Pitt freshman center Peace Ilegomah has been declared eligible to play this season by the NCAA, according to a press release from the university.
Head coach Kevin Stallings issued a brief statement regarding the news on Friday:
Our compliance team, led by Dustin [Gray], along with [assistant coach] Sam [Ferry], did a tremendous job working with the NCAA to determine Peace's eligibility status. I commend the efforts by our team here as well as the NCAA in looking out for the best interests of the student-athlete. Peace is an outstanding young man with a terrific opportunity to grow on and off the court at the University of Pittsburgh.
Ilegomah, a native of Benin City, Nigeria, is one of 13 new additions to the team brought in by Stallings over the offseason. He came to the United States when he was 14 years old, splitting his high school career between Valhalla High School in New York and Roselle Catholic High School in New Jersey. However, his eligibility issues arose over the fact that he spent a “prep year” at Montverde Academy in Florida after graduation.
On its own, the fifth year would not have been a problem, but at one point, it was determined that a year of his schooling in Nigeria should have counted toward his high school total, putting him at six years spent in high school.
As a result, the NCAA initially ruled Ilegomah ineligible, according to Craig Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, who noted, "The NCAA requires that incoming prospects graduate high school within five years or else they lose eligibility in some way."
However, Pitt filed an appeal and succeeded in getting the ruling overturned in time for the start of the season. Had the compliance team failed, Ilegomah would have been sidelined for the entire 2017-18 season.
As a freshman, it’s unclear exactly what Ilegomah will be able to contribute as he gets acclimated to playing at the college level. But he was a force for Montverde, where he averaged a double-double and helped his team to a 25-7 record. In addition to that, 247Sports ranked him as the No. 27 center in the 2017 recruiting class.
With this issue in the rearview, the Panthers can now shift their focus back to preparing for the season, which starts with a trip to Annapolis, Maryland, to face Navy in the Veterans Classic on Nov. 10.
