Updating yesterday’s story on Bradley point guard Sam Maniscalco’s possible transfer, Bradley University has granted the senior his realease and given permission to ten schools to talk to him about his services for the upcoming season.
Under the rules of the NCAA’s graduate school waiver, Maniscalco is allowed to transfer and play next season without sitting out a year as long as, at his new school, he transfers into a graduate program that is not offered at Bradley.
The guard will be a fifth-year eligible player next season, because he essentially missed all of the 2010-11 season and was granted a redshirt.
The interesting thing about Maniscalco is that, essentially, he is something very rare in college basketball: A free agent. He provided Bradley University with a list of 10 schools he wanted to talk to, and Bradley granted permission to do just that.
The list of schools Maniscalco wishes to talk to has not been released; however, none of the teams are in the MVC, nor are any of them on Bradley’s schedule next year. All other rumors do tend to put the Illinois Fighting Illini at the top of his wish list, but with a list of ten schools, who knows how competitive that will be.
The most interesting part about the situation is that normal recruiting rules apply to the Maniscalco situation, essentially meaning that he’ll be taking college visits, and have the whole recruiting she-bang all over again, just like when he was in high school.
An added wrinkle to the situation is that Maniscalco CAN still decide to return to Bradley. At this point, that seems unlikely, but it is still an option for the young man, should decide to stay and finish his career a Brave.
The next couple of months should be very busy and interesting for Maniscalco and all of the ten schools on his wish list.
Paul Schmidt is a senior contributor and media relations director for the Sports Bank, and is entering his tenth year of writing about sports in Chicago and Illinois.