Interesting story out of St. Joe's.

[Coach Norman Dale]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/12/19/todd.obrien/index.html

This is the first I heard of this but hope that this article forces St. Joe's to at least provide this kid an explanation for its position/actions.  Does not paint Phil Martelli in a very good light!

[Nukem2]

Weird.  As Buzz said about Mbakwe, he does not want people who don't want to be here.  Martelli's not winning any points here.  Surprised the AD is going along with this.

[drbchilds]

This makes St. Joe's and especially Martelli, look really bad.  Who would send their kid to St. Joe's to play for Martelli after reading this????

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

Something tells me there's more to this story than this guy's "whoa is me" piece.

[GGGG]

Well, a quick check on the St. Joe's message boards shows that he came close to getting kicked out of school last year for "stealing laptops," that Martelli went to bat for him, only to have the kid announce his transfer.  So it seems as though the kid is a class A jerk.

But you have to let him go.  You won't win this in the court of public opinion.

[QuetteHoops]

Well, a quick check on the St. Joe's message boards shows that he came close to getting kicked out of school last year for "stealing laptops," that Martelli went to bat for him, only to have the kid announce his transfer.  So it seems as though the kid is a class A jerk.

But you have to let him go.  You won't win this in the court of public opinion.

This. I have a buddy that goes to St. Joe's and he said that this is the other side of the story...Regardless the kid should be able to play.

[MerrittsMustache]

This. I have a buddy that goes to St. Joe's and he said that this is the other side of the story...Regardless the kid should be able to play.

Pretty vague write-up, but it would go along with the story from the StJ boards.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-02-25/sports/28632982_1_hawks-school-issue-todd-o-brien

Interesting that his SI article didn't include this part. It's not as if people couldn't do a quick Google search to find out that he missed some time last season for a university investigation.

[GGGG]

And if this is indeed the case, St. Joe's and Martelli cannot (officially) tell their side of the story.

[Coach Norman Dale]

I wondered the same thing -- how he got SI to carry the story when at least some contradictory or explanatory info was easily available.

[MerrittsMustache]

And if this is indeed the case, St. Joe's and Martelli cannot (officially) tell their side of the story.

Martelli has been there for a long time. I'm sure he's chummy with someone in the media who could "leak" it.

[Abode4life]

Pretty vague write-up, but it would go along with the story from the StJ boards.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-02-25/sports/28632982_1_hawks-school-issue-todd-o-brien

Interesting that his SI article didn't include this part. It's not as if people couldn't do a quick Google search to find out that he missed some time last season for a university investigation.

The article is written by the kid who transferred, so I imagine that's why its not in there.  I would have thought SI would do more research if the stolen laptops story is true.

[MerrittsMustache]

The article is written by the kid who transferred, so I imagine that's why its not in there.  I would have thought SI would do more research if the stolen laptops story is true.

I guess I should have said that it was interesting he didn't include that along with some sort of defense as to how it was determined to be unfounded. Leaving it out makes him seem guilty and like he's trying to hide it...but putting it in would probably lose him a lot of sympathy.

[77ncaachamps]

Did anyone catch Nova getting run by St. Joe's?

Sad to see this rear its ugly head.
But why didn't they put a reason down in the app (for not granting him a release)?

[RyanConroy]

Martelli has been there for a long time. I'm sure he's chummy with someone in the media who could "leak" it.

I'm not sure if it's in his best interests to explain how he fights for his athletes to be above the law.

[nycwarrior]

Jesus - just let em go. At worst, he's UAB's problem now.

[MUBurrow]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/basketball/ncaa/12/19/todd.obrien/index.html

I fully acknowledge that this is likely more superbar material. But given that its college ball, on this night I thought it might be nice to remind ourselves of the situation of schools in other parts of the country that look like us on paper.  Could be way worse than an unfortunate stumble on the road to a BCS school.

[Jay Bee]

The kid also stayed there during the summer, took classes until he graduated.  THEN late in the summer tells St. Joe's he wants to transfer elsewhere and use the grad credit, which was available because he used free tuition from the school in the summer. 

Read the kid's article.. "I got the scholarship papers in May.. but I decided to not sign them and just hang onto them".

Stop whining, kid.  St. Joe's was playing by the rules and it's not clear whether or not this kid was feeding the school and program a line of b.s. prior to his graduation.

[Ari Gold]

Well, a quick check on the St. Joe's message boards shows that he came close to getting kicked out of school last year for "stealing laptops," that Martelli went to bat for him, only to have the kid announce his transfer.  So it seems as though the kid is a class A jerk.

But you have to let him go.  You won't win this in the court of public opinion.

I hadn't read the article until MUBurrow had posted it. Heartstrings were immediately tugged and I thought of how frustrated that kid could have been. Follow up posts and comments clearly show its not that cut and dry and I feel that SI article falls just short of manipulative. Sultan hit it on the head though. It looks like the Coach it trying to manipulate the kid's future. better to just cut ties with the problem completely.

[Coach Norman Dale]

It occurred to me last night -- how is this case that much different that that of Jeremiah Masoli -- wherein the NCAA approved the transfer.  Granted Masoli got kicked off the team and it does not say if Oregon fought the transfer. (They kicked him off the team -- for good reason -- so why would they?)  But like O'Brien, he had graduated and then moved on. 

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5528636

Jeremiah Masoli eligible at Ole Miss

OXFORD, Miss. -- In another surprising twist to a month-long saga, Mississippi quarterback Jeremiah Masoli has been cleared to play football just one day before the start of the season.

Three days ago, the NCAA ruled that the former Oregon quarterback had to sit out a season after enrolling at Mississippi. But the university appealed that decision and announced Friday that the NCAA Division I Subcommittee for Legislative Relief had overturned the first ruling.

Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said he couldn't talk about specifics of Friday morning's appeals hearing but was thrilled with the committee's decision.

"It's a big lift for us and the team's really excited," Nutt said. "We feel very fortunate. Jeremiah and his family were in tears, they were so happy afterward.

"It's a great feeling," he said.

Masoli is expected to be the Rebels' starting quarterback this season, though Nutt said sophomore Nathan Stanley will start against Jacksonville State on Saturday because of the short notice.

Masoli played for Oregon the past two seasons, leading the Ducks to the Rose Bowl in 2009. But he was kicked off Oregon's team earlier this summer after two run-ins with police. He pleaded guilty to a second-degree burglary charge and was also cited for misdemeanor marijuana possession.

Masoli had already received an undergraduate degree from Oregon and decided to transfer to Ole Miss, where he entered the Parks and Recreation graduate program. The NCAA will often waive a one-year residency requirement for athletes who enter a graduate program not offered at the previous school but initially didn't clear Masoli because "the waiver exists to provide relief to student-athletes who transfer for academic reasons to pursue graduate studies, not to avoid disciplinary measures at the previous university."

Obviously, the NCAA subcommittee disagreed, and the Rebels' offense is likely better for it.

"We would like to thank the NCAA staff and subcommittee for approaching this case and all of its details with diligence and fairness," Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone said in a released statement.

Masoli accounted for 51 total touchdowns over two seasons at Oregon and is considered one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country.