Negedu Released, Jennings Still Not Eligible

The circus that Arizona has been for the past several months continues to figure out ways to constantly get in the news. Top-50 recruit Emmanuel Negedu was granted his release today after asking out of his letter-of-intent on Sunday. According to Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com, Lute Olson did not want to have a player who would be unhappy in Tucson. "We don't want anyone here that doesn't want to be here," Olson said. "Obviously, after I had the opportunity to meet with Emmanuel, we don't want to force a kid to come to Arizona if he doesn't want to be here. I just want him to go somewhere he'll be happy." Olson also said Negedu would be looking at Indiana and Memphis when deciding where to transfer, while Brewster -- where Negedu played this past season -- coach Jason Smith told Justin Young of Rivals.com that Negedu was going to choose between Georgia Tech, Indiana, Memphis and Tennessee. "That's it, it's those four," Smith said.

In other -- and potentially much more important -- news, five-star recruit Brandon Jennings is still not eligible to play for Arizona next season. The NCAA has not cleared him despite the fact Jennings achieved a qualifying test score. According to Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com, Jennings originally took the standardized test back when he was at Dominguez High School (Calif.) and scored poorly on it. However, when he took the exam again at Oak Hill Academy (Va.), there was a dramatic increase in the score. The NCAA is requiring Jennings to take the test again as a way to legitimize his score. Jennings, a 6-1 point guard, is the top-ranked player in the country by Scout.com.