St. John's guard Erick Barkley, listening during a postgame news conference Saturday in New York. was declared ineligible by the NCAA on Tuesday.

St. John's was to appeal the suspension Wednesday, however, and ask for immediate reinstatement. Barkley could miss the regular-season and Big East finale at Miami on Sunday. This is Barkley's second suspension this season. He was suspended on Feb. 5 for three games, later reduced to two, for exchanging cars with a friend.

St. John's, in a statement released at halftime of Tuesday night's 66-60 victory over Seton Hall, said it had notified the NCAA on Tuesday morning that its investigation into possible rules violations concerning financial aid he received while a student at Maine Central Institute, a post-graduate prep school, in the 1997-98 academic year concluded there was no violation. At that time, St. John's determined that a violation had not occurred.

The NCAA responded Tuesday afternoon that it judged there had been a violation and informed St. John's to declare Barkley ineligible. To stay in line with the NCAA, St. John's then agreed that a violation had occurred.

St. John's statement

Here is the text of St. John's statement, released at halftime of Tuesday's 66-60 win over Seton Hall: At 10 a.m. today (Tuesday), St. John's completed its review of the matter of whether Erick Barkley violated NCAA rules concerning financial aid he received while a high school student at Maine Central Institute during the 1997-98 academic year. At that time the university informed the NCAA that it had concluded there had been no violation. At 5:05 p.m. today, NCAA staff informed the university that it judged that there had been a violation. The staff also informed St. John's that it had no option but to declare Erick Barkley ineligible. The university indicated that it would prefer to take action in the morning after reviewing the matter further. The NCAA advised St. John's that its failure to declare Erick Barkley ineligible immediately would constitute a serious, additional infraction of NCAA regulations. Rev. Donald J. Harrington, CM, President of St. John's University seriously weighed the situation and was reluctant to take this action because of his deep concern that to do so would harm the spirit and reputation of a fine young man. At the same time the unfortunate likelihood was that failure to take immediate action would have resulted in far more serious consequences. Father Harrington, therefore, determined that St. John's had no option but to declare Erick Barkley ineligible for tonight's game against Seton Hall. The nature of the alleged violation is as follows: The Riverside Church program provided Barkley with support in the amount of $3,150 (out of fees and total tuition of $21,500). Father Harrington provided the following additional statement: "The need for the NCAA or a similar organization is clear. However, the need for appropriate due process and the respectful treatment of all student athletes is just as clear. These goals are not incompatible. St. John's University is committed to working at the highest levels to insure that the noble purposes of the NCAA are preserved but always in a way that is just and respectful of all student athletes." The University will seek Barkley's immediate reinstatement.

The school asked to take action pending further review Wednesday, but the NCAA said failure to declare Barkley ineligible immediately would be a serious infraction of NCAA regulations.

St. John's president the Rev. Donald Harrington reviewed the situation and determined the school had to declare Barkley ineligible for the Seton Hall game. St. John's will seek Barkley's immediate reinstatement.

The school said the nature of the alleged violation was that the Riverside Church program, an AAU program for which Barkley played, provided him with support in the amount of $3,150 out of fees and tuition totaling $21,500.

"The need for the NCAA or a similar organization is clear. However, the need for appropriate due process and the respectful treatment of all student athletes is just as clear," Harrington said in the statement. "These goals are not incompatible. St. John's University is committed to working at the highest levels to insure that the notable purposes of the NCAA are preserved, but always in a way that is just and respectful of all student athletes."

After the game, St. John's coach Mike Jarvis was quite subdued compared to the first suspension. When he spoke after the first suspension, he used words like "gestapo," "communism" and "rape" in talking about the NCAA.

He read parts of the school's statement and talked of how he agreed with the president's ideas concerning the NCAA.

Barkley, who sat on the bench Tuesday night wearing a towel as a hood, is the Red Storm's leading scorer with 16.7 points per game.

Former Maine Central Institute coach Max Good, now an assistant at UNLV, told Katz last week that he expected Barkley, who attended MCI in 1997-98, to be questioned by the NCAA in the same manner as Cincinnati's DerMarr Johnson was last week.

Johnson, who played at MCI in 1998-99, was suspended for one game for having a portion of his tuition paid for by his AAU coach. An NCAA official told ESPN.com that Barkley's situation is different from Johnson's, however, in that a final determination has not been made on the length of his suspension.

St. John's (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 18 AP) won the previous two games for which Barkley was suspended -- Boston College and Providence, the first victories in its current seven-game winning streak.

The last three games of the streak were over ranked teams -- Syracuse and defending NCAA finalists Connecticut and Duke -- all in a seven-day period.