Imovbioh ineligible to play for Virginia in 2011-12

We kept getting the sense something was up at Virginia. Now it's official - the school announced Friday that Parade All-American freshman Sarah Imovbioh will not be eligible to play for or practice with the Cavaliers in 2011-12.

Read it and weep: "The ruling is a result of a gap in her high school enrollment while living in Nigeria. NCAA bylaw 14.3.1.2.1 requires prospective student-athletes to complete their core-curriculum requirements within four consecutive years of their initial date of high school enrollment."

The good news is Imovbioh is currently enrolled at Virginia, and if she meets school and NCAA academic requirements through 2011-12, she will be eligible to play four years beginning with 2012-13.

Still, in the short term this is clearly a blow to the Cavaliers, as not only was Imovbioh a promising talent but she was also Virginia's only incoming recruit. And from a state perspective, this means that none of the three most highly-touted recruits supposedly bound for Division I programs will actually play for their intended schools. Kaneisha Atwater, another Parade All-American who had signed with Old Dominion, is pregnant and will remain in Florida. And Achiri Ade, a Top 100 player according to ESPN, was not eligible to enroll at James Madison and will instead attend Midland College in Texas.

UVa's Imovbioh, Nigeria to skip U19 Worlds

We were really looking forward to seeing Virginia incoming freshman Sarah Imovbioh and her promising Nigerian team compete in the FIBA U19 World Championships set to begin Thursday in Chile. Unfortunately, Nigeria never showed up at the site - apparently due to a lack of finances - so the event with go on with 15 teams instead of 16.

The United States team, featuring former Princess Anne High star and soon-to-be Duke Blue Devil Elizabeth Williams, will open pool play Thursday against Japan. Click here for a preview.

RELATED: Nigeria's light fails to shine

UVa.'s Imovbioh stars for Nigerian U-19 team

Soon-to-be Virginia freshman Sarah Imovbioh's dual-threat talents helped Nigeria's U-19 team to a 3-1 record and a third-place finish at the Reze Basket International tournament last week in France. Imovbioh, a Parade All-American who averaged 29 points and 22 rebounds at St. Anne's-Belfield last season, posted three double-doubles in the four games and averaged 13.3 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds per contest. She capped her efforts with a game-high 19-point, 10-rebound performance during a 67-57 win over Russia in the third-place game.

Nigeria was also led by guard Promise Amukamara, another Parade All-American and an Arizona State signee who averaged a team-high 18.3 points per game. By the way, Amukamara's brother, Prince, was a star defensive back at Nebraska who in April was selected in the first round of the NFL draft by the New York Giants. And Promise's other siblings are named Princess, Peace, Precious and Passionate.

Next up for Nigeria is the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women July 21-31 in Puerto Montt and Puerto Varas, Chile. Nigeria will play out of Group C in the 16-team tournament and will face Australia, Chile and France in pool play.

The United States U19 team, which includes former Princess Anne High star and Duke-bound Elizabeth Williams, is slotted in Group B and will take on Japan, Russia and Argentina in preliminary games.