'Hard to accept' ... Leonard Hamilton Speaks on NCAA suspension of Florida State's Baba Miller

In the wake of Friday’s NCAA ruling that highly touted freshman Baba Miller would be suspended for 16 games — a ruling that sent shockwaves throughout the college basketball community — Florida State men’s basketball coach Leonard Hamilton made his first public remarks on the subject Wednesday to the Warchant multimedia network.

Appearing on Wednesday’s episode of “The Jeff Cameron Show,” Hamilton expressed frustration with the NCAA’s educational process — or lack thereof — for international prospects such as Miller.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for the job the NCAA has done over the years,” Hamilton said. “They have a very difficult challenge of dealing with all of the different sports, internationally and domestically. … But I do have some concerns. I’m disappointed about this because I can’t find any source of information that lets me know that they have had an extensive educational program to educate people internationally as to what the do’s and don’ts are. So we’re holding this young man accountable for what his family does not know.

“There was no NCAA (rule) book for them to look at; they didn’t even know anyone who has an NCAA book. … It’s hard for me to accept that they’re holding a youngster accountable for what they have not been exposed to.”

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According to an Oct. 28 press release from Florida State, Miller received payment for a flight from his native Spain to the United States in order to participate in a skills camp for young basketball players. The benefit occurred before his recruitment to Florida State, according to the release, and was paid back in full by Miller’s family upon learning of the NCAA policies.

“I am very disappointed with the committee’s decision based on the facts presented,” Florida State athletics director Michael Alford said in the university’s release. “The decision seems disproportionate and inconsistent in today’s modern environment. It’s unfortunate that Baba will have to endure this penalty.”

Miller, a 6-foot-11 forward from Spain, was an On3 consensus four-star prospect and figures to be a significant part of Florida State’s rotation once he’s available. In the Seminoles’ lone public exhibition last week, he scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Part of Friday’s announcement included the language “final appeal.” According to a university source, NCAA rules state that a player in Miller’s situation merits a year suspension, but the organization has reduced his penalty to 50 percent of the season.

“I believe it’s been exhausted,” Hamilton said of the appeal process. “We’re still searching for some crack somewhere that maybe we could benefit from. But at this particular point, it’s the hand that’s been dealt to us and I’m not real sure we have a lot of recourse.”

Like many college basketball observers, Hamilton believes the NCAA needs to reconsider its policies at a time when athletes around the country are receiving huge financial benefits as part of Name, Image and Likeness.

“The landscape has changed,” Hamilton said. “So it’s confusing to me as to why we don’t take that under consideration in a case like this. … Our set of rules need to be brought up to date to match internationally what we’re doing domestically.”

Florida State opens its regular season this Monday when it hosts Stetson at the Tucker Center.

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