Chicago State gets commitments from a pair of 5-star recruits

[Da Coach]

Perennial bottom feeder Chicago State has left the WAC and is currently an independent D1 school, though it is reported that they are seeking another conference affiliation.
But in one of the strangest stories in college basketball this offseason, CSU head coach Gerald Gillion just received commitments from a pair of 5-star recruits, twin brothers Ryan Bewley and Matt Bewley.
https://clutchpoints.com/overtime-el...-chicago-state


The Bewley brothers left their Orlando, Florida high school in May, 2021, and signed million dollar contracts to play for Overtime Elite-
https://www.si.com/nba/2021/05/21/ov...tt-ryan-bewley

But now they have decided to play college basketball, and claim to have signed scholarship agreements at Chicago State.
https://twitter.com/TeamBreakdown/st...40791578066944
Since Overtime Elite is a professional league, and the Bewley brothers both were paid sizeable amounts, I am not sure how they will be cleared by the NCAA.

[Scoretable2]

How did Chicago State become such a big player in the money market?

[Da Coach]

I haven't seen any reports that Chicago State is offering NIL money. The Bewley brothers have a prior relationship with CSU head coach Gerald Gillion, who was their AAU coach when they were in high school.
https://clutchpoints.com/overtime-el...-chicago-state

But with all the NIL money being offered to elite recruits, it seems the Bewleys are missing out on a lot of money by attending Chicago State, not to mention a much better education if they had chosen to attend elsewhere. I still think there is more to this story, and wonder if they will ever actually play for Chicago State.

[BUfan17]

Seems almost like a joke that they pick one of the worst teams in D1. Would be quite funny though if they were able to make it to the NCAA tournament.

[yoda]

Altho fairly low level violations, Chicago State head coach Gerald Gillion has a history of committing recruiting violations.
He resigned at USF & they were penalized by NCAA for giving improper benefits to recruits. Orlando Antigua also resigned
but now works under Brad Underwood at Illinois. Also, Gillion's brother is the head coach at West Oaks where the Bewley's played for two years & is a powerful force in recruiting all of south Florida. He was peripherally caught up in the NCAA issues at USF where they hosted recruits on campus allegedly for tutoring sessions, but then gave them extra benefits, paid for their hotels and meals and it was rumored there was more. But does anyone think most major programs don't skirt the rules every now & then? But only a few ever get caught.

[egib52]

Orlando Antigua also resigned
but now works under Brad Underwood at Illinois.

Antigua has been at Kentucky for the last couple years.

[64NIT]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/38809045/chicago-state-brothers-sue-ncaa-denied-eligibility

[Da Coach]

...
But in one of the strangest stories in college basketball this offseason, CSU head coach Gerald Gillion just received commitments from a pair of 5-star recruits, twin brothers Ryan Bewley and Matt Bewley.- https://clutchpoints.com/overtime-el...-chicago-state

....Since Overtime Elite is a professional league, and the Bewley brothers both were paid sizeable amounts, I am not sure how they will be cleared by the NCAA.

... I still think there is more to this story, and wonder if they will ever actually play for Chicago State.

Five-star twins sue NCAA over denied eligibility- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ed-eligibility

This whole story seemed absurd from the start, and as I said 3 months ago, I couldn't see how they would be cleared to play after having been paid as professionals in the Overtime Elite league.

Now they are suing to force the NCAA to change it's stance against allowing professionals to play college athletics. Their lawsuit should be thrown out quickly, but who knows what will happen once the courts get involved.
I shudder to think what will happen if this lawsuit is successful. It will open the gates and allow any former professionals, or players who entered the NBA draft and didn't get selected, to go back to college and re-enroll and start playing again.
And will the courts next decide the NCAA rule limiting eligibility to 4 years should get struck down? College teams could have rosters loaded with ex-pros indefinitely.

[CarolinaBrave]

This whole story seemed absurd from the start, and as I said 3 months ago, I couldn't see how they would be cleared to play after having been paid as professionals in the Overtime Elite league.

Now they are suing to force the NCAA to change it's stance against allowing professionals to play college athletics. Their lawsuit should be thrown out quickly, but who knows what will happen once the courts get involved.
I shudder to think what will happen if this lawsuit is successful. It will open the gates and allow any former professionals, or players who entered the NBA draft and didn't get selected, to go back to college and re-enroll and start playing again.
And will the courts next decide the NCAA rule limiting eligibility to 4 years should get struck down? College teams could have rosters loaded with ex-pros indefinitely.

While I never doubt what can happen in court I can't say I disagree if they allow players to enter the draft and then come back to school. Legally I'm not sure how they get away with this now, especially since NIL has eliminated getting money as a penalty.