UD always says that understanding the existential implications of, er, student-athletes would tax Jean-Paul.
A sports reporter grapples with it.
[The University of Kentucky’s] one-and-doners were finished being college students at the start of the SEC Tournament, or sooner.
Thus, it quacks like a fraud. It seems a lot like financial and academic fraud, systemic fraud, fraud by design and with a major university serving as the front.
… Sure, there are precedents. P.J. Carlesimo’s 1989 Seton Hall players, who lost to Michigan in the NCAA Final, simply went their individual ways after that game. No reason to return to school; their business at and for Seton Hall was done for the year, if not forever.
Heck, Andrew Gaze’s first day enrolled at Seton Hall was the first day of practice. Right after the Michigan game, he returned home to Australia. His one-and-done lasted from Day 1 of practice to the last game of the season. So long, mates!
If Seton Hall was in violation of anything — internally or by NCAA code — it wasn’t charged. Kentucky is apparently clean, too.
Being and nothingness. In big-time university sports, it’s hard to tell the difference.
March 26th, 2012 at 7:59PM
These are not (necessarily) parallel cases. Andrew Gaze was a hired gun, 23 years old, arguably a pro already, who came in, played the season, and went back to the Australian league. But an 18-year-old who plays for a year and goes to the NBA? Is that so different from Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg dropping out of Harvard to start their companies?
The one-and-done guys who succeed are not the issue. They’ve achieved their goal, and probably shouldn’t count against the APR. The disgrace is all the other athletes who don’t get either a degree or a contract