Not that I'm surprised

[BryceC]

But Dogus Balbay, for Texas, will only serve a one game suspension for playing with a truly professional team in Turkey. Basically he tore his ACL last year and he had a surgeon clear him to play while he sat out the last ten games.

Somehow I have a feeling this would not have flown for most other players whose Athletic department doesn't have a budget over 100 million.

Longhorns' Balbay to miss season opener

Benching for one game will complete NCAA penalty for playing with pro team.

By Mark Rosner
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Longhorns point guard Dogus Balbay will miss only one game this season as an NCAA penalty for playing on a professional team in his native Turkey.
Balbay, a sophomore, will sit out the season opener against Stetson on Nov. 14 for a violation of NCAA amateurism rules. He played in 11 games over two seasons for Fenerbahce, a club team in Turkey, during the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons.
Balbay missed his freshman season at Texas last year after undergoing surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee on Oct. 30. Team officials say Balbay healed quickly enough to be cleared for competition by an orthopedic surgeon at the end of February.
He remained on the sideline, though, as school officials angled to have the Longhorns' remaining games — 10, as it turned out — count toward the suspension.
The NCAA approved that request, penalizing Balbay one game for every game he played professionally in Turkey.
The Longhorns' approach to the issue makes Balbay a sophomore instead of a freshman.

[ahaselhu]

Well, it actually seems somewhat consistent to me, although a bit of a stretch that he would have actually been able to play last year. He's basically losing one year of eligibility so that he can play this year.