Former Hog loses eligibility request

A request to the NCAA for immediate eligibility by former Arkansas and now-Tulsa guard Keyshawn Embery-Simpson has been denied, Golden Hurricane Coach Frank Haith said Thursday.

Haith said an appeal also was denied. Without the waiver, Embery-Simpson must redshirt the upcoming season at Tulsa.

Embery-Simpson announced he would transfer from the University of Arkansas in March, two days after the Razorbacks fired former coach Mike Anderson. Embery-Simpson was a freshman last season at Arkansas and averaged 4.1 points and 1.2 rebounds in 33 games.

A native of Midwest City, Okla., Embery-Simpson announced he would transfer to Tulsa in early April, four days after he entered the NCAA transfer portal.

On Friday, ESPN college basketball reporter Jeff Goodman tweeted that the NCAA had approved 48 waiver requests, denied eight requests and had not ruled on 65 requests. It was unclear whether that total reflected the decision on Embery-Simpson, but it indicates a significant backlog with 11 days remaining before the start of the regular season Nov. 5.

Among those still waiting on a decision is Arkansas’ Connor Vanover, a 7-3 center from Little Rock who transferred from California after a coaching change there in the spring. The change in head coaches — former Cal coach Wyking Jones recruited Vanover — is one of two mitigating factors in the Razorbacks’ request for immediate eligibility for Vanover. The other factor is that Vanover has an ill grandmother in the state.

Arkansas Coach Eric Musselman said Thursday he has not been told anything new in regards to Vanover’s request.