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Trouble appears to follow John Calipari
By Andrea Adelson
June 9, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla.-All you Florida Gators fans worried about John Calipari and what he is going to do at Kentucky should breathe easy today. In a few years, Kentucky could face some sort of NCAA sanction.
That's just the Calipari way. The two other schools where he has coached have gotten into trouble with the NCAA for rules violations that happened on Calipari's watch. The latest was revealed early last week by the Memphis Commercial-Appeal.
The NCAA has charged Memphis with major violations during the 2007-08 season, and sent a notice of allegations to the school. Among the allegations: the NCAA says someone else completed the SAT for a Memphis player on that team, widely reported to be Derrick Rose.
That 2008 team won an NCAA-record 38 games and made it to the NCAA championship game. If the allegations are true, the NCAA could make Memphis forfeit the wins and Final Four appearance.
The same happened at UMass under Calipari. The school had to vacate its wins from a 1996 Final Four run because Marcus Camby took $28,000 from an agent while still in school.
If Memphis is punished in the same way, both of Calipari's Final Four appearances won't exist in the eyes of the NCAA.
What is particularly outrageous in both instances is the fact that Calipari gets off unscathed, and in the Memphis case, he just ran away knowing full well what was going to happen. The NCAA sent its letter of allegations to the school in January. Calipari clearly knew the school was under NCAA investigation when Kentucky came calling.
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The NBA’s uncool rule
By Dan Wetzel,
June 9, 2009
Derrick Rose is a hell of a basketball player.
Over the past four years he’s won two high school state championships, reached the NCAA title game and was named NBA rookie of the year.
Derrick Rose is, by all accounts, a good person.
He’s never gotten into any serious trouble and is known as a quiet, hardworking and unassuming guy. His teammates swear by him and the fans who know him best, in his hometown of Chicago, have flocked to him for the way he’s carried himself on and off the court.
Derrick Rose is the American dream.
Rising from humble South Side roots, at age 20 he’s already a self-made millionaire with the Bulls. Barring injury he should make more than $100 million by the time he’s 35. He’s building a reputation for charity back in his neighborhood.
Derrick Rose isn’t much of a student.
This is what the NCAA alleges. It claims he had someone stand in for him on his SAT because he couldn’t manage to make the relatively meager score he needed to play college ball at Memphis (his qualifying test was a “740 or 750,” according to a source with knowledge of the situation). Then, as the Chicago Sun-Times reported, one of his high school grades was changed from a “D” to a “C” in order to help his college eligibility chances.
For the record, Rose denied all of this to the NCAA although he hasn’t spoken publicly since the allegations broke last week.
The fact we know his score, the fact that Rose is dealing with embarrassing questions, the fact that the NBA has another young star wrapped in scandal and two universities are fretting about Saturday’s NCAA infractions hearing, is the latest testament to the NBA’s wrong and ridiculous 19-year-old age limit.
This isn’t to absolve the people involved, but the question shouldn’t just be did Derrick Rose cheat on his SAT?
It should be why the heck did he have to take it in the first place?
If Rose sang or danced or wrote computer code, even if he hit forehands or curveballs and not free throws, his acumen at standardized questions concerning probability, diction and critical reading wouldn’t matter.
They do in basketball because NBA commissioner David Stern wanted to control long-term labor costs and use college ball to market his young stars. In 2005, his league began requiring American players (but not Europeans) to be at least one year out of high school to be drafted.
That essentially sends them to college ball, where outdated and hypocritical amateurism and academic rules exist not because they have any moral basis, but so the NCAA can avoid billions in local and federal taxes.
As a result, young players have to play pretend before they can play ball. They have to pretend that amateurism rules can stop the wheels of capitalism. They have to pretend that an arbitrary thing like a minimum SAT score – which is never how the test was designed to be used – is a fair hurdle they need to clear to pursue their professional aspirations.
They have to pretend because the NCAA long ago figured out how to use its rule book as a tax haven.
And so into this round hole gets slammed the square peg of young players – Rose, O.J. Mayo and pretty much every other one-and-done star who lit up the college season before bolting to the NBA.
And, too often, they wind up with the NCAA slamming them for potentially not following rules that have no real world validity.
How is this helping Stern market his players?
Is it good to have Rose arrogantly ripped by the NCAA for failing “to deport himself in accordance with the high standards of honesty and sportsmanship normally associated with … intercollegiate athletics”?
Is it a positive to have rival fans mock him with “SAT, SAT” chants for years to come? Or have Mayo embroiled in his own NCAA investigation into payments from an agent while he did his mandated season at Southern California?
All this is doing is playing up the same outdated stereotypes of young, black players that Stern usually fights so hard against. He’s sold these guys out to shorten careers and, more importantly, career earnings.
Deep down he knows they should have the right to turn pro out of high school the way Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett and so many other stars did.
A semester or two in college isn’t the worst thing, but it also has nothing to do with playing basketball, being a good citizen or the ever-stated “protecting their futures in case of injury.”
There is no statistical evidence that players are better on or off the court after a stint on campus. There is, however, a century of win-at-all-cost proof by coaches and boosters that the NCAA’s “high standards of honesty and sportsmanship” are a complete joke.
For the sake of argument let’s assume Rose did have a high school friend stand in and take his SAT. He was desperate to qualify because the clear path to his dream and the fortune that comes with it was on the line. Any other route (Europe, junior college) is unproven.
So facing a system rigged against him, he instead rigged the system.
He kicked down the door, clearing an academic hurdle that bears no relation to his character as a person or his ability as a performer.
In Hollywood they make movies about people who do that.
In basketball, they vilify them and humiliate them, although not before they cash in on them.
We hold this standard almost exclusively for teenage basketball players, mostly African Americans, many from disadvantaged backgrounds and broken school systems (Rose’s Simeon Career Academy isn’t exactly Choate Rosemary Hall).
No one cared when Danica Patrick went pro as a race car driver at 16. No one tried to prevent Shawn Johnson from winning an Olympic gold at the same age or Miley Cyrus from making millions singing and acting with her dad even younger than that.
And no one ever required them to recognize analogies before doing so.
So why do we make Derrick Rose?
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Blue Devils hire Stafford-Odom as assistant
CBSSports Reports
June 9, 2009
DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke has hired Trisha Stafford-Odom as an assistant women's basketball coach.
The school says Stafford-Odom will be heavily involved in both recruiting and coaching the guards. Head coach Joanne P. McCallie called Stafford-Odom a "high-energy person" with a passion for basketball.
Stafford-Odom played at California before playing professionally in the WNBA and overseas. She previously served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at UCLA from 2005-08, and says she spent the past year focusing on her family.
She replaces Shannon Perry, who spent the past five seasons at Duke. Stafford-Odom begins work June 10
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NCAA approves 3 rules changes for men's basketball
By Detroit News Services
June 9, 2009
Indianapolis -- An NCAA committee has approved three men's basketball rules changes intended to clarify block-charge calls, who can shoot free throws after an injury and the expanded use of replay.
The announcement Monday means secondary defenders must establish position outside the area between the backboard and the front of the rim to draw a charge call. The playing rules oversight panel said in a release that the change was based on surveys, rules forums and the coaches' desire to reduce the amount of contact occurring underneath the basket.
The panel also addressed the perceived advantage teams can get when a fouled player is injured. Previously, the shooting team's coach could select any player on his roster to take free throws. Now, the opposing coach must select from the four players remaining on the court.
And the committee approved expanding replay to determine flagrant fouls, which would result in ejection. If the foul is not considered flagrant, officials could still call an intentional foul or a technical foul for contact. It is the only rules change that will apply to men's and women's basketball.
The rules changes will go into effect this fall.
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NCAA discusses Memphis' possible violations
By AP
June 9, 2009
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The NCAA met with Memphis officials on Saturday to discuss major violations and the school must now wait at least six weeks for a ruling on whether its 38 wins from the 2007-08 season will count.
The most serious allegation taken up at the meeting was whether an unknown person took the SAT for a player.
The NCAA has said the athlete in question played for the Tigers for only the 2007-08 season and the 2008 NCAA tournament. The only person who fits the description in documents obtained by The Associated Press is Derrick Rose, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft after that season.
Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson had no comment as he left the four-hour meeting. Memphis president Dr. Shirley Raines also would not speak, but issued a statement.
"Although we cannot comment on the specifics of what occurred during the hearing, I can say that as president, I reiterated the university's commitment to NCAA rules compliance," Raines said. "We believe we were able to fully answer the committee's questions and present the actions we have already taken based upon our internal investigations."
Memphis officials have said the school should keep the victories from the 2007-08 season that ended in the national title game. An NCAA spokeswoman said a ruling is expected between six and eight weeks.
"We are hopeful that we will receive a favorable decision on behalf of the university in this matter," Raines said. "We look forward to having more to say after the committee has released its decision."
A letter from the NCAA forced new Kentucky coach John Calipari to participate in the hearing. The NCAA says Calipari, who coached the Memphis Tigers during the season in question, isn't considered "at risk" in the probe.
Calipari explained in one letter than he wouldn't be able to attend because of a previously scheduled trip to China, but the chairman of the NCAA's committee on infractions told him he needed to participate anyway, either through phone or video conference.
Memphis confirmed on Saturday that Calipari took part in the meeting by phone.
Memphis could face similar meetings with the NCAA in the future. Another player, Robert Dozier, also has had questions surface about his entrance exams.
Dozier's inconsistent SAT scores prevented him from being admitted to the University of Georgia in 2004. His initial SAT score was invalidated by the company that scores the exam, and his follow-up score was dramatically lower, according to Georgia records obtained Friday by The Associated Press.
Dozier's four-year career at Memphis ended with the 2008-09 season.
Dozier's SAT problems were first reported by ESPN.com.
Johnson declined to comment Friday on Dozier when contacted by The Associated Press, saying he was focused on preparations for Saturday's hearing.
However, earlier Johnson told ESPN.com he was confident the school had "done all the things we're supposed to do" regarding Dozier.
Looking for a replacement for Calipari, Memphis contacted several high-profile coaches but ended up turning to 31-year-old Calipari assistant Josh Pastner.
Pastner, who has said he knew nothing about the NCAA allegations before being hired, declined Saturday to talk about any possible effects from the investigation on the new program he is building. He did not participate in the meeting with the NCAA.
"There's just so much to look forward to, so much positive," Pastner said. "There's so much positive, academically, athletically and socially at the University of Memphis that I'm just talking about all the positives about the University of Memphis."
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