256
Years ago
Madgen Eligible for ROY
Word is Larry Sengstock has made the call and made Madgen eligible for Rookie of the Year. Right decision IMO, whether he wins it or not.
KING MADGEN RULED ELIGIBLE FOR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
The National Basketball League has ruled that Sydney Kings guard Ben Madgen is eligible to win the Rookie of the Year award following an appeal by the Kings to the NBL Commission.
Madgen was initially ruled as ineligible for the Rookie of the Year award as the definition in the current NBL Rules states that a rookie is a player "who is registered for the first time in the NBL". Madgen had previously been registered by the Adelaide 36ers for the 2005/06 season as a development player, and he suited up and appeared on the scoresheet 18 times during that season.
Madgen did not however get on court in any of those 18 games and the NBL therefore agreed to allow the Kings to appeal the initial ruling to the NBL Commission.
The Commission announced late on Monday afternoon that its decision on the appeal was that whilst the initial interpretation of the rookie definition was correct, it would however have been patently unfair to Madgen if he was excluded from rookie status given he had not played even a single minute of court time in the NBL previously.
NBL General Manager of Operations Chuck Harmison welcomed the Commission's ruling.
“The Madgen situation was an extraordinary one, and not one that the league has encountered previously,” said Harmison. “I think the NBL Commission showed tremendous compassion in their ruling in Madgen’s case and the fact that he had never actually played even a minute previously in the NBL was clearly the determining factor. We think it’s the right decision and will work with the NBL CEO’s group in the off-season to come up with some recommendations to the NBL Commission for adjusting the rookie definition to cover this sort of situation in the future.”
The Commission’s ruling means that Madgen will now be eligible to receive votes for the Rookie of the Year award, with voting set to commence today. The Rookie of the Year Award is determined by a 3-2-1 vote of all league head coaches and captains and one assistant coach per club, with voters excluded from voting for members of their own team.
The winner of the 2011 NBL Rookie of the Year award will be announced at The MVP awards ceremony at the esteemed Palladium Room at Crown Casino in Melbourne on Monday April 4.
Previous winners of the rookie honour have included Andrew Gaze, Sam Mackinnon, Andrew Vlahov, Shane Heal, Matt Nielsen, John Rillie, Brad Newley, Joe Ingles and Nathan Jawai.
(Mod: Press release added.)
