Villanova responds to questions about Yarou's eligibility

Forward-center Mouphtaou Yarou, a 6-10 freshman who started and had eight points and six rebounds in 26 minutes in last Thursday's exhibition win over Division II Kutztown at the Wachovia Center, will play.

His eligibility was called into question in an article in yesterday's online Sporting News Today, which claimed Yarou was listed on a FIBA - basketball's international governing body - Web site as a player in a 2007 Africa Cup tournament. That would make him 25 years old, instead of the 19 it states in the bio on the university's athletic department Web site.

If true, that could jeopardize his eligiblity to play collegiately.

Coach Jay Wright told ESPN.com that Yarou didn't play in that tourney.

"He was cleared by the NCAA's Eligibility Center," Wright said. "His passport, all his documentation, has his birthdate [June 26, 1990] on it. All we can do is just work with the NCAA on this."

Yarou, who didn't play basketball until 2004, emigrated to the United States 3 years later from Benin in West Africa. He spent his junior season at Massanutten Military Academy in Woodbridge, Va. He then went to Montrose Christian Academy in Rockville, Md., where he averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds per game before signing a national letter of intent with Villanova.

"We take very seriously any question regarding NCAA compliance, and are currently reviewing all the information related to Mouphtaou's enrollment," said Villanova athletic director Vince Nicastro. "We have cooperated fully with the NCAA throughout this process, and have been in communication with them on this particular matter."

Gordon Finch, Villanova's assocatiate AD for compliance, told the Sporting News: "I don't have a compelling need to look into it because I believe it's probably a typo. We've got his passport, his naturalization papers and his international student athlete form, all of which don't have that [older age] as his birthdate."

According to the Sporting News, a player named Mouphtaou Yarou is listed on the roster of a team that competed in the 2007 Africa Cup for Men's Clubs tourney. He's listed as being from the hometown of Matitingou, one letter off from what Villanova lists as his hometown in Benin, with a birthdate of June 26, 1984. Villanova's Yarou is from Natitingou.