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While the NCAA is in the business of granting immediate eligibility waivers for reasons like "did not win starting job," evidently a player's mother suffering from cranial cancer is not reason enough to grant such a waiver for offensive line transfer Brock Hoffman.

The incoming trench player, who will arrive after two years at Coastal Carolina University, has been denied the opportunity to see the field immediately in Blacksburg.

Typically, the circumstances - certainly it's unfortunate that a player's mother suffers brain cancer, but transferring to Virginia Tech doesn't necessarily alleviate the stress on the player to a significant degree vis-a-vis staying at Coastal - may be understandable when it comes to denying the waiver.

However, given the waivers granted by the NCAA to other players around the country this offseason (Tate Martell... didn't win the starting position at Ohio State, so he's immediately eligible at Miami? Justin Fields... didn't win the starting job at Georgia, so he's immediately eligible to take Martell's job at Ohio State?), denying a waiver on legitimate grounds seems to be questionable, to say the least.

Hoffman has stated his intention to further appeal the Association's decision, though as is always the case with the NCAA, there's no predicting exactly how and when they'll opt to enforce - or not enforce - their established regulations.

Hoffman was inline to compete at center or the guard positions upon his arrival in Blacksburg this Summer. Instead - barring a successful appeal - he'll have to redshirt and then compete for one of those jobs in advance of the 2020 season.