Bearcats Get Katrina Refugee for This Season: The NCAA granted Cincinnati’s request to make junior forward Ronald Allen eligible to play this season after he enrolled at Cincinnati. Hurricane Katrina devastated much of New Orleans and his former school, Xavier University in New Orleans. The NCAA usually requires transfers to sit out one season before they’re eligible to play for a new team. But Xavier could not guarantee its teams would be able to find another home to play for this season, and students had to find their own housing. So the NCAA made an exception in this case, which will benefit the Bearcats’ frontcourt. [10/01/05]