Former BYU Guard Nick Emery Not Happy With NCAA
Dec 15, 2022, 4:32 PM
Brigham Young Cougars guard Nick Emery dribbles down the court during NCAA basketball against the Pacific Tigers in Provo on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019. (Ravell Call, Deseret News)
(Ravell Call, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – Former BYU basketball player Nick Emery called the NCAA a ‘fraud’ after Arizona received what Emery termed a ‘slap on the wrist’ punishment for recruiting violations.
NCAA officials announced on Wednesday that the Arizona men’s basketball program would vacate a number of wins from their 2016-18 seasons, pay a $5,000 fine and lose one scholarship for their incoming recruiting class.
RELATED: Nick Emery Announces Retirement From BYU Basketball
An NCAA Independent Accountability Resolution Process Panel made the decision on how to sanction Arizona. They also determined that Xavier head coach Sean Miller, then Arizona’s coach, would not face sanctions.
“Series of five-figure payments to Deandre Ayton…” and Arizona gets a slap on the wrist. I get suspended 9 games, 2 seasons of vacated wins, my records and stats removed from me in BYU record book for nothing even close to that. 😂 The NCAA is a fraud. https://t.co/cJcKtZ9Ftd
— Nick Emery (@04NickEmery) December 15, 2022
“Series of five-figure payments to Deandre Ayton…”, Emery tweeted in response to the sanctions. “Arizona gets a slap on the wrist. I get suspended 9 games, 2 seasons of vacated wins, my records and stats removed from me in BYU record book for nothing even close to that. The NCAA is a fraud.”
Nick Emery’s experience with BYU’s Honor Code & Title IX offices
Emery has a long history of complaints about the NCAA.
“After Sophomore year, I was married and called off my marriage. In the LDS church this is taboo and frowned upon. The rumors started. Everyone wanted to know why. My mental health began to deteriorate. I was beyond depressed. My marriage situation was toxic and was destroying who I was so I got out.
“I was attacked every way possible someone, who I thought, I was supposed to spend ‘eternity’ with. NCAA investigation, Honor Code investigation, Title IX, School and much more was just too much me to handle. I withdrew from school and basketball in hopes to get my mind in a better place.
RELATED: Nick Emery Reflects On BYU Career, Personal Demons, NCAA Scandal After One Year Retired
“After withdrawing from school and basketball I shut down. I didn’t know if I had it in me. I was so mad and angry because a girl I trusted turned so many of my closes friends in and fabricated lies about them to the NCAA. People who actually helped her and genuinely cared for her she threw straight under the bus.
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“I survived this grueling year, I owned up to my faults and was able to have a second chance by my Head Coach, Coach Rose. To this day and every day moving forward, I will always say the NCAA is a corrupt organization. How they treated me, my family, and my closest love ones was terrible. I wanted to play basketball again so I accepted their ‘infractions’.”
“I love BYU and it will always have a special place in my heart but as far as my Title IX and Honor Code stuff though … This is something that has absolutely destroyed me. The way BYU handled things was more of an interrogation to be honest. It was unjust and completely unfair. It wasn’t “Did you do this?”, rather it was “Why did you do this.” When nothing on the list of accusations was remotely true. I still to this day have a lot of resentment towards the process and lost a lot of trust in BYU as well as the church process. I wish they would change a lot of things.
