Following hours of testimony in a Long Island City courthouse, there was still no definitive decision on the eligibility case surrounding St. John’s basketball forward Babacar Sane.
Sane and head coach Rick Pitino, with the entire Red Storm roster in attendance, took the witness stand on Monday morning while the judge ordered both sides to deliver a memorandum of law, which will keep the current temporary restraining order in place and allow Sane to play until the next court appearance.
The new material is due to the court on November 30.
“It’s a very common tactic for a judge, like Justice [Karina] Alomar, who wants to get this right is to take the evidence and then give the lawyers an opportunity to tell the court why the evidence meets the legal test,” Sane’s attorney, Elliot Abrams said.
Babacar Sane was mostly asked about his upbringing when he took the stand as well as how much he enjoys being at St. John’s and a member of the basketball team. It was also divulged that Sane spent most of the money he earned playing with the G-League Ignite, G-League, and overseas to help support his family in Senegal.
The Red Storm forward said he paid bills for those close to him as well as donating to various charities around his hometown. It was revealed that after Sane signed with the G-League Ignite coming out of the NBA Academy Africa, a reason he signed an Exhibit 10 deal was to keep his visa in the United States.
He mentioned that St. John’s has much better coaches, facilities, and trainers than his professional club in Germany.
The NCAA’s main counterpoint to Babacar Sane during cross examination was that since he was with the Utah Jazz organization, he was a member of the NBA since he wore the team’s gear, practiced with players, and worked out with members of the coaching staff.
Sane’s teammates with the G-League Ignite, Thierry Darlan and London Johnson, both played in the NBA G-League but were deemed eligible to play college basketball by the NCAA. Darlan currently plays with Santa Clara and Johnson had been a member of Louisville before being dismissed by the program this summer for a violation of team rules.
“And in this case, the NCAA has raised this issue about there being these rules and the rules about what they’re doing,” Abrams continued. “What the law is, is that you can’t have a rule that doesn’t make any sense that bars someone from being able to develop a life for themselves from going to college.”
“Imagine you had a rule that says if you’ve ever worked at McDonald’s, you can’t ever come to college. It would never stand up in court. And what we’ve seen today from this evidence, I believe, is that the rule that they’re talking about.”
Rick Pitino explained the potential that Babacar Sane has when he took the stand as well as the fact an Exhibit 10 contract does not make him a professional or a member of an NBA team.
“You could write Utah Jazz on his underwear, he’s not a pro,” he quipped on the stand shortly after the NCAA made its case about Sane being a member of the Jazz since he wore team licensed gear during his time with the organization.
Pitino also explained that the NBA Summer League has absolutely no affiliation with whether a player is considered a professional or a part of the franchise since he has three other players – Quinn Ellis, Keyshawn Hall, and Reed Bailey – who played in Summer League.
He also said that an Exhibit 10 contract is not an NBA contract because there are two-way contracts and standard NBA deals.
“Now, this is an internal rule,” Abrams added. “It’s not a public bylaw. It’s not their public promise. It’s their own internal guidelines to say, ‘Deny anyone who ever signed a document with NBA letterhead.”
For now, Babacar Sane can play through St. John’s trip to the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas before the legal process continues for the Johnnie forward.
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