CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Miami Hurricanes coach Jim Larranaga says junior forward Dewan Hernandez deserves to be declared eligible by the NCAA because he unwittingly became entangled in a college basketball corruption case when he was duped by an AAU coach.
Larranaga spoke at length about Hernandez’s status for the first time Friday as the school awaited an NCAA ruling. Hernandez has sat out the first 17 games of the season awaiting a determination on his eligibility, which could come before Miami’s game Saturday against No. 13 North Carolina.
Hernandez was among more than a dozen players listed in a business plan to pay prospective NBA players. Larranaga blamed Hernandez’s involvement on his former AAU coach, Jordan Fair, who was fired as an assistant at Louisville after the scandal broke in 2017.
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