UCONN Ban Appeal Denied

[TheRogers]

Will it be a committee deciding if the rules should change or will that be Emmert's call?

 

[MidTown Husky]

Will it be a committee deciding if the rules should change or will that be Emmert's call?

2 -man committee of Jeff Hathaway and Emmert

 

[TheRogers]

2 -man committee of Jeff Hathaway and Emmert

So they'll be deciding if the answer is "No" or "Hell no!"....

 

[Reno]

This is bad news. Have to imagine Drummond and Lamb will leave now. You can't establish your "brand" like all these kids want without the NCAA tourney spotlight.

 

[ChrisSmith]

This is bad news. Have to imagine Drummond and Lamb will leave now. You can't establish your "brand" like all these kids want without the NCAA tourney spotlight.

I think post season eligibility would be a tiny consideration in whether or not those 2 return. Were they are drafted and how long they play in the NBA can translate into 10s of millions of dollars. I don't think playing in the NCAA has anywhere near that impact - maybe a good tournament can bump you up a spot or two or add a little to a shoe deal, but I don't think it's anywhere as important as leaving at the best time for you as a player.

 

[jrazz12]

The NCAA is a private organization but there are certainly grounds for suit here and I would imagine we would go that route as soon as they rule against us again in this decision regarding when the new APR rules take effect. We don't want to burn that bridge just yet, but if they rule against us again, I hope we burn the whole ducking city down.

 

[NHUConnfan]

Eh, this sucks. It is what it is.

The only way UConn can turn this upside down is if they have a really good year next year and are barred from the postseason. The talking heads will then ask why the bad APR score of those no longer on the team are barring one of the best teams in the postseason.

Until then, there is no good to come out of this for UConn at all. At least, all I know is that UConn still is a great academic university. Just unfortunately the athletics program and the university aren't on the same page. With new leadership, that should change quickly.

 

[ChrisSmith]

I'm not saying the NCAA's penalty is fair - I don't think it is fair to apply this standard retroactively. But let's not pretend like UConn doesn't deserve a lot of blame and criticism here. I think programs should make it their goal for a kid to leave with a degree, and/or as a 1st round pick. Otherwise, it's a failure. As of right now, everyone in the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes are still at UConn. We can look at the 4 previous classes (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) where 100% of the players are now gone.

Since 2006, the following have left UConns basketball program without a degree or being a 1st round NBA pick:
Jamal Trice, Jonathon Mandeldove, Charles Okwandu, Darius Smith, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriachi, Ater Majok, Nate Miles, Scottie Harlason, Doug Wiggins, Curtis Kelly, Ben Eaves, Stanley Robinson.

Since 2006, the following have left UConn with a degree and/or being a first round pick:
Hasheem Thabeet, Jermoe Dyson, Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly.

In my opinion, UConn has failed with 13/17 of those kids. 2/17 kids in the NBA. 3/17 kids with degrees. I think that is disgusting, and an embarrassment. And I was born in CT, I've been a UConn fan since I can remember, have a sister about to get her MD from UConn, and a dad with a masters from UConn. I'm not some outsider that dislikes the program - one of my earliest memories in life is giving Chris Smith a high five (hence the handle). I love the university and the program.

While I truly hope the NCAA looks at the more recent data and the current kids don't get punished for Calhoun's and others mistakes, if not, I blame Calhoun more than the NCAA.

 

[freescooter]

I could actually see that (a lawsuit) happening as a negotiating ploy. it risks tying the NCAA up and risks there future enforcement so at that point they likely would work something out. Particularly if UCONN was able to get an injunction. In effect that is what UNLV did many years ago. Went to court and challeneged the NCAA. the sides worked out a deal that let UNLV defend their title then Tarkanian was suspended for the next season as was UNLV...and the suit was carried on ultimately making it to the Supreme court. Tarkanian sued them seperatley for their continued harrassment after he left UNLV and the NCAA ultimately settled that one for $2.5million I think. I could see something like that working out where the NCAA agrees to allow UCONN inot the tournament if they qualify, and UCONN accepts the other proposed penalties it proposed. Maybe in a "seperate" action (wink wink) Calhoun retires.

