Rice rips NCAA for way it handled transfer cases

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Rice officials said Friday the NCAA acted in "careless and bewildering" fashion in not conducting an investigation into allegations of discrimination against athletic director Rick Greenspan by two former men's basketball players.

In an email to faculty, staff and students, Rice president David Leebron said the NCAA acknowledged its staff "did not determine, nor attempt to determine that the environment in the Rice athletics department is ethnically or religiously intolerant" in its decision to grant hardship waivers for Arsalan Kazemi and Omar Oraby. The waivers allowed the players to play immediately at other schools instead of sitting out a year under normal NCAA transfer rules.

Allegations of discrimination against Greenspan were made last November by former men's assistant basketball coach Marco Morcos and repeated in hardship waiver requests by Oregon and Southern California for Kazemi and Oraby, respectively, before the start of this season. The two players, who were not named in the email, were among six players who left the Rice men's basketball program last offseason.

Decision 'bewildering'

In the email, Rice officials said the NCAA informed them the decisions to grant the hardship waivers "were not a judgment on the athletics environment itself or any individuals" and "were not based on whether the student-athletes' allegations are true or not."

Furthermore, the NCAA said the waivers "were based solely on the bases of what the NCAA called the students' personal perceptions of an intolerable environment."

"We expressed our extreme displeasure to the NCAA for its careless and bewildering handling of this matter," Leebron wrote in the email.

Omar Oraby, left, and Arsalan Kazemi were granted hardship waivers by the NCAA that allowed them to leave Rice and immediately play for their new respective schools. Omar Oraby, left, and Arsalan Kazemi were granted hardship waivers by the NCAA that allowed them to leave Rice and immediately play for their new respective schools. Photo: Chronicle Photo: Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Rice rips NCAA for way it handled transfer cases 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Rice said an internal investigation by an outside law firm "found no evidence of discrimination" by school officials. Rice has denied any wrongdoing and has called the discrimination allegations "meritless and unfounded."

But Rice did not contest the hardship waivers, and Kazemi and Oraby were allowed to play this season. Kazemi was part of an Oregon team that reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament.

Allegations by Kazemi

Kazemi, the first Iranian-born athlete to play Division I basketball, alleged Greenspan made repeated discriminating remarks to him, two other Middle Eastern players (Oraby and Ahmad Ibrahim) and Morcos, SI.com reported March 29.

Morcos and Oraby are from Egypt; Ibrahim, who left the program to begin a professional career overseas, is from Lebanon.

Greenspan referenced "Al-Qaeda" and the "Axis of Evil" when referring to the players and former assistant coach, and Kazemi's waiver request also claimed Greenspan told Morcos to "recruit more terrorists" on several occasions, according to documents obtained by SI.com. Along with the three Middle Eastern players, the 2011-12 Rice roster included a player from Canada and Germany.

Morcos, who recruited all three players, did not have his contract renewed after spending two years as the basketball program's director of operations and last two seasons on Ben Braun's coaching staff.

Morcos has filed a complaint with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging discriminatory remarks and a hostile work environment at Rice, SI.com reported.

Kazemi also alleged that the Rice coaching staff did not grant special accommodations in regard to his religion such as prayer, facial hair and diet.

But a source with knowledge of the situation told the Chronicle there are no restrictions on facial hair other than "it be neat and trim," and numerous photos show Kazemi with facial hair as late as his junior season.

Also, Rice players are provided a menu with food choices for every meal on road trips to accommodate any special dietary needs, the source said.

The university said it "intends to defend ourselves in appropriate legal forums."