As we mentioned in an update to yesterday’s column about how Memphis was handling Derrick Rose‘s questionable test scores, more reports of questionable test scores out of Memphis are surfacing. As Gary Parrish reported earlier today, Robert Dozier‘s SAT scores were questionable enough that Georgia refused to admit him. What most of the media has missed is that a third member of that Memphis team (Doneal Mack) that lost to Kansas in one of the most exciting title games of the past 20 years also had a suspicious ACT score that led Florida to deny him admission too.
While Memphis claims to be innocent in Rose’s case because the actions took place before he enrolled at Memphis and that they were unaware of potential inconsistencies in his test scores, the fact that they admitted two other players who had already been denied admission to other schools because of questionable standardized test scores makes the school’s claims of innocence more laughable unless they are going for another version of “don’t ask, don’t tell” with regards to SAT scores. Since John Calipari has already headed to Kentucky the administration at Memphis is left handling this mess.
The question is what kind of punishment, if any, will be handed down by the NCAA. Given the fact that they have done absolutely nothing with the mess at USC, it seems unlikely the Tigers will face any major sanctions particularly since there probably will not be any money trail like there was at Michigan where the Fab 5 played. It will be interesting to see if the NCAA and Kentucky police Calipari more closely than usual to avoid a Kelvin Sampson situation where he committed several violations at Indiana after committing similar violations at Oklahoma.
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Florida didn't deny Doneal Mack admission because of a test score. They denied him admission because none of the members of the national championship team went pro early like they expected them to and they didn't have any scholarships to award.
Not according to Billy Donovan:
A Florida rule on college entrance exams prevented Mack from joining the team, Donovan said. Unlike many other schools, Florida does not admit athletes or non-athletes who have had entrance exam scores canceled. The ACT canceled Mack's original score of 23 when his score of 18 on a re-test did not fall within a range that would remove suspicion. "It had nothing to do with Billy Donovan or Werner," the Florida coach said. "With our academic standards, he was not admissible."
Here's the difference between Kentucky and Indiana: IU thought they were clean as a Hoosier snow fall thanks to the General. UK accepts and appreciates a little extra effort by its coaches thanks to Rupp's Runts and Sutton's SAT and money bag antics.
ummm... what exactly did rupp's runts do?... besides lose the championship game? if you've been sitting on runt-related ncaa violations for the past 43 years, air them now. pat riley wants to know...