Nevada Las Vegas Pleads Its Case

Nevada Las Vegas on Wednesday asked the NCAA to let the university’s basketball team play in the postseason this year.

After a three-hour presentation before the NCAA Infractions Appeals Committee in Chicago, UNLV President Carol Harter said she was hopeful the ban would be rescinded.

The NCAA is expected to issue its decision before the Mountain West Conference tournament the first week in March. UNLV (13-9) is banned by Mountain West Conference rules from playing in the conference tournament too, because of the NCAA ban.

The postseason ban was part of a four-year probation handed down by the NCAA in December after UNLV was found to have violated rules in the recruiting of Lamar Odom in 1996 and 1997.

The postseason ban is only for this season, but UNLV officials contended in their appeal that current players should not be penalized for violations that occurred before they came to the university.

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Missouri star Kareem Rush, sidelined for the rest of the season because of a thumb injury, said he plans to return for his junior season instead of making himself available for the NBA draft. . . . Oregon guard Anthony Norwood has acknowledged that his father is former NBA player Lafayette “Fat” Lever, and Norwood plans to have his last name legally changed this summer.