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That's not entirely fair, and I doubt you know the details on academics and potential graduation for all of the Kentucky basketball players. It is possible to go to Kentucky and graduate. Patrick Patterson, a lottery pick for the Houston Rockets in 2010, graduated from Kentucky in three years. The Harrison twins seem like good kids, and they carry themselves well. They come from a stable, two-parent family in the Houston suburbs, and I'm sure they would prioritize graduating from college if the alternative (making millions in the NBA) weren't so lucrative. Can't blame them for that.Originally posted by NJCat:
And for all the talk about 1-and-done at UK, not that this season the key plays include 3rd year Cauley-Stein and returning second year players the Harrison twins, Johnson and Lee. Now I don't for a moment mean to suggest any of these kids are there for the academics or will come anywhere close to earning a degree. But somehow he seems to have managed to keep some of his kids around.
Unfortunately, Willy, you and I both know that UK will do any paperwork shuffling that's necessary to technically keep afloat the illusion that these kids are actually progressing toward any sort of meaningful degree.Originally posted by willycat:
wfan, wondering if any of the named players are progressing toward a degree. Isn't that a NCAA mandate?
Not the case at all. Ulis resented Izzo being late to the party in prioritizing him as a recruit. As others have mentioned, Ulis would have gone to Iowa if it weren't for the Kentucky offer.Originally posted by Walker Fan:
he was leaning towards MSU until John Calipari came in
My thoughts exactly! We all know *most* of these guys do very little studying...Originally posted by NURoseBowl:
Unfortunately, Willy, you and I both know that UK will do any paperwork shuffling that's necessary to technically keep afloat the illusion that these kids are actually progressing toward any sort of meaningful degree.Originally posted by willycat:
wfan, wondering if any of the named players are progressing toward a degree. Isn't that a NCAA mandate?
Very different situations with MSU and Kentucky. The Spartans had Ulis's cousin and former MSU star Travis Walton trying to talk Izzo into offering Ulis for years. That wasn't the situation with Kentucky.Originally posted by willycat:
really chane. It didn't seem to bother him that Calipari came into play very, very late.
The point here is few people would deny that UK professors are under heavy pressure for the basketball players in their class to do "very well".....Originally posted by beamrider:
willycat, I'm not the NCAA, I'm just passing on information from the NCAA.
I was able to find that as of the most recent semester, fall 2014, Kentucky men's basketball had a grade point average of 3.12 (as opposed to Kentucky football at 2.43). 13 of the 16 rostered basketball players had a gpa of 3.0 or better.
To the Kentucky bashers, sometimes the truth hurts.
I don't have evidence. In this case, I think common sense will do.Originally posted by beamrider:
Virginia, where's the evidence to support your "point"? Or if it's just speculation, what's the source of your information? Thank you.
What are they majoring in? Basketball?Originally posted by beamrider:
Virginia, fair enough.
Here's some verifiable information that might help sway your perception. Arguably Kentucky's best player this year is Alex Poythress, who tore his ACL 8 games into the season. Alex is a junior on schedule to get his degree this May. Alex finished his freshman year with a 4.0 gpa. Since Calipari has been at Kentucky 3 players have graduated in 3 years. Patrick Patterson and Jarred Polson are the other two, and both of them played their 4th year as graduate students. Whether Poythress will do that remains to be seen. Another player, Brandon Knight, played one year before being offered millions of dollars from a prospective employer (read NBA). After one year Knight was half way through his sophomore year AND had a 4.0 gpa.
To me, saying that Kentucky professors are pressured to make players look good is a bit disrespectful to the kids that work hard in the classroom.