 

[specialisthusky]

I'm not saying the NCAA's penalty is fair - I don't think it is fair to apply this standard retroactively. But let's not pretend like UConn doesn't deserve a lot of blame and criticism here. I think programs should make it their goal for a kid to leave with a degree, and/or as a 1st round pick. Otherwise, it's a failure. As of right now, everyone in the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes are still at UConn. We can look at the 4 previous classes (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) where 100% of the players are now gone.

Since 2006, the following have left UConns basketball program without a degree or being a 1st round NBA pick:
Jamal Trice, Jonathon Mandeldove, Charles Okwandu, Darius Smith, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriachi, Ater Majok, Nate Miles, Scottie Harlason, Doug Wiggins, Curtis Kelly, Ben Eaves, Stanley Robinson.

Since 2006, the following have left UConn with a degree and/or being a first round pick:
Hasheem Thabeet, Jermoe Dyson, Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly.

In my opinion, UConn has failed with 13/17 of those kids. 2/17 kids in the NBA. 3/17 kids with degrees. I think that is disgusting, and an embarrassment. And I was born in CT, I've been a UConn fan since I can remember, have a sister about to get her MD from UConn, and a dad with a masters from UConn. I'm not some outsider that dislikes the program - one of my earliest memories in life is giving Chris Smith a high five (hence the handle).

Thats about as simplistic a view as the APR has. Also Chuck Okwandu graduated I asked him a few weeks ago.

Ben Eaves graduated from URI, Curtis Kelly also graduated from K-State. Haralson is on pace to graduate from Tulane. Majok and Robinson were both 2nd round picks. I see nothing wrong with Majok's situation. Robinson and Edwards (who you forgaot) are examples of the clasic case of the APR screwing a senior.

You can't make kids stay if they want to transfer...

I am not placing all the blame on the APR but the system is flawed and all UConn had to do was forge a few credits like I am convinced other schools are doing.

Unlike you I am not disgusted

 

[Gurleyman]

Okwandu graduated. He led the student processional on graduation day. The guys who transferred out for basketball reasons like Trice and Haralson you can't say we failed - they just wanted playing time. Certainly can't say we failed with Oriakhi. And don't forget, Robinson was only in school 7 semesters since he took personal time off.

But yes - this was a bad stretch for us. We've had trouble with retention for a while, and this stretch was when it was at it's worst.

 

[freescooter]

I'm not saying the NCAA's penalty is fair - I don't think it is fair to apply this standard retroactively. But let's not pretend like UConn doesn't deserve a lot of blame and criticism here. I think programs should make it their goal for a kid to leave with a degree, and/or as a 1st round pick. Otherwise, it's a failure. As of right now, everyone in the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes are still at UConn. We can look at the 4 previous classes (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) where 100% of the players are now gone.

Since 2006, the following have left UConns basketball program without a degree or being a 1st round NBA pick:
Jamal Trice, Jonathon Mandeldove, Charles Okwandu, Darius Smith, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriachi, Ater Majok, Nate Miles, Scottie Harlason, Doug Wiggins, Curtis Kelly, Ben Eaves, Stanley Robinson.

Since 2006, the following have left UConn with a degree and/or being a first round pick:
Hasheem Thabeet, Jermoe Dyson, Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly.

In my opinion, UConn has failed with 13/17 of those kids. 2/17 kids in the NBA. 3/17 kids with degrees. I think that is disgusting, and an embarrassment. And I was born in CT, I've been a UConn fan since I can remember, have a sister about to get her MD from UConn, and a dad with a masters from UConn. I'm not some outsider that dislikes the program - one of my earliest memories in life is giving Chris Smith a high five (hence the handle). I love the university and the program.

While I truly hope the NCAA looks at the more recent data and the current kids don't get punished for Calhoun's and others mistakes, if not, I blame Calhoun more than the NCAA.

Chris, I'm a UCONN alumnus, a former UCONN athlete and I've been a UCONN fan for over 40 years. I still get to a few games every year for football, basketball, ice hockey (go Hockey East!!!) and baseball, and even the occassional soccer program. My daughter is enrolled in the medical school and another is pursuing a PhD in Storrs...and I agree with every thing you wrote.

 

[CL82]

I really liked Manuel's response.

Up to know UConn has been pretty passive about the inherent unfairness of designing and implementing a penalty scheme that punishes Connecticut twice for a single bad year. Remember that there was no mathematical possibility that UConn could comply with the current rule so long as 2008 scores were used. It's time to put the pressure on the NCAA to address why they feel it's approriate to gerrymander a system to cause us lose post season eligibility. Manual's response is the first waive of that. If he and Herbst are as good as I think they may be, we should start seeing more on this.

