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ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neill has posted a story in which she says a source familiar with NCAA rules says that Kentucky would not be out of the clear, even if it did not know about Eric Bledsoe’s academic status or alleged improper benefits.

An excerpt:

Because the NCAA recently changed its rules to include people associated with a prospect, that payment could be construed as an extra benefit, which could make Bledsoe ineligible under NCAA rules.

The source said that the NCAA Student Athlete Reinstatement Committee considers a four-prong test when deciding eligibility. The committee has leeway and considers case-by-case evidence, but failure to meet any of the four prongs could result in an athlete being rendered ineligible.

The committee would consider:

• Did the relationship develop as a result of the athlete’s participation in athletics?

• Did the relationship predate the athlete’s status as a prospect?

• Did the relationship