UTEP basketball: NCAA says Isaac Hamilton's case to void letter of intent could take 6-8 weeks

August has tiptoed in, registration is roughly four weeks away, portions of the basketball schedule are out ... and UTEP still waits on its star recruit.

Isaac Hamilton, a McDonald's All-American and a national top 20 recruit, has requested permission to get out of his National Letter of Intent, citing an ill grandmother. UTEP has refused the request and now the matter must go to Indianapolis.

The National Letter of Intent Office, located in Indianapolis, will decide on the appeal. And it can be a lengthy process.

"Obviously, the first step is for the student-athlete to ask for his release from the university," said Susan Peal, director of the Letter of Intent Office. "If there is no release granted, then they would appeal to the National Letter of Intent Committee. They must submit documentation as to why they are asking for their release. The committee will hear from both sides and rule.

"Should there be no release granted, the athlete can appeal," Peal said. "At that time, we would arrange a conference call with the committee. As you can see, it can be a drawn out process. We usually tell both parties to allow six to eight weeks. We would try to speed that up. In a case this late, we would try to expedite it but we have to get the committee together and there is only so much we can do."

Peal said she

is not at liberty to say whether or not the office has received a request from Hamilton. But Hamilton's father, Greg, said they would go through the appeal process because "Isaac wants to play where his grandmother can see him play."

Meanwhile, parts of the schedule are being released.

UTEP officials announced this week the Miners will play Tennessee on Thanksgiving evening in the Battle 4 Atlantis, an eight-team tournament Nov. 28-30 at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. All games will be televised on the NBC Sports Network.

USC will play Villanova at 11 a.m. MST, Kansas will play Wake Forest at 1:30 p.m. MST, Iowa will face Xavier at 5 p.m. MST and the Miners will meet Tennessee at 7:30 p.m. MST.

"The Battle 4 Atlantis features one of the top two or three fields in the country year in and year out," UTEP coach Tim Floyd said.

The tournament has had 191 teams make NCAA Tournament appearances, 25 Final Four appearances and five national champions.

The Miners should have a strong team -- with or without Hamilton but obviously stronger with him. UTEP has five of its top seven scorers returning, plenty of size and still four strong recruits.

"We have two freshmen who could play for anybody in the country," Floyd said. "Vince Hunter and Matt Willms. Our other two -- Josh Brown (5-foot-10 guard) and Jake Flaggert (6-6 forward) have an incredible opportunity."

And UTEP athletic director Bob Stull said, "Everybody is gloom and doom and that's just not the case. We've got five of our top seven players back and we have four guys over 6-9."

UTEP will have senior John Bohannon, 6-10, junior Cedrick Lang, 6-9, sophomore Hooper Vint, 6-11, and redshirt freshman Matt Willms, 7-1.

And there is still an element of hope that the Miners can have the outstanding 6-5 Hamilton.

But, for now, everyone simply must wait.

Bill Knight may be reached at 546-6171.

Source: http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_23772974/el-paso-times?source=rss_viewed

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