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It’s official: Sheldon Jeter is blocked from Pitt by Vandy

SEC Vanderbilt Mississippi Basketball

Vanderbilt forward Sheldon Jeter (21) makes the dunk against Mississippi forward Reginald Buckner (23) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament, Saturday, March 16, 2013, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

AP

Kevin Stallings isn’t budging.

After Sheldon Jeter announced that he would be transferring out of Vanderbilt, the Commodore’s head coach blocked Jeter from transferring to Pitt. Andy Katz of ESPN.com initially reported that the issue was a matter of communication; Jeter didn’t meet with Stallings face-to-face to tell him he was transferring, so Stallings got back at him by putting Pitt on his restricted list.

Jeter appeal to the university, but the decision wasn’t overturned.

Stallings isn’t budging.

He’s the interesting thing: Stallings didn’t put any restrictions on SEC teams or teams on Vanderbilt’s schedule. Usually when players transfer, coaches put restrictions on schools where they could end up playing that player. Not in this case. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pitt is the only school that Stallings is blocking.

Why?

Does Stallings believe that this was an issue of tampering? Jeter is a product of Beaver Falls HS, which is about 45 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh. Frankly, it doesn’t matter whether or not he does. The way that the rules are currently structured, Stallings has the power to block any transfer by any of his former players, another example of just how insignificant the rights of the student-athletes are.

We’ve been over this before. Remember what happened with Jarrod Uthoff when he tried to leave Wisconsin? Or what happened to Todd O’Brien when he tried to transfer out of St. Joseph’s and into UAB? It will be interesting to see if Jeter’s saga will generate the same kind of attentino as Uthoff and O’Brien did.

The good news for Jeter?

He’s not actually blocked from attending Pitt, he’s blocked from receiving a scholarship for his redshirt transfer season. If he really wants to be a Panther, he can.

He just may have to take out some student loans.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.