in this week's Sporting News. Check their website.
Not seeing anything...
don't know how to link it. I have a subscription to the mag. Basically it says how the NCAA was foolish in making him wait for a decision.
Quote from: ecompt on October 18, 2007, 02:02:14 PM
don't know how to link it. I have a subscription to the mag. Basically it says how the NCAA was foolish in making him wait for a decision.
HAHAHA... I look forward to reading it... especially considering the speculation of some people on this board.
Here's the link:
http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=291782
Although Trevor Mbakwe never committed any offense -- in fact, never was charged with anything -- the folks at the NCAA Clearinghouse have commuted his sentence.
He no longer is barred from practicing with the Marquette Golden Eagles or working out at the McGuire Center. He no longer is barred from being coached by the men who recruited him to the university. He no longer is barred from dining or weight training with his teammates. He no longer is barred from receiving the meal checks that come with an athletic scholarship.
Surely this is a proud moment for everyone involved in college sports.
Mbakwe (M-bahk-way) is a 6-7, 240-pound power forward who committed to Marquette just before his senior year at St. Bernard's High in St. Paul, Minn. It was his third high school in a year, so he did himself no favors in the process of qualifying for college eligibility. But the issue isn't whether the NCAA was right or wrong to investigate the veracity of a particular course Mbakwe completed to fulfill freshman eligibility requirements. The far greater problem is how athletes are treated while the NCAA is conducting that work.
There was a two-week grace period following Mbakwe's arrival at Marquette, during which he was allowed to participate in conditioning drills, training table and four practices before the Golden Eagles' Labor Day trip to British Columbia. When that time expired without a final ruling from the NCAA, he was exiled and asked to disappear into the cracks of the sidewalk.
This isn't just standard NCAA inanity. This is cruel. "There's a lot of stress involved that most people who haven't gone through it aren't going to recognize," Marquette coach Tom Crean says.
The transition to college life is enough of a challenge for any student. To shine a spotlight that identifies a young person as a marginal student (regardless of whether that is true) and then separate him from an activity that is an important part of his life might be the worst of the many things the NCAA does wrong.
If NCAA rules had permitted Mbakwe to run sprints with his team, lift weights with his team and go through skill drills or practices with his team and then the Clearinghouse determined he was not eligible to compete -- well, what would have been the harm in that? There would have been no real competitive advantage for Marquette.
The way this worked, Mbakwe was significantly handicapped in his quest to compete as a freshman for the Golden Eagles. They need his rebounding and athleticism, and he wants to give it to them, but he lost nearly a month of crucial prep time.
It's not uncommon for governmental authorities to cough up big-dollar settlements when they falsely imprison people for crimes they did not commit. What does Mbakwe get from the NCAA? He gets the "good news" the Clearinghouse hasn't rejected him. It's just how things work.
QuoteIf NCAA rules had permitted Mbakwe to run sprints with his team, lift weights with his team and go through skill drills or practices with his team and then the Clearinghouse determined he was not eligible to compete -- well, what would have been the harm in that? There would have been no real competitive advantage for Marquette.
I have always wondered that too. If an athlete is eventually ruled ineligible it doesn't really matter if he had been practicing or not. It's a shame that some of these athletes are punished for doing nothing wrong.
Also, I never realized they were not allowed to have dinner with teammates.
The NCAA should really review this process.