Basketball: NCAA decision to grant Zeigler’s waiver boosts Pitt hoops

The Pitt men’s basketball team received news on Friday afternoon so significant that it led… The Pitt men’s basketball team received news on Friday afternoon so significant that it led head coach Jamie Dixon to announce it on his Twitter — the first time he would use the social media tool in almost three years.

“Just heard from NCAA that Trey Zeigler will be eligible to play this year,” he said on Twitter.

Zeigler, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who recently transferred to Pitt from Central Michigan, will be granted a waiver from the NCAA nullifying the usually mandatory one-year period that transfers must sit out before becoming eligible.

Ziegler’s father, Ernie, was recently fired at Central Michigan, and the NCAA maintained its precedent for siding with student-athletes who transfer following the dismissal of a parent as coach.

Ernie Ziegler was an assistant coach at Pitt from 2001-2003 before taking the head coaching job at Central Michigan.

Shortly after Dixon’s tweet, the news was confirmed by the University’s athletic department in a press release.

“Trey was hopeful he would be eligible to play this year,” Dixon said in the release. “Our associate athletic director Dan Bartholomae has been outstanding throughout this entire process with the NCAA, and we are all very grateful that it worked out in Trey’s favor.”

Zeigler scored more than 1,000 points at Central Michigan, averaging 16.0 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in his two years at the school.

He will begin playing next season for the Panthers as a junior and will have two years of eligibility remaining.