Alluf Returns to the Court for Men’s Basketball After a Season-Long Absence
As first reported by Macslive.com, senior point-guard Bar Alluf is suiting up for the ‘19-‘20 men’s basketball season after sitting out in ‘18-‘19 over NCAA eligibility concerns. Alluf was second in three-point percentage, shooting percentage and average points per game and was named an All-Conference First Team Player during the Mac’s Skyline Conference championship-winning season in ‘17-‘18.
On March 2, 2018, as the men’s basketball Macs were about to make their first appearance in the NCAA tournament, an undisclosed team brought forward allegations about Alluf’s amateurism status.
“We immediately reviewed this information with the conference office and experts on NCAA eligibility rules,” said the statement released by YU Athletics on March 2, 2018. “While this review confirmed our belief that Mr. Alluf's eligibility was properly certified based on the information that had been provided to Yeshiva, we – Yeshiva University and its community of students, faculty and alumni – take pride in holding ourselves to the highest possible standards on and off of the court. As such, we have decided that Mr. Alluf will not play in the tournament in order to avoid any possible impact these new allegations may have on our team's participation.”
After their beliefs were confirmed that his “eligibility was properly certified,” he did not play in the 2018-2019 basketball season, though he did play volleyball in Spring 2019.
In conversations with YU’s NCAA compliance officer Marty Craft and athletics director Joe Bednarsh, it was confirmed that Alluf sitting out the ‘18-‘19 basketball season was not related to the allegations brought forward about his amateurism at the end of the ‘17-‘18 season. In the conversation, it was not made clear what aspect of Alluf’s eligibility was under question.
“It’s really about the number of seasons that should have been available to him,” said Bednarsh. This seemingly refers to the 10 semester/15 quarter rule of eligibility for Division II and III players. This rule states that a student athlete has the first 10 semesters or 15 quarters enrolled as a full-time student to complete the four seasons of competition eligibility.
“The rule is not designed to keep a player like Bar out,” said Bednarsh.
“I wanted to make sure that when we brought Bar back we would not have a situation where anyone could slip in an allegation,” said Bednarsh about Alluf missing the 2018-‘19 season. “Finding the right way to present things and the right way to have everything go by the rules… we weren't able to do that in time for the season last year but we could this year.”
Bednarsh added, “You want everyone to be unimpeachable... You are [looking into the situation] to protect the student athlete and the team and the program.”
“Obviously the addition of a First Team All-Conference player to our roster helps us, but even more so is the leadership and understanding of the system that he brings with him,” said Coach Elliot Steinmetz to Macslive.com.
Alluf has averaged 20 minutes per game in five games this season.
After being named the unanimous pick to win the Skyline South division, the Macs dropped their first game against Occidental College in Los Angeles. Since that first loss, the Macs have gone 5-0, most recently defeating the Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins 103-73, putting their season record at 5-1. This is the best start to the season in program history.
Entering last season, Coach Stenmetz declared that his team “had a target on its back” — they exited the season with a repeat appearance in the conference championship. With this fast start, it seems like another berth in the tournament — where Alluf could finally make the appearance that eluded him almost two years ago — is their ultimate goal.
Photo Caption: Bar Alluf in 2017
Photo Credit: YU Athletics
