NCAA gets it right in case of student athlete.

I am glad to see that the NCAA is not simply a group of overbearing rule watchers and that they know when they need to allow for an exception to their rules. This article is a perfect example of how the NCAA can do the right thing. McElrathbey granted waiver to care for brother

Here are a couple of paragraphs from the story

Ray Ray McElrathbey, 19, has temporary custody of his 11-year-old brother, Fahmarr, because of his mother's continuing drug problems and his father's gambling addiction. The brothers have moved from foster homes and now share an apartment near the Clemson campus.

The school had asked the NCAA for a waiver of its rule prohibiting athletes from obtaining gifts, cash or other benefits not provided to the general student population.
"Once the NCAA became aware of the circumstances, we immediately began working with the Atlantic Coast Conference and Clemson University to address this unique situation," said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president of membership services. "NCAA extra benefit rules are designed to ensure student athletes do not receive financial or other benefits that are not readily available to all students.
"If there is a special circumstance, like this case, the institution and conference may seek a waiver."
McElrathbey will be allowed to receive assistance, such as local transportation and child care for Fahmarr.

The most important thing for McElrathbey has been finding people who can pick his brother up from school and getting "some help from grown-ups looking after Fahmarr," Clemson athletic department spokesman Tim Bourret said.
Some of McElrathbey's friends at school stayed with Fahmarr back in South Carolina when the team played at Boston College last weekend.
Now, that task likely will be taken over by the wives of assistant coaches, Bourret said.

The brothers had been living solely off McElrathbey's scholarship, but Clemson plans to establish a trust fund to coordinate financial contributions to help pay for normal living expenses, Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips said in a release.
Bourret said details of how the trust will be set up and how it will collect money have not been finalized, but added that the university is prohibited from coordinating a fundraiser with a football game.

This is a great story of a young man who has taken on the responsibility of raising his younger and both the University where he has a sports scholarship and the NCAA, finding a way to make sure that they are provided for in the hopes that they both will get an education and become productive citizens.

Bravo..