BRADFORD, PA (PTTP)- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford Men’s Basketball Team was gearing up to make a run in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament with the hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season. However, they have been ruled ineligible for postseason play due to playing an ineligible player.
The ineligible player failed to maintain the academic requirements needed to be eligible to compete per NCAA rules during the fall semester of 2025. As a result of this, the student-athlete should not have been allowed to participatein contests when the calendar turned to 2026 and when the spring semester began. The team was not made aware of this issue until late last week and immediately reported it to the AMCC and NCAA. The conference informed the school of their decision to rule the team ineligible on Tuesday, February 17. The team is also required to vacate all wins since the beginning of the 2026 spring semester.
The Panthers were building momentum and had just defeated number one seed Penn State-Behrend on the road. With one game left to play in the regular season, the Panthers were slated to be the fourth seed and host the five seed Hilbert College with the chance to square off with Penn State-Behrend again to advance to the championship game. The now four seed Hilbert is shaping up to host Penn State-Altoona, and Carlow University will make their first AMCC Tournament appearance in program history as they have jumped into the sixth spot of the six-team tournament.
In an email sent out to the players and faculty, President Richard Esch stated, “We accept the AMCC’s decision and moving forward will conduct a thorough review of our processes to address and identified gaps and ensure this type of issue does not occur in the future”. We have reached out to the commissioner’s office and the Pitt-Bradford athletic department for comments and statements and will update you as we receive information. Pitt-Bradford intends to continue to appeal the decision.