Dieng may not play at Louisville

[Jay Bee]

I'm seeing conflicting reports on this... but, potentially another bad blow for Pitino.

http://www.cardchronicle.com/2010/9/13/1686294/gorgui-dieng-will-not-play-at

"Card Chronicle has learned that freshman big man Gorgui Dieng has not qualified to play this season and is likely headed to a junior college."

Interesting seeing a lot of guys we 'missed on' having issues getting cleared (Tony Mitchell, Justin Coleman, Dieng, Cothron, etc.)

[NersEllenson]

Wow.  Perfect..Dieng goes to JUCO..Buzz's JUCO connections push the kid to play ball for Buzz...Buzz has Jimmy and DJO get drafted into the league, Crowder plays great...and the pre-existing relationship Dieng already had with Buzz..all lead to Dieng coming to MU in 2012!  Wishful thinking of course.

[ecompt]

Seeing the words "Pitino" and "bad blow" in the same sentence made me smile.

[mileskishnish72]

Rick, Gorgui Dieng is not walking through that door...

[tower912]

Dieng, Kantner, Pearl.....difficult to not think that karma is coming home to roost. 

[goodgreatgrand]

Jeez. Seems like a lot of problems on a lot of BE teams right before the start of the season - UConn, Nova, WVU and now 'Ville.

[willie warrior]

Seeing the words "Pitino" and "bad blow" in the same sentence made me smile.

Yeah, except Karen Cypher's ex attorney would also qualify--according to the atty.

[nyg]

Jeez. Seems like a lot of problems on a lot of BE teams right before the start of the season - UConn, Nova, WVU and now 'Ville.

Add Providence with all their player turnover (Peterson and Lacy) and recruitment issues (Young).  Seton Hall with their coaching debacle and you are right on point.

[MarkCharles]

The article says the problem isn't with his prep school in the states, but rather with his African high school.

What a load of bs. Honestly, how can the NCAA hold a high school in Africa to the same standard as it does American high schools? Give this guy a break. This guy gets a one-in-a-million chance to come over here and pursue his dream, and the NCAA finds some credits issue or something. His prep grades and US test scores have all been solid, so whats the problem here? I'm sure you could find issues like this with pretty much any player who ever came from Africa. I truly hate the NCAA.

That being said, couldn't have happened to a better program.

[MarkCharles]

I wonder if this has any bearing on Q Miller? He might actually look at Louisville and see that he'll have to play center there more than he would at Marquette, as our long-term depth at the position looks a lot stronger than theirs. Haha what a messy offseason for Louisville.

[NersEllenson]

I wonder if this has any bearing on Q Miller? He might actually look at Louisville and see that he'll have to play center there more than he would at Marquette, as our long-term depth at the position looks a lot stronger than theirs. Haha what a messy offseason for Louisville.

Or it helps open up another scholarship...from what I understood if L'ville were to have landed Miller and Bello, they would have been oversigned by 2...now that would only be 1..thereby making it even easier for Slick Rick to free up enough room to get both Miller and Bello..

[MarkCharles]

Or it helps open up another scholarship...from what I understood if L'ville were to have landed Miller and Bello, they would have been oversigned by 2...now that would only be 1..thereby making it even easier for Slick Rick to free up enough room to get both Miller and Bello..

That is true. I believe that if Bello and Miller both signed, Louisville would actually have been oversigned by 3 though. But I doubt the way in which a scholarship opened up would be a  high priority for Miller. I'm sure he has every confidence in the world that if he wants to sign at Louisville, Pitino would find room for him, even if they were oversigned by 10. And rightly so. Miller will have a place at Louisville (or Marquette) if he wants one, oversigned or not.

[NersEllenson]

That is true. I believe that if Bello and Miller both signed, Louisville would actually have been oversigned by 3 though. But I doubt the way in which a scholarship opened up would be a  high priority for Miller. I'm sure he has every confidence in the world that if he wants to sign at Louisville, Pitino would find room for him, even if they were oversigned by 10. And rightly so. Miller will have a place at Louisville (or Marquette) if he wants one, oversigned or not.

Good point - This bolded part would frame a good debate...I wonder how MU fans would feel if Buzz landed Shaw, Harrison, and Anderson..and then Quincy Miller decided he wanted to come to MU..which would leave MU oversigned by 1...what would fans think..after the Newbill saga..if for instance we oversigned with Miller and were forced to squeeze someone else out of the program?  My thinking would be that at this point, even if Miller decided he wanted to come to MU..but all of our scholarships had been offered..that we might pass..given some of the backlash of the Newbill situation.

[smrunner99]

I for one hope the oversigning continues to be an issue at MU in a good way.

[MarkCharles]

Looks like these reports were a little premature...

Evan Daniels of Scout.com
"Apparently there's some rumors going around about Gorgui Dieng being "academically ineligible." That is not true.

Dieng has not been cleared yet (like a number of freshman), but has not been deemed academically ineligible."

[MarkCharles]

Dieng has been declared ineligible, per ESPN. Louisville will appeal the decision.

[SacWarrior]

Dieng has been declared ineligible, per ESPN. Louisville will appeal the decision.

Good luck to them.

[Jay Bee]

As I understand it,... there are no 'partial qualifiers' anymore.. you're either a qualifier or a nonqual.. however... in essence there are partial qualifiers.. i.e., qualifiers that get a partial waiver... where they could receive an athletic scholarship and practice with the team, but not play... this specific case sounds like a possibility for that outcome...

Partial waiver or not, this sucks for Pitino.

[MarkCharles]

This does suck for Pitino. Even for a program and coach that I despise as Louisville and Pitino, I would rather win because our best is better than their best than on a technicality.

[TheTasteofGarlic]

Dieng has been declared ineligible, per ESPN. Louisville will appeal the decision.

I hear Pitino has booked a special table at Porcini's for a power dinner with the NCAA.

[slack00]

I hear Pitino has booked a special table at Porcini's for a power dinner with the NCAA.

It took me about 15 seconds, but I get it now.

[reinko]

It took me about 15 seconds, but I get it now.

Really?  There is not much to get.  It's not even that clever. 

Is Pitino going to have sex with the NCAA on a table, then father a child with the NCAA and then pay for the NCAA to have an abortion?  Will then the NCAA try to extort money from Pitino?

[Skatastrophy]

Really?  There is not much to get.  It's not even that clever. 

Is Pitino going to have sex with the NCAA on a table, then father a child with the NCAA and then pay for the NCAA to have an abortion?  Will then the NCAA try to extort money from Pitino?

The NCAA would then bring up in court that it was really only 30 seconds of "power lunch" with 5 minutes of crying and apologizing afterwards.

[Benny B]

Seeing the words "Pitino" and "bad blow" in the same sentence made me smile.

Nearly a month later, and this is still funny.

[foreverwarriors]

Adam Zagoria just tweeted that Dieng has been cleared:

@AdamZagoria Gorgui Dieng has been cleared by the NCAA to play at Louisville effective immediately, per his high school coach, Rob Fulford.