I can't blame him for the one-and-done strategy. He does what the system allows him to do, and if it wasn't him, it would be someone else. In other words, if you don't like what he does, you need to take it up with the NCAA or NBA.

But I think that, ultimately, what he does is not in his players' long-term best interests. And it's certainly not in the spirit of college athletics. It's one thing if your success leads to your leaving early. It's another if you go there with the intention of leaving after one year. If Ohio was doing that, it would be hard to support. That's just not what we're about.

The cheating is an entirely different matter. He should have been nailed to the wall long ago.

I have to agree with the tweet that came in to Mike & Mike this morning:  They'd better hang the banner with velcro. 

The one-and-done philosophy isn't really good for the kids -- how much can they mature in a year? -- and it hurts the program in the long run.  How soon 'til KY loses scholarships and post-season ops because of their poor graduation rate (ala UConn)?  But he's taking advantage of a lousy rule.  Nothing stops baseball or hockey or soccer players from jumping straight from high school to pro ball.  If football and b-ball weren't money-makers for schools, they wouldn't make kids sit out three yrs and one yr, respectively, before turning pro. 

Never happened.

Sincerely,
The NCAA

Wouldn't it be informative to know how many academic credits have been accumulated by one-and-dones since this rule went into effect? 

The sad and ironinc fact is that for all its blathering about protecting the integrity of scholastic sports with its rules, the NCAA has created a situation where average college programs have no choice but to compete against nominally professonal athletes who are just biding their time - mostly at Kentucky.

Who's in favor of freshman ineligibility again?

+1

I died laughing at this. Your ethos really is what did it.

I really can't figure out how an institution with the reputation of UK would have ever hired this sleaze bag.  I wonder when we'll start hearing about the irregularities that happened with this team.  Well, come to think of it, Kentucky did have the racist Adolph Rupp as its head coach for years, so maybe I shouldn't be quite so surprised. 

I suppose being born into the Big Blue nation I can get lumped into that .....but I really do not care if it is UK, Muncie Central, Ohio or whomaever I am associated with....I like to win....that said I think there are other things I care about ...character, grades, respect for the game....while there are admittedly the fringe Cat fans that are nuts I don't think I have ever been met with so much arrogance as the Kansas fans who were wanting to buy the other half of our tickets on the way *IN* to play Carolina......

I have also found that most Cat fans do not embody the stereotype that exists and none that have shown me the behaviour of the typical tO$U non alumni fan....but everyone will take that as wearing blue colored glasses....

Not a Calipari fan from 2001 when we were in Memphis and he had elite 7th graders to his house for a cook out ... saw the sleazy side of that but I do think as he matures he is really devoting himself to the kids rather than the career. Teagues have nothing but praise and Mookie is indeed in classes and keeping his grades up much to Mama Carol's deight.

Here's is a great NYT article on this subject with an OU connection.

One and Done

I do not like the 'tucky at all.  Who wouldn't win the NCAA with the clearly most talented kids?  Yeah, he's a good coach, but where's the challenge in having the most talent every year (see NBA selections for validationon that).

Where's the penalty for all the early leavers/non-grads?  There's no way a school or coach should be able to stock up this way year after year without paying significant scholarship penalties such that a school or coach can only do this for a year or two.

Oh.  Sorry.  I'm thinking that there's an element of 'student' in student-athlete.





Wasn't it 'tucky with the infamous cash falling out of the FedEx envelope?  Nice.

I gotta chime in on this. I sold my Sunday tics to a Kansas fan on the way out Friday night. W/my son there and not knowing what the game time would be on Sunday, plus the 7.5 hr drive home and he had to be in school Monday AM after pulling him out for the Friday game, plus I didn't really care about the UNC/Kansas game. We decided to sell the tics and just spend Saturday enjoying some time around St. Louis (i.e. Delmar North shopping/browsing, Pappy's BBQ for dinner - AWESOME!) and then hit the road Sunday afternoon. The Kansas fans tics buyers were not obnoxious at all, very politely "inquired" if we might have tics we wanted to sell. In fact everyone I met the whole weekend from Kansas were great - at the hotel, on the streets, at the game - friendly, interested in knowing more about OHIO, etc., etc.

OTOH - Everyone I met that was UNC related - pretty much jerks, Gomers (incl "Gomer wanna be's), or snobbish & rude - before, during, and after the game. I don't like to stereotype - but it was impossible not to after a while!

Therefore - though have been an "interested follower" of UK through the years (lotta great BBall history there) - I was really rooting for Kansas in the final - I wanted them to win for the nice folks/fans I met in St. Louis.

 

How is UCONN in jeopardy of missing the tournament next year due to its academic performance but Kentucky is still eligible?  Has there been a Kentucky player in the last four years to graduate?