Yesterday afternoon it was announced that Trey Kaufman-Renn has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA seeking to obtain an additional year of eligibility. The crux of his argument seems to be that during his first year at Purdue he redshirted which prevented him playing. The new NCAA rules operate under the 5 for 5 rule that, generally speaking, provide athletes with 5 years to play 5 seasons. TKR however had 5 years and only played 4 seasons. Or at least I guess that’s the arguement. If you’ve followed
this site for the last few years especially over on Twitter you know that I’m not a fan of these lawsuits. I think they often go too far and the feckless NCAA has brought this on itself by failing to see what was coming and then even when they saw what was coming instead of doing anything they just turned into a turtle and stayed in their shell. They’ve been worthless is what I’m saying. When I see players do this in both football and basketball I am critical. I say that these older players need to move on. They need to either head overseas to play if it’s basketball or find another job if it’s football since there often isn’t a suitable other choice for most football players. Now, it’s impacting Purdue. Not just Purdue either but Purdue basketball. So, how does that make me feel?
I’m still against it. It’s easy to be against something when it doesn’t affect you but much harder when it hits closer to home. Most of the players coming back to college have not been on teams that I closely follow or care about. A lot of basketball players going to SEC teams and seemingly everyone being offered a spot at LSU. I’ve argued against almost all of them. Now, when this affects me it would be quite hypocritical if I decided that actually this is okay and these players are just trying to do the right thing for themselves so it’s okay if TKR comes back to Purdue. Now, is TKR trying to do what’s best for himself? Absolutely he is. It seems like the odds of him making the Timberwolves roster are dwindling with no official word as of this writing. Maybe he’ll be offered a G League contract or maybe he simply won’t be signed. So, in that sense I understand trying to leave your options open, especially when there is potentially millions of dollars on the line. We don’t know for sure what TKR made in NIL money and other forms of payment last season but it’s clear he was doing alright. Purdue has a very solid NIL and funding program in place for the basketball program. Want evidence of that? Look no further than last season when Purdue retained Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and TKR despite rumors and reports of dump trucks full of money being offered to them. So, does TKR think he’s doing the smart thing here? I’m sure he does and honestly, maybe he is doing the smart thing if you’re looking at short term gain (and sometimes that is the best you can do.). But, I don’t have to be happy about it. How many of us would pass up a potential million dollar salary for a job we love at the expense of someone else’s chance? I’m not sure many of us would be able to turn such an offer down.
Now, the question becomes, after a hearing on Tuesday, what if anything is next? Well, you have to look at what Purdue Head Coach Matt Painter said in a recent interview with CBS’ Jon Rothstein about the eligibility of the three recently departed (they are alive don’t worry) seniors:
“Trey wouldn’t apply for this, I don’t think, because he redshirted and then he had four years, even though everything can be battled these days,” Painter said earlier this month. “But our other two guys, there’s just no way that we could take them back just because these other guys, it’s their turn, right? You’ve given that word. You’re putting guys in tough spots.
“The stability that we have at Purdue allows us to do that and move on because I think it helps your program. But I wouldn’t be against any of those guys, whether it was Braden Smith or Fletcher (Loyer), if they went somewhere else and the money was extreme. I would support that 100%.”
So, Painter didn’t really discuss TKR because the idea of him getting an extra year of eligibility seemed so far fetched. I udnerstand that some are interpreting his comments as saying that he would welcome back TKR simply because he only spoke about Smith and Loyer when saying that Purdue could not take them back. However, I read this as Painter saying there’s simply no way that TKR could come back so why comment on it?However, the roster being what it is it seems unlikely that Purdue would have the space or opportunity to come back. Caden Pierce came back to play the 4 and Enzo Shahrvin is awaiting word on his eligibility. Painter is a man of his word and I don’t expect him to ruin these guys opportunties in order to help out TKR. I could be wrong though.
I suppose we will know more tomorrow, remember that saga?, but until then I really do wish TKR the best. He was an integral part of the best Purdue teams of my lifetime and will always be a Purdue legend. He was a thoughtful interview subject who always gave you a good answer. But he shouldn’t be given an additional year. If he does receive an additional year I have no doubt numerous teams will be scrambling to sign him, LSU of course included, but I don’t expect Painter to trip over himself to reconfigure his roster around a 6th year for TKR. It would be difficult to see him play for another school, but that’s the nature of college basketball these days. I’ll continue to root against these additional years of eligibility even when it would benefit Purdue.
