An article can state anything. The rule is below (copy and past from the NCAA Division I Manual):
quote:
14.2.4 Hardship Waiver. A student-athlete may be granted an additional year of competition by the conference
or the Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement for reasons of “hardship.” Hardship is defined as an
incapacity resulting from an injury or illness that has occurred under all of the following conditions: (Revised:
8/8/02, 11/1/07 effective 8/1/08)
(a) The incapacitating injury or illness occurs in one of the four seasons of intercollegiate competition at any twoyear
or four-year collegiate institutions or occurs after the first day of classes in the student-athlete’s senior year
in high school; (Revised: 1/10/92 effective 8/1/92, 11/1/01, 8/8/02)
(b) The injury or illness occurs prior to the first competition of the second half of the playing season that concludes
with the NCAA championship in that sport (see Bylaw 14.2.4.3.4) and results in incapacity to compete
for the remainder of that playing season; (Revised: 1/14/97 effective 8/1/97, 4/26/01 effective 8/1/01,
4/3/02, 4/24/08)
(c) In team sports, the injury or illness occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than three
contests or dates of competition (whichever is applicable to that sport) or 30 percent (whichever number is
greater) of the institution’s scheduled or completed contests or dates of competition in his or her sport. Only
scheduled or completed competition against outside participants during the playing season that concludes
with the NCAA championship, or, if so designated, during the official NCAA championship playing season
in that sport (e.g., spring baseball, fall soccer), shall be countable under this limitation in calculating both the
number of contests or dates of competition in which the student-athlete has participated and the number of
scheduled or completed contests or dates of competition during that season in the sport. Dates of competition
that are exempted (e.g., alumni contests, foreign team in the United States.) from the maximum permissible
number of contests or dates of competition shall count toward the number of contests or dates in which the
student-athlete has participated and the number of scheduled or completed contests or dates of competition
in the season, except for scrimmages and exhibition contests that are specifically identified as such in
the sport’s Bylaw 17 playing and practice season regulations. Scrimmages and exhibition contests that are
not exempted from the maximum permissible number of contests or dates of competition may be excluded
from the calculation only if they are identified as such by in the sport’s Bylaw 17 playing and practice season
regulations; and (Revised: 1/10/92, 1/14/97 effective 8/1/97, 4/26/01 effective 8/1/01, 3/10/04, 5/11/05, 8/4/05,
4/26/07, 9/18/07, 4/24/08)
(d) In individual sports, the injury or illness occurs when the student-athlete has not participated in more than
three dates of competition or 30 percent (whichever number is greater) of the maximum permissible number
of dates of competition as set forth in Bylaw 17 plus one date for a conference championship (e.g., gymnastics:
13+1=14, wrestling: 16+1=17), regardless of whether the team participates in the conference championship,
provided the institution is a member of a conference and the conference holds a championship event
in the applicable sport. Dates of competition that are exempted per Bylaw 17 (e.g., alumni contests, foreign
team in the United States) from the maximum permissible number of dates of competition do not count
toward the number of dates in which the student-athlete has participated. (Adopted: 4/24/08)
It would seem that his ability to be granted a waiver would rest on the definition of "institution’s scheduled or completed contests or dates of competition in his or her sport."
If it is only "scheduled" games, or any post-season games count as only 1 game (regardless of the number of post-season games), then Roland has competed in more than 30% of the games and wouldn't appear to be eligible for the waiver. There may be extinuating and mitigating factors that I am not aware of and there is always the following:
quote:
14.2.1.5 Additional Waivers. The Committee on Student-Athlete Reinstatement, by a two-thirds majority
of its members present and voting, may approve such additional waivers to the five-year rule as it deems appropriate
(see Bylaw 30.6.1 for criteria).
Which does not appear in the "Hardship Waiver" section but appears to give the NCAA the power to approve the waiver for whatever reason they deem necessary.
