Printable View
[QUOTE=lil skeeter;412638]i dont imagine that if they played for another team, lets say a red one, that this would even be a issue. they did what they had to do to play and that should be good enough for the one and dones.[/QUOTE]
It is an issue everywhere. It is something that needs to be taken care of by the NCAA and the Association (NBA). Football and baseball have it right, not sure why hoops didn't get the memo.
[QUOTE=Tim_T;412640]It is an issue everywhere. It is something that needs to be taken care of by the NCAA and the Association (NBA). Football and baseball have it right, not sure why hoops didn't get the memo.[/QUOTE]
What is it about the NBA that makes them so special? Are they able to make more money off young players? It seems more kids want to be associated with NBA thugs than other sports to me....maybe the NBA doesn't want to lose that association since it equals money?:confused:
[QUOTE=MrSplitshot;412604]I don't blame Tipton at all, Tim...I don't think he said anything that wasn't fact. I just don't like his delivery and routine backhanded slaps at The University of Kentucky.
I have no problem at all with personal responsibility, but the fact is that the two kids with <1.8 GPA were freshmen and the minimum 1.8 GPA rule doesn't take effect until the start of the athlete's second year.
So a couple of freshmen athletes struggled in class. That's all there is to see there. They broke no rules, nor did Coach Cal in playing them. If everyone is up in arms about the rules, then change the rules - That falls on the NCAA. Programs will have to operate within their set of rules. As long as they do, then I don't see the call to arms for having these kid's heads on a platter for struggling in school...either because they were freshmen who didn't put forth effort because they knew they were going pro (Cousins, Bledsoe, Orton) and the NCAA's rules promote it...or because they legitimately struggled. Not everyone does well in college. I knew people going to UK on Daddy's money, driving the car that Daddy gave them, who had never worked a day in their lives - And they couldn't make a 1.8 in freshman level classes. In that instance you are either dumb, or really don't care enough to assert yourself academically...either way, college isn't for you.
The 1-Year rule that requires a kid out of high school to play a year in college before going pro is the problem. You have these stars that are good enough to get drafted to the NBA, but the NBA is forcing them into a year of college. College isn't for everyone. They are being forced to go, in order to chase their aspirations of a professional career in basketball because they are good enough. I am not going to criticize some kid straight out of the hood who has the God given ability to play lights out basketball, wants to go Pro and make some money, but can't until he sits through a year of college...that system does not promote him to give 100% effort in class and keep a high GPA.
Why do you think that 1-Year rule is in place?
It's NOT for the sake of a kid's education. It's for the NCAA's benefit, because again...college basketball is a big business and these kids are recruited to play competitive basketball, not be students with high GPAs.
If I could go pro and make a million bucks straight out of high school, I would definitely do it. I can always come back to college later and get an education, but the body won't always be able to perform like an NBA star.
It's all about the bucks...and while that may be sad, that's just the way it is. Playing in college for the love of the game, back when it was pure and these were legitimately kids going to school who were not going to have pro careers in basketball, is dying...or dead...at least for these 5-star blue-chippers.[/QUOTE]
I'm fine with that too! Let's just not call it an "Academic Institution"
GPA schmePA
I went to UK and was very happy to get a cumulative GPA about the same as the cumulative GPA of the players mentioned in the article you cited. I passed. .now let's do the next thing. I didn't even go pro-ha.
From article:
"The UK players' individual GPAs in the fall semester ranged from 3.59 to 1.667. Four were at 2.0 or lower. Two were better than 3.0. (UK released only the individual averages, not the names of players who made the grades.)"
The above could mean 3 got 2.0 and 1 got 1.667 but it sounds worse the way the words were woven into the sentence. You are a good writer. You know what I mean. "Wow, this is shocking" It wasn't shocking to me. The fact that maybe the Duke players or the Butler players had high GPA's now that is shocking and close to super human. (not sure I am accurate there-I know one of the teams had really high GPA's). There are only so many hours in the day to do school and ball.
Also you have to think beyond the article to the way things really work. Ever see "Back to School" with Rodney Dangerfeild? Think of all the entry points for corruption of grades and what is at stake. Maybe there is pressure to give ball players better grades at this school and not that school. Maybe one school really cherishes players that can achieve high GPA's and uses that as a recruiting tool. Maybe during the players careers they have to make sure the players get high GPA's.
I propose the above because one day I was with a friend who is a professor at a University and they started getting phone calls and emails all the sudden. Well this person had just posted final grades and flunked five basketball players both male and female. The person held out for a day and a half but the pressure was so intense all the grades were changed to passing with the click of the keyboard...So grades never did and still don't mean a lot to me...maybe because mine were so poor.
Now my kids get good grades and I am very thankful for that and by all means good grades are a good indictor of how somebody is doing in "School" but they won't be in school forever...maybe they"ll go pro.