NCAA determines Israeli guard’s eligibility window at Tennessee, per report
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An NCAA ruling has reportedly given Israeli guard Ethan Burg 3 years of eligibility at Tennessee.
A source told Knox News on Wednesday of the ruling, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the NCAA ruling has not been publicly revealed.
Burg had just committed to play basketball for 71-year-old Rick Barnes 5 days earlier after a visit to Knoxville late last month. He was already determined by the NCAA to be eligible. The only question regarding Burg’s status at Tennessee was how many years of eligibility he was going to be granted.
According to the Knox News source, he will be able to start his career at Tennessee as a sophomore with those 3 years of eligibility.
Burg is a 6-foot-3 guard who spent the previous 2 seasons playing professional ball in Israel. That factor alone affects how many years of college eligibility Burg would have.
He is already 22 years old, so Barnes and the Volunteers will be getting a veteran presence who’s a lot older than the typical college sophomore. Burg played the past 2 seasons with Bnei PenLink Herzliya in Israel. He averaged 11 points per game, shooting 32.9% from 3-point territory this past season. The year before, Burg had pretty identical numbers, averaging 11.1 points and shooting 37.6% from 3-point land.
Now, he’s reportedly heading to Knoxville for the next 3 seasons.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
