The Gophers' bid to land senior Rakeem Buckles was close to dead last week when his waiver to play immediately at Minnesota was denied by the NCAA.
The last-ditch attempt to revive it -- appealing the decision -- has been denied by the NCAA, meaning Buckles, a power forward, will likely stay at Florida International.
Per a release from the school:
The Minnesota men's basketball program learned today that its appeal for the immediate eligibility of Florida International transfer Rakeem Buckles has been denied by the NCAA. Minnesota's original NCAA transfer waiver was denied by the NCAA on Aug. 28. Buckles, who had signed a tender to play for the Gophers in August, is not currently enrolled at the University of Minnesota.
He had followed new Gophers coach Richard Pitino to FIU from Louisville last year but sat out the season while rehabbing a knee injury.
Without a waiver, Buckles would need to sit out another redshirt season. But with this year marking the fifth (and final) year of Buckles' eligibility, he would need to request another waiver for a sixth year to play for the Gophers in 2014-15.
Buckles signed a Big Ten tender and was admitted to Minnesota, but had not enrolled due to the uncertainty of the waiver.