 

[caw]

I'm not saying the NCAA's penalty is fair - I don't think it is fair to apply this standard retroactively. But let's not pretend like UConn doesn't deserve a lot of blame and criticism here. I think programs should make it their goal for a kid to leave with a degree, and/or as a 1st round pick. Otherwise, it's a failure. As of right now, everyone in the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes are still at UConn. We can look at the 4 previous classes (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) where 100% of the players are now gone.

Since 2006, the following have left UConns basketball program without a degree or being a 1st round NBA pick:
Jamal Trice, Jonathon Mandeldove, Charles Okwandu, Darius Smith, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriachi, Ater Majok, Nate Miles, Scottie Harlason, Doug Wiggins, Curtis Kelly, Ben Eaves, Stanley Robinson.

Since 2006, the following have left UConn with a degree and/or being a first round pick:
Hasheem Thabeet, Jermoe Dyson, Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly.

In my opinion, UConn has failed with 13/17 of those kids. 2/17 kids in the NBA. 3/17 kids with degrees. I think that is disgusting, and an embarrassment. And I was born in CT, I've been a UConn fan since I can remember, have a sister about to get her MD from UConn, and a dad with a masters from UConn. I'm not some outsider that dislikes the program - one of my earliest memories in life is giving Chris Smith a high five (hence the handle). I love the university and the program.

While I truly hope the NCAA looks at the more recent data and the current kids don't get punished for Calhoun's and others mistakes, if not, I blame Calhoun more than the NCAA.

I don't agree with a few things, if a player leaves UConn and graduates from another D1 school, that is not a failure on UConn. That happens to a lot of kids that are not athletes. There are plenty of reasons to leave a college if you aren't an athlete, an athlete simply has those reasons and a few others (PT, getting along with coaches, etc.)

Second, I thought Chuck graduated?

Third, where is Craig?

Fourth, I don't blame UConn for Miles at all. He broke a restraining order and was kicked out, that's on him.

The rest is OK.

 

[champs99and04]

I'm not saying the NCAA's penalty is fair - I don't think it is fair to apply this standard retroactively. But let's not pretend like UConn doesn't deserve a lot of blame and criticism here. I think programs should make it their goal for a kid to leave with a degree, and/or as a 1st round pick. Otherwise, it's a failure. As of right now, everyone in the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes are still at UConn. We can look at the 4 previous classes (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009) where 100% of the players are now gone.

Since 2006, the following have left UConns basketball program without a degree or being a 1st round NBA pick:
Jamal Trice, Jonathon Mandeldove, Charles Okwandu, Darius Smith, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Alex Oriachi, Ater Majok, Nate Miles, Scottie Harlason, Doug Wiggins, Curtis Kelly, Ben Eaves, Stanley Robinson.

Since 2006, the following have left UConn with a degree and/or being a first round pick:
Hasheem Thabeet, Jermoe Dyson, Kemba Walker, Donnell Beverly.

In my opinion, UConn has failed with 13/17 of those kids. 2/17 kids in the NBA. 3/17 kids with degrees. I think that is disgusting, and an embarrassment. And I was born in CT, I've been a UConn fan since I can remember, have a sister about to get her MD from UConn, and a dad with a masters from UConn. I'm not some outsider that dislikes the program - one of my earliest memories in life is giving Chris Smith a high five (hence the handle). I love the university and the program.

While I truly hope the NCAA looks at the more recent data and the current kids don't get punished for Calhoun's and others mistakes, if not, I blame Calhoun more than the NCAA.

I pretty much disagree with all of this post. I would wager that there are very few basketball programs in the country that do a better job of preparing their athletes for a career and for life than UConn. In a perfect world every kid would get his degree. That's just not realistic when you consider these kids are flying across the country to play games during the winter, attending grueling practices every day of the week, and accepting invitations to skills camps during the summer. A degree is an option available to everybody at any age. These kids have a short window to capitilize on their basketball talents. Of course, the ironic part is that nobody has capitilized on these kids more than the NCAA. If you're mad at Calhoun and not the NCAA, I'm not sure you fully understand the situation. It's a nice move the NCAA is making from a PR standpoint, but when you dig deeper, all you find is five feet of .

