Coach Calipari under investigation...again

• 2quik4u

  

  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/29/sports/ncaabasketball/29recruit.html?hp
• hoops23

  

  lol, no way!?
  
  Seriously, what do Universities expect when they hire this guy?
  
  1) Great recruiting class
  2) Failed expectations
  3) Accusations
  4) Investigation
  5) He bolts to another job and leaves his previous employer in hot water.
• GOONx19

  

  Bledsoe is one of the few players I never got a chance to meet, but I was told by a tutor who worked with the team that he had around a second grade reading level. The person also told me that Darius Miller read at a 6th grade level, but that everyone else was about average.
  
  For what it's worth.
• hoops23

  

  That's fucking pathetic and sad all in one.
• Azubuike24

  

  Calipari isn't under investigation here.
  
  This stuff happened while he was still at Memphis. Gillispie was the coach at UK, and at the time, was recruiting Bledsoe. Bledsoe was moved out of that place BEFORE Calipari to Kentucky was even a thought.
  
  If Calipari is guilty of anything, it's of recruiting a poor kid with shady people around him. He didn't do anything illegal.
  
  Change the title, it's very misleading. Try reading the article first too.
• Heelz

  

  If he's not under investigation now he will be soon, it's kinda his thing.
• Azubuike24

  

  Whether that is true or not, it's misleading to say he is now. Of course, that's the way the media will phrase it, but Calipari himself is no more connected to this specific situation than Billy Gillispie, and I don't see his name mentioned anywhere.
  
  Gillispie was the main recruiter for Bledsoe. He had a strong relationship with Eric during this time period. Gillispie was the one who first connected Kentucky to Eric Bledsoe, not John Calipari.
  
  The real shame here is the NCAA clearinghouse setting this precedent where they clear a player, the school believes they are eligible and they play the kid, and then the NCAA backdates the ineligibility and the school gets blamed.
  
  It's a scary, scary situation for schools who may have to make some tough decisions regarding any kids who have any possible red flags attached to them. The problem is, if they pass on kids because of those, other schools will not and you become at a disadvantage talent-wise. Look at Tubby Smith. He really started to avoid the AAU circuits and avoided many of the handlers, and it suffered in his ability to bring in talent. He started doing that now at Minnesota and look at what's going on there. It just shows that nobody is immune to this stuff, not even Mr. Squeaky clean, saint-like Orlando "Tubby" Smith.
• georgemc80

  Its simple, recruit college capable student athletes.
• ohiotiger33

  

  I am kinda surprised it took this long to be honest. Even if this isn't Calipari, it will be soon. There is a precedent set by him, and it is that he will bend and break the rules to win.
• Azubuike24

  

  georgemc80 wrote: Its simple, recruit college capable student athletes.

  Billy Donovan and Coach K were after Eric Bledsoe as heavily as Calipari. Would their names be dragged through the mud had Bledsoe chosen to attend Florida or Duke? It may have still been investigated, but I doubt we would see these accusations and see articles entitled "Donovan being investigated by the NCAA." The reason for that is, it wouldn't get nearly the amount of readers and buzz from the media.
  
  THAT is the issue. Incapable college students are recruited every second of the day in football and basketball, we ALL know this, and every coach is guilty of recruiting one of them at one time or another. Why is it that Calipari is drawing headlines for this?
  
  When he really commits a violation or breaks a rule, then I'll have no defense, but this situation is ridiculous. He wasn't even the UK coach when this stuff went down with Bledsoe. Ridiculous.
• Prescott

  Its simple, recruit college capable student athletes.

  
  
  That would be great. Do you really want to turn D1 basketball into D3?
• Azubuike24

  

  Exactly.
  
  And everyone can say what they want, I'm not defending the situation. My issue is with the NCAA though. Their clearinghouse needs to get things straight and not leave schools in a constant state of fear if there are issues in the past that could burn them after the fact.
  
  If this means they have to act as a pre-caution and not qualify a lot more recruits, so be it, they won't be allowed to participate. But you can't just expect coaches to pass on guys like Bledsoe because there is a red flag. For every coach who passes on him, there is a coach who is crooked, has no reputation to lose and nothing on the line who WILL take that kid. The way the NCAA polices these things and randomly punishes schools, the risk is higher than the reward.
  
  Bottom line, Eric Bledsoe should have been ruled ineligible by the NCAA, and once he was cleared, any wrongdoing PRIOR to that ruling should not stand up. The school certainly shouldn't be expected to take the fall for this unless there is proof the NCAA warned them of a possible ineligible ruling before they decided to play him. In this case, we know this WAS NOT done, therefore Kentucky and Cal will have their names dragged through the mud for an issue that happened while he was in high school.
  
  It's BS.
• ts1227

  

  Azubuike24 wrote:

  georgemc80 wrote: Its simple, recruit college capable student athletes.

  Billy Donovan and Coach K were after Eric Bledsoe as heavily as Calipari. Would their names be dragged through the mud had Bledsoe chosen to attend Florida or Duke? It may have still been investigated, but I doubt we would see these accusations and see articles entitled "Donovan being investigated by the NCAA." The reason for that is, it wouldn't get nearly the amount of readers and buzz from the media.
  
  THAT is the issue. Incapable college students are recruited every second of the day in football and basketball, we ALL know this, and every coach is guilty of recruiting one of them at one time or another. Why is it that Calipari is drawing headlines for this?
  
  When he really commits a violation or breaks a rule, then I'll have no defense, but this situation is ridiculous. He wasn't even the UK coach when this stuff went down with Bledsoe. Ridiculous.

  It's Calipari's history. When something happens, and the coach is known for never even trying to stay within the rules at any point in his NCAA coaching career, it's going to look fishy on the surface. People will read into it and see it's not really his doing, but when somoene first sees it, you know what they're going to say and think.
• Azubuike24

  

  That post is exactly it. Never staying within the rules? He has ZERO NCAA violations to his name. It might not seem like it, but if Calipari gets caught violating NCAA rules and it hurts UK, I will be right there with the bashers and admit I was wrong in regards to Calipari.
  
  With that said, until that point, this is a witch hunt by the media, and they are using the name John Calipari and Kentucky to generate website hits and attract viewers. In a week where 2 other major schools are having much more serious issues with the NCAA, this is stealing the headlines.
  
  It's a crock. Billy Gillispie had more to do with this than John Calipari but have you heard his name once?
• GOONx19

  

  ts1227 wrote: It's Calipari's history. When something happens, and the coach is known for never even trying to stay within the rules at any point in his NCAA coaching career, it's going to look fishy on the surface. People will read into it and see it's not really his doing, but when somoene first sees it, you know what they're going to say and think.

  This is one of the dumbest posts I've read all day.
• RiverRat13

  I asked last spring why Calipari would recruit a guy like Eric Bledsoe who scored a freakin' 14 on his ACT while he was going through the whole Derrick Rose fiasco.
  
  So, I ask again, why would Calipari recruit a guy like Eric Bledsoe who scored a freakin' 14 on his ACT while he was going through the whole Derrick Rose fiasco?
• Azubuike24

  

  Why would Coach K, Billy Gillispie, Stan Heath and Billy Donovan recruit him?
  
  Your question is valid, but why does it apply to Calipari only?
• RiverRat13

  Azubuike24 wrote: Why would Coach K, Billy Gillispie, Stan Heath and Billy Donovan recruit him?
  
  Your question is valid, but why does it apply to Calipari only?

  None of the above just had a banner removed to a guy's academics.
• Azubuike24

  

  Calipari didn't either. Read the Rose/NCAA case. He didn't have anything removed. Memphis did. You better believe that if the NCAA could pin something on Calipari they would. They haven't. On the same note, I highly doubt Kentucky, whose basketball program has possibly the best compliance team in the country, would sit back and let the NCAA railroad the coach and have him then leave all the blame to the school.
  
  So basically, we should allow the media to report what they want and he should have to be the one who backs off and gives in because of it? He should avoid any red flag situation because as soon the media gets wind of it, his name will be dragged through the mud?
  
  Don't you see. They win in that scenario, and it seems the rest of the country is fine with that because they don't like Cal and seemingly think he hasn't gotten punished enough, so they are almost rooting and encouraging this type of stuff to be published.
• Azubuike24

  

  And then we have this:
  
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100529/ap_on_sp_co_ne/bkc_bledsoe_ncaa_investigation
  
  LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky spokesman DeWayne Peevy says former basketball star Eric Bledsoe passed an extensive review process by the NCAA before joining the Wildcats.
  
  The statement comes after a report in The New York Times that the NCAA is looking into questions about Bledsoe's academic history and recruitment.
  
  In an e-mailed statement, Peevy said Bledsoe participated in the normal academic review process and also an extensive prospective student athlete review by the NCAA Eligibility Center and was cleared academically.
  
  So he went through the normal review process and then the PSA process, and the NCAA still cleared him. At that point, which NCAA coach would not let the kid play? How many times a year does this happen with student athletes, behind the scenes, and the NY Times doesn't write a story about it?
• Azubuike24

  

  Going further, if at the point a student athlete completes thePSA review, why doesn't the NCAA inform the school, in any way, shape or form that there is even SOME risk if they play this player. Do that, and there is no excuse after the fact if something comes up and the school chose to play the player. If that was the case, shame on the school, they took the slight risk and got burned. If the NCAA just did this, this scenario would be a non-issue.
• namod65

  

  UK fans, be honest, how many of you were fans of Calipari before you knew he might go to Kentucky? Seriously even if he wasn't involved with Bledsoe, the writing is on the wall. The guy is a cheater and has destroyed the legitimacy of every program he's run. You get what you payed for with him and the "violations cloud" is right up there on the ticket when you buy it.
  
  Kudos to Bob Knight for calling him out:
  
  http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/34471286/ns/sports-college_basketball/
• RiverRat13

  Azubuike24 wrote: Going further, if at the point a student athlete completes thePSA review, why doesn't the NCAA inform the school, in any way, shape or form that there is even SOME risk if they play this player. Do that, and there is no excuse after the fact if something comes up and the school chose to play the player. If that was the case, shame on the school, they took the slight risk and got burned. If the NCAA just did this, this scenario would be a non-issue.

  He got a 14 on his ACT. I think that is the definition of SOME risk. If I was John Calipari and I just went through the Derrick Rose fiasco, I think twice about going after a kid who got a 14 on his ACT and miraculously got himself eligible. Calipari coaches at Kentucky now, not UMass or Memphis. He doesn't need the Eric Bledsoes to win. He can get plenty of guys who can both play basketball at an elite level and who have zero academic questions about them.
  
  It will be fun again next spring when we get to talk about Enes Kanter and how the NCAA initially cleared him but then someone will do some digging and find dirt after the season.
• Laley23

  

  namod65 wrote: UK fans, be honest, how many of you were fans of Calipari before you knew he might go to Kentucky?

  I can answer this question
  
  http://web.archive.org/web/20071117012651/kentucky.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=1383&tid=105757528&mid=105757528&sid=888&style=2
  
  
• hoops23

  

  lol^