Senior Jeff Schiffner will not sit out the Penn men's basketball's season opener against Wisconsin, as the guard was cleared of any NCAA wrongdoing for playing in an uncertified game this summer.
Quakers coach Fran Dunphy preaches to his student-athletes one simple rule about playing basketball in the summer.
"Don't do anything without checking with us."
When players forget this edict -- as Schiffner and sophomore Friedrich Ebede did this summer -- it can lead to troubles with the NCAA.
The All-Ivy guard Schiffner was under NCAA investigation for playing in a game this summer at his local church. Last week, however, the guard was cleared to play.
"I'm really excited," Schiffner said. "Right now we're just looking toward Wisconsin and putting this behind us."
Ebede will also be available for the team's Nov. 21 season opener against Wisconsin.
"It's great that nothing happened," Dunphy said.
Schiffner said that this investigation in no way took his focus away from basketball.
"I don't think it's been a distraction," Schiffner said. "I'm just happy and relieved about it."
Dunphy believes that, while it wasn't a distraction to Schiffner, it was "just weighing on his mind a little bit throughout the last couple months, but I think now it's just the opposite. It's the opportunity to say, 'I've got no hangnail here.'"
Last year's national leader in three-point shooting percentage, Schiffner still holds the NCAA in high regard despite the incident.
"The NCAA does a good job," he said. "It's tough to monitor everything. Every rule they make is for good reasons to protect the student-athletes. I think in no way do they go after student-athletes and try to pin anything on them."
Dunphy also agrees that the NCAA was right to look into Schiffner's situation.
"There's a lot of little things that go on that are looked at closely and I think the NCAA is right to do that," he said.
Nevertheless, the Penn coach suggested that the NCAA will be hard-pressed to find a scandal in the Ivy League.
"Most of the people in our business are very moral and very ethical in what they do, including all the players -- especially at our level," Dunphy said. "These guys are all paying to go to school. I don't think there's a lot of smoke out there."
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