eligibility remaining. James will join the team in the fall and be eligible immediately with either two or three seasons left. That has not yet been determined.

[dylanrocks]

I believe Walter should be on the bench tonight for the game against Detroit. He's bigger than Big D, so you can't possibly miss him. A chant of "Wal-ter Wat-ers" would be very fitting and much appreciated.

[kaygee]

From uwmpanthers.com...

Waters Enrolls At UWM
Eligible for game action after first semester next season


Jan. 31, 2005

MILWAUKEE - Walt Waters has enrolled in classes for the second semester at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He will be eligible to practice with the men's basketball team immediately and will become eligible for game action at the end of the first semester next season.

Waters, who signed a National Letter of Intent this fall to play basketball at UWM, decided to enroll at UWM immediately rather than spend another semester at Schoolcraft Community College in Detroit, where he was attending classes but not playing basketball.

Waters played at Cleveland State during the 2003-04 season. NCAA transfer regulations require that he will now have to spend one school year in residence at UWM before becoming eligible for games. Waters will then have two-and-a-half years of eligibility at UWM.

"It's good to have Walt on campus," UWM head coach Bruce Pearl said. "He gets to practice with us and become more familiar with what we do, while also getting acclimated to the campus and the academic programs at Milwaukee. We're excited to have him in our program."





Waters, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound center, is considered one of the top junior college big men in the country and was a consensus top-100 player in high school. Though he never appeared this season for Schoolcraft, Waters was rated as the 29th-best junior college player in the country by Hoop Scoop Online and the ninth-best center prospect in the country by Lindy's College Basketball Magazine. He signed with Pittsburgh in the early signing period in 2002 and then attended Cleveland State for a semester last year, appearing in 13 games for the Vikings.

Waters was a highly-touted recruit out of Detroit Southeastern High School, where he was a three-time all-state honoree. He was rated as the 52nd-best player in the nation as a high school senior by Prepstar, 55th by The Sporting News/Rivals.com, 85th by Basketball News and 97th by Lindy's.

During his senior year of high school, Waters averaged 18 points, seven rebounds and four blocks per game, shooting 63 percent from the field. He was stellar throughout his high school career, in fact, averaging 16 ppg as a freshman, 22 ppg as a sophomore and 19 ppg as a junior. Waters then averaged 4.4 ppg and 4.1 rpg in his 13 games at Cleveland State last year.