MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The NCAA has cleared Memphis Tigers center Nemanja Popovic to play college basketball, but the Serbian big man will have to wait a while before he can suit up for games that count.
The university announced Monday that Popovic, 24, received two seasons of eligibility. The NCAA also handed down a withholding period that keeps him out of the first six games of the season. Memphis plans to appeal.
Should the penalty hold up, Popovic’s first chance to play would come on Nov. 27 in the Bahamas, when Memphis meets either Wake Forest or Mississippi State at Battle 4 Atlantis.
Popovic has been at Memphis since June and joined team workouts on July 6. He has already played in both of the Tigers’ preseason games, and in last Friday’s 75-58 exhibition victory against Mississippi State he put up 12 points, grabbed four rebounds and made three steals. It is not yet clear whether he will play in the final exhibition at Arkansas on Wednesday night.
Popovic arrives with a strong pro resume in Europe. Over 31 games last season for King Szczecin in Poland, he put up 13.8 points and 6.7 rebounds a game and made the all-league team. The year before, back home in Serbia with KK Vrsac, he posted 18.2 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and won league MVP.
Coach Penny Hardaway has praised the experience and toughness Popovic brings to the roster.
The Tigers will start the regular season without him. Their opener is Nov. 2 against Iowa State, played on a neutral floor in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the Sanford Pentagon.
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