By now, most Kentucky fans are all too familiar with the Eric Bledsoe transcript situation. One that could, and I say could, end up causing UK to forfeit the entire 2009-10 season.
In fact in a recent article on N of B, we highlighted [URL=”http://www.nationofblue.com/gary-parrish-eric-bledsoe-2837/”]CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish[/URL] and his thoughts on that very topic, and for good measure, threw in a few of our own.
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The Bledsoe incident is still unresolved. In fact, as of this writing, the Alabama School Board is yet to officially release their findings.
A single news article by Jon Solomon from the Birmingham News has been the single source of any findings.
His writing provided two major potential issues:
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[*]Bledsoe’s four-year transcript shows he made an A in Algebra 3, however, a grade report from those night sessions showed Bledsoe was recorded as making a C average.
[*]Bledsoe was allowed to take Algebra III prior to taking Algebra II. A practice that some say is unusual.
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Pending result, a C in Algebra III would mean that Eric would have ended with a 2.375 GPA in his core classes, a GPA below the minimum 2.50 making him ineligible to participate in Basketball at Kentucky during the 09-10 season.
ESPN Jay Bilas provides us with his thoughts on the Bledsoe situation and why he thinks the NCAA should get out of the eligibility decision. Here are some excerpts from his article:
[QUOTE]Count me among those that believe the Eric Bledsoe transcript matter to be unnecessary. First, whether a student has a 2.3 GPA in core courses or a 2.5 seems of little importance. The University of Kentucky, as part of its academic mission, encourages students with a 2.0 high school GPA to apply for admission. If Bledsoe could manage a 2.3 and UK wished to admit a student with that academic record, it should have the autonomy to do so. Period.
In my judgment, the University of Kentucky is perfectly capable of deciding who to admit, who to educated and how to educate them. The NCAA should get out of the eligibility business. Its member institutions are perfectly capable of making admission and eligibility decisions on their own.[/QUOTE]Jay has a different outlook on the situation. One I must say, I have yet to breach. But he makes some great points.
Why does the NCAA feel it’s necessary to create a minimum level of eligibility. If Universities, who for most, have been around for many years before the NCAA, can develop and implement minimum standards, why are those standards not good enough for a Student-Athlete, just like they are for the common student?
The NCAA reminds us constantly that they are students first and because of their athletic ability should receive no treatment outside of a normal student. Should that apply to the minimum GPA also?
[URL=”http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog?name=bilas_jay&id=5603093″]Read Jay’s entire article here.[/URL]
Go Cats!!!
