Thursday, August 20, 2009

Calipari: N.C. State's best non-hire ever

N.C. State wasn’t able to pry coach John Calipari away from Memphis three years ago.

It might have been the most fortunate non-hire in the school’s history.

Calipari, who seemed incredibly close to being N.C. State’s basketball coach but accepted a raise to stay at Memphis, now has both his trips to the Final Four vacated.

The NCAA announced Thursday that Memphis will have to forfeit all of its 38 wins and its appearance in the NCAA championship game in 2007-08. Memphis was found to have given approximately $1,713.85 in impermissible travel benefits to the brother of a player.

On May 5, 2008, the SAT’s testing service canceled the test score of a player on the 2007-08 team, making him ineligible. The player in both violations has been identified in published reports as Derrick Rose.

Apologists for Memphis will say it’s not fair for the NCAA to hold the school to be held responsible for a test score that wasn’t invalidated until after the season was over. They will say the NCAA clearinghouse’s approval of Rose’s transcript should absolve Memphis of responsibility.

But NCAA rules are clear that schools, not the clearinghouse, are held responsible for correctly determining initial eligibility. School officials have long been aware of this fact.

Calipari’s supporters will correctly say that the NCAA didn’t consider any allegations against him and made no finding against him personally. Paul Dee, the former Miami athletics director who chairs the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions, said Calipari was helpful and responsive when he appeared before the committee.

The only effect this case will have on Calipari is to expunge the wins and Final Four appearance from his record that season. So now Calipari has Final Four trips vacated in 2008 with Memphis and 1996 with Massachusetts.

“Whenever you have a situation where you have a penalty that not only affects the team’s records but also the individual’s personal record, you do have an impact on that particular individual and their career, that is to be sure,” Dee said.

Except for bad publicity, though, there doesn’t seem to be much of an impact on Calipari. He has escaped Memphis for Kentucky in time to put together one of the best recruiting classes of all time and build for what could be more trips to the Final Four.

He might have built N.C. State into a Final Four-caliber team, too, and the Wolfpack is a long way from that status under coach Sidney Lowe. But with the way Calipari leaves NCAA sanctions in his wake, N.C. State is better off without him.

Ken Tysiac

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

pretty weak way to throw wolfpack b-ball under the bus ken.

Anonymous said...

I think Lowe has done a good enough job of that over the past three seasons. Don't be so thin-skinned.

Anonymous said...

Nothing to do with thin-skin. Why would an article entirely about the scandalous Calipari (who by the way never coached or played at NC state) include NC State in the title? I get the connection, but seriously.

Will this article come out if Steve Lavin gets caught with a prostitute? What article gets written if Rick Barnes catches a DUI?

704Champ said...

"Apologists for Memphis will say it’s not fair for the NCAA to hold the school to be held responsible for a test score that wasn’t invalidated until after the season was over. They will say the NCAA clearinghouse’s approval of Rose’s transcript should absolve Memphis of responsibility."

I'm no Memphis apologist (or fan) but I don't think its fair their entire school gets penalized for Calipari's violations, but not for the mentioned clearinghouse approval reason.

I think its a sham that someone like Calipari can go to a school like Memphis, get them in all kinds of trouble, jump ship for Kentucky, and not have any consequences follow him. Calipari should have to deal with losing scholarships and maybe salary, not the schools. In one sense you think the schools know about some shady dealings, but ultimately its Calipari's fault/responsibility.

The NCAA is pretty much a joke anyway though. I'll laugh at Calipari getting caught, but I won't laugh directly at Memphis.

ps: GO PACK!

Anonymous said...

Okay, so what's the big deal. We all know that the lesser schools are recruiting players who have substandard academics. US News and World Report just listed their rankings for national universities. Duke #10, UNC and Wake tied for #28. NCSU is tied with Clemson for #88. Wow -- KY is 128th; I am amazed they made the top 150. Memphis -- ??? Louisville -- ???

Anonymous said...

Thanks for connecting the Wolfpack to Calipari's indiscretions. I guess no other schools were courting him anytime during his coaching career??

Anonymous said...

The article title clearly shows the content to be linked with the NC State coaching search. Geez, grow some thicker skin people. I'm a Pack Alum that sees noting wrong with the article.

Nothing to see here, move along...

Anonymous said...

And Roy handed out gifts to players at Kansas, maybe UNC shouldn't have hired him?