Big man in limbo between Saint Joseph's, UAB

Todd O'Brien was a starter for Saint Joseph's in 2009-10. He was a role player last season. With last season's freshman big men figuring to get even more run this season and a transfer big man set to become eligible, O'Brien apparently took stock last summer of his potential role and decided he wanted to transfer.

It appeared coaches and administrators at St. Joe's wanted O'Brien to stay, as the team already was going to be short of scholarship players this season. Nobody would comment on that. Eventually, St. Joe's signed off on a transfer release for O'Brien.

O'Brien, who had played one season at Bucknell before transferring to St. Joe's and sitting out a season, still has one season of eligibility. He graduated in the summer from St. Joe's. Under a recently enacted NCAA rule, a player may transfer from one school to another and become immediately eligible at the new school if he is working toward a graduate degree (or a second undergraduate degree) that is not available at his old school.

O'Brien chose Alabama Birmingham and enrolled there this fall. He is taking graduate courses at UAB in public administration, a graduate degree not offered at St. Joe's. St. Joe's does offer an undergraduate degree in public administration. O'Brien has been practicing with the UAB team, but, as this moment, he is not eligible to play in the games.

In these types of cases, the NCAA decides whether it will grant a waiver for a player to become eligible immediately. The original NCAA ruling went against O'Brien and UAB. During the process, there is a form St. Joe's must fill out saying whether it supports a player becoming eligible to play immediately. St. Joe's checked no on that yes/no question.

Athletic director Don DiJulia read the Daily News a university statement: "The University does not discuss matters relating to current or former student-athletes consistent with our policy and commitment to student privacy issues. This is currently an NCAA matter and the final review and determination will be be decided by the NCAA."

The NCAA is looking at UAB's appeal. An appeals committee can consider St. Joe's position or ignore it.

UAB officials and O'Brien's family are not thrilled with the current situation. According to the Birmingham News, O'Brien has retained attorney Don Jackson to represent his interests. Jackson blamed St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli for not supporting the waiver. St. Joe's officials say it is up to the NCAA.