Situation No Brighter for Cotton

With would-be UCLA recruit Schea Cotton and the Bruin basketball program restlessly awaiting a response from the NCAA on whether it will reverse a decision to declare Cotton academically ineligible, the NCAA’s answer Friday was hardly satisfying.

According to his attorney, Stuart Rice, Cotton received a letter from the NCAA asking him for written authorization that would allow NCAA executives to release information on his case to Rice. Nothing more.

“They completely ignored the points and arguments we made,” Rice said Friday. “My sense is that the NCAA doesn’t seem to care about our timetable.”

In a letter sent to the NCAA last week, Cotton requested an “immediate reversal” of the organization’s decision, Rice said. Cotton contends he has fulfilled all of the NCAA’s requirements.

Rice said Wednesday that as time passed without a response from the NCAA, the chances of Cotton enrolling at UCLA and playing for the Bruins next season were dwindling.

The NCAA revoked Cotton’s Scholastic Assessment Test two days before classes were to start at UCLA on Sept. 18 on the grounds that Cotton had taken a “non-standardized” SAT--which allows for extended time and is printed in larger type--without providing enough proof that he has a learning disability and qualified for the special accommodations.