In general, my personal policy on the assorted hype of graduation rates and APR and all that is to not pay a whole lot of attention to it.
It's positive and all. But in the absence of information about the actual quality of the majors that most of these athletes find themselves in, it's hard to rejoice with complete conviction.
This topic comes up with the news, chronicled here by Jon Solomon of CBS Sports, that the NCAA and North Carolina want a dismissal of the recent lawsuit brought by former players over the fake classes in Chapel Hill.
The NCAA and University of North Carolina filed a motion Monday seeking to dismiss a lawsuit related to North Carolina's academic scandal involving fraudulent classes for athletes.
In January, former North Carolina women's basketball player Rashanda McCants and former football player Devon Ramsay sued for breach of contract and negligence. They claim the university failed to provide "academically sound classes with legitimate educational structure" and the NCAA negligently refused to monitor academic fraud for the last century.
In a filing Monday, the NCAA argued that although it supplies and enforces rules for various parts of college sports, it is not "subject to liability for the independent actions of its member institutions." The NCAA said it's being sued for "conduct the NCAA did not and could not control."
Now, these lawsuits do seem over the top and we can all hope they are dismissed. But here's the part of the NCAA's logic that is bothersome:
The NCAA wrote that it "did not assume a duty to ensure the quality of education student-athletes received at member institutions or to protect student-athletes from the independent, voluntary acts of those institutions or their employees." Added the NCAA: "… it was not secret that the NCAA did not review the substance of college courses."
Oh, really? If there's zero duty to ensure the quality of education, then perhaps the NCAA should abandon its much-practiced duty of trumpeting the graduation rates and academic accomplishments of these athletes at every turn.
A few Wednesday links:
-- Jimbo Fisher says Jameis Winston is "the whole package."
Jimbo Fisher didn't seem surprised that quarterback Jameis Winston opted to throw 102 passes during Tuesday's pro day at Florida State, even if that's double the number some prospects throw.
"That just shows you, he's the kid who goes to the park, gets there at 8 in the morning, and leave when the lights are turned off at 9 at night…" Fisher said.
"He has nothing to hide. I'll make every throw you want. I'll do anything you want to do. It doesn't matter.
The Bucs are strongly considering taking Winston, the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner, with the No. 1 overall pick on April 30. Bucs coach Lovie Smith and general manager Jason Licht were among those present at FSU's pro day.
Fisher said Winston wasn't fazed by the hoopla, including about 80 credentialed media and two national TV broadcasts.
"That's the thing as these guys keep going up levels," Fisher said. "Can they handle the moments? Can they handle the pressure? Can they handle the scrutiny? I always say with him: The bigger the moment, the better he is."
-- After much suspense, Syracuse has unveiled its spring-game format. Apparently there will be no scoring system.
Which differentiates it from the regular season how, exactly?
It's a drastic change from last year's offense vs. defense format that featured a contrived scoring system. The reason to move toward a controlled scrimmage is to protect against thin numbers across various positions and remove any confusion over how to keep score.
"We're not going to come up with some imaginative scoring system because I was pummeled on that last time because no one understood how the scoring system works," coach Scott Shafer said.
"So the best way to alleviate that is to not have a scoring system, turn the clock off and just practice some football in front of the fans."
Shafer said the format will include situational scrimmage work where the ball is spotted at different yard markers. There will be pass skeleton work (no linemen) and some team periods and live scrimmage periods.
Field goal kickers will also get some work in, and the punt units will practice without a rush.
Shafer hopes for 60-70 reps on the day.
"I don't put a lot of stock into the spring game, never have," Shafer said. "We really finished our work today. We don't want to go into the spring game and show all the different things that we've been putting in on offense and on defense, so we want to keep it pretty vanilla and just let the kids go block and run and tackle and catch passes and finish up spring on a high note."
-- Former Miami QB Kevin Olsen is dismissed from another program. Jeez.
Kevin Olsen's career with the Towson football team ended before it began.
Coach Rob Ambrose confirmed Tuesday evening that the former University of Miami quarterback, who joined the Tigers in January, was dismissed for a violation of team rules before spring practice began in March.
Miami confirms QB Kevin Olsen suspended for opener
"The relationship we had with the kid and his family has gone on for quite some time, and everybody was pretty much assured that this would work out for the positive," Ambrose said. "So it's disappointing for Kevin, it's disappointing for us, and we'll just move on."
-- In Newport News, David Teel says Duke-Kentucky would be a most fitting -- and reminiscent -- final.
John Calipari has hair and does not chew on towels, and none of his players is likely to appear as Grandmama in a shoe company pitch. Otherwise, the parallels between Kentucky 2015 and Nevada-Las Vegas 1991 are striking.
Calipari's Kentucky squad is the first to reach the Final Four undefeated since towel-chomping, follicly challenged Jerry Tarkanian guided UNLV to the national semifinals 24 years ago. And like the Runnin' Rebels, the Wildcats have been feted all season, face a Final Four rematch and do so in Indianapolis replete with NBA talent.
Led by defensive ace Stacey Augmon, guards Greg Anthony and Anderson Hunt, and All-America forward Larry Johnson, later Grandmama in a memorable Converse campaign, Vegas arrived in Indy 34-0. The Rebels played much faster than these Cats, averaging nearly 100 points per game, and their Final Four opponent was none other than Duke.
The Devils had reached four previous Final Fours under Mike Krzyzewski but lacked a championship. Most notably, Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Co., had lost the 1990 title game to UNLV 103-73, the most lopsided final ever.
You know what happened.
-- If you're a Hurricanes fan, you have to be absolutely sick reading the laundry list of players who are going through their Pro Day down there.
Just massive underachievement.
Say, what's Butch Davis up to these days?
LW
This post was edited on 4/1 8:35 AM by Larry_Williams
