It’s unlikely Dez Wells can play in 2012-13, he has left Kentucky campus for other visits

From most reports, former Xavier forward Dez Wells spent most of Thursday on campus in Lexington, further creating a white hot rumor that he may be close to committing to the University of Kentucky.  He did however, leave campus last night without a commitment and it appears that he will not be a Wildcat . Nothing is certain with this case .   His off the court controversy is one thing and as time goes by, it is looking more and more like Wells may have gotten raw treatment from Xavier. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters has even go so far as to say that Xavier should reconsider the expulsion because the grand jury declined to press any criminal charges against Wells. 

Any coach that takes Wells is still going to face the wrath of haters, but now the BIG question is even if Wells would be eligible to play for whatever school he chose.  Because of timing, and partially becasue he was expelled and this is not a transfer case, it appers very unlikely that Wells will see the court anytime soon, at least according to NCAA expert John Infante:

"“Well there’s two things bouncing around,” Infante said in a telephone interview Thursday. “Will he enroll in a school? People have looked at drop/add dates, and that’s not really a big deal. When a school has a drop/add date, you can always have the dean or instructors override it to let a kid in classes. “When you have an athlete who will sit out for a year, as [Wells] will almost certainly have to, if they started after the 12th day of classes for a semester, that semester doesn’t count as one of the two they have to sit out. So a lot of semester schools started last week, so [Wells] is now getting into the second or third week of school. If he misses that date, he won’t be eligible until the middle of next season.” That rule comes from NCAA Bylaw 14.02.13. The full text is below: Residence is enrollment in a full-time academic program (as defined by the institution) at a collegiate institution during a regular term of an academic year. A summer term may not be used to satisfy an academic term of residence. Any student-athlete (e.g., qualifier, nonqualifier, transfer student) admitted after the 12th class day may not use that semester or quarter for the purpose of satisfying an academic term or years of residence. This includes any day class is in session. Because Monday is Labor Day, a national holiday, that buys Wells an extra day according to this rule. Kentucky started classes Aug. 22. Memphis began Aug. 25. Maryland started Wednesday."

Due to that 12 day rule, you can expect Wells to make a decision pretty soon as the clock is ticking. Jeff Goodman says that Kentucky is in the front runners seat for his services:

"It’s difficult to imagine Wells landing anywhere but UK, though. He’s a North Carolina kid who is close with former ‘Cats star John Wall. Wells would be a quality piece for John Calipari — or anyone, for that matter — to add to his program, but the question would then become whether he could get a waiver to play this season. It’s certainly not out of the realm, but it appears to be a long-shot because he was still kicked out of another university. “That’s not the type of precedent that the NCAA wants to set,” one source said. “It’s one thing if someone is sick or you get your degree on time. It’s another to be expelled and then rewarded.”"

Also the question arises as to how will Wells affect the 2013 class?  There is a possibility that Wells may not even be eligible until after Christmas 2013 as well.  I would assume that Well would have three years of eligibility remaining but there are still more questions than possible answers today.  And it is because of situations like this, we say “In Cal we Trust”.  Wells is in Memphis now and will be in Maryland over the weekend.  Some sites are saying that the deadline for him to enroll at Kentucky was today, but there is conflicting information all around.

I would say the only way Kentucky takes him is if he can somehow play this year and that does not look likely at all.

The tickets for the September 15 Kentucky basketball alumni game go on sale today at 10AM .  Also the exhibition game (at 2 PM on 9/15) will be preceded by an exhibition game featuring the 1996 National Champion Wildcats:

"Prior to the alumni game, members of the 1996 UK National Championship team will be playing an all-star team from the John Calipari Fantasy Experience at Rupp Arena. Derek Anderson, Anthony Epps, Walter McCarty, Jared Prickett, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner and Antoine Walker are already confirmed to participate. Doors to Rupp Arena will open at 11 a.m. so that fans can see both the 1996 team as well as the alumni charity game set to tip off at 2 p.m. ET. All seats are reserved and priced at $100 (premium lower level), $40 (lower level) and $20 (upper level). Tickets can be purchased only at the Rupp Arena box office, online at Ticketmaster.com, at any Ticketmaster Outlet or by phone at 1-800-745-3000. There is a four-ticket limit per person. Online orders and phone orders will have additional fees attached. All proceeds from the game will go to charity."