Let's look at the names of kids who didn't receive their degree or become a first round pick in the last six years:

Jamal Trice--transfer
Jonathon Mandeldove--either really dumb or lazy as *k. the staff did everything they could with this kid
Charles Okwandu--as others have pointed out, Chuck got his degree last year Darius Smith--transfer
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel--transfer
Alex Oriachi--transfer
Ater Majok--Dire financial situation, left early and became a second round pick because he needed the money.
Nate Miles--Kicked out of the school due to dicipline problems
Scottie Harlason--transfer
Doug Wiggins--transfer,
Curtis Kelly--transfer
Ben Eaves--transfer
Stanley Robinson--missed a semester, became second round pick

In my opinion, nearly all of these kids have a valid excuse for why they did not receive their degree from the University of Connecticut. The only kid you could blame UConn for is Mandeldove, and we really don't know what his situation was like. Again, it baffles me that people continue to argue that kids transferring should reflect poorly on the teams academic performance. If a kid transfers without his degree, 99.999% of the time it is because he either wasn't happy with playing time, or didn't agree with the coaching staff.

 

[Vuce]

Chris, I'm a UCONN alumnus, a former UCONN athlete and I've been a UCONN fan for over 40 years. I still get to a few games every year for football, basketball, ice hockey (go Hockey East!!!) and baseball, and even the occassional soccer program. My daughter is enrolled in the medical school and another is pursuing a PhD in Storrs...and I agree with every thing you wrote.

Except for the FACT that he is wrong with his "Uconn failed 13 out of 17" number. When he throws kids like OKwandu who graduated and even AO whose GPA is fine right off the bat he is wrong. So basically you agree with his misinformation and misleading "facts". You did say you agree with everything he wrote.

 

[upstater]

is it still going to go through the NCAA for a decision... i know the committee on academic performance denied them but it sounds like theres still more to it... am i reading this wrong?

I still wonder why U Louisiana - X was given a waiver and not UConn.

 

[upstater]

I'm not saying the NCAA's penalty is fair - I don't think it is fair to apply this standard retroactively. But let's not pretend like UConn doesn't deserve a lot of blame and criticism here. I think programs should make it their goal for a kid to leave with a degree, and/or as a 1st round pick. Otherwise, it's a failure. .

You need to read up on the APR rules. APR doesn't give you a leg up for leaving with a degree. It's not what the APR is about.

 

[BarkingDog]

I still wonder why U Louisiana - X was given a waiver and not UConn.

Because the University of Lousiana-Monroe won something like 3 games this past season and is no danger of making the tournament next year.
What fun is it to ban them?

 

[upstater]

Except for the FACT that he is wrong with his "Uconn failed 13 out of 17" number. When he throws kids like OKwandu who graduated and even AO whose GPA is fine right off the bat he is wrong. So basically you agree with his misinformation and misleading "facts". You did say you agree with everything he wrote.

I know. What a bizarre post.

 

[upstater]

Because the University of Lousiana-Monroe won something like 3 games this past season and is no danger of making the tournament next year.
What fun is it to ban them?

Well, the ban is for next year. I hear they will have a powerhouse team, but now everyone is transferring to Kentucky.

 

[upstater]

In the future, I'm only going to write APR in this fashion: aPR... emphasis on the PR

 

[Inyatkin]

Except for the FACT that he is wrong with his "Uconn failed 13 out of 17" number. When he throws kids like OKwandu who graduated and even AO whose GPA is fine right off the bat he is wrong. So basically you agree with his misinformation and misleading "facts". You did say you agree with everything he wrote.

You can't trust anyone who calls it UCONN. It's not an acronym. UConn. Not that hard.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The rule being applied retroactively isn't fair.

The actual metric of the APR could certainly be called into question as well as it is very flawed.

That being said - how are the only schools that violated the threshold UConn and UL-Monroe?

As flawed and unfair as the whole situation is - god damn there's what 300+ D1 men's basketball teams that didn't violate the APR?

 

[TheChamps990411]

I think the reason uconn is getting the one year ban is because the ncaa sees it as uconn got away with getting to a final four with players who were not meeting the academic standards in 09` so they want to get even by leaving us out at all costs next year. its not fair to the kids but i dont think they give a damn they want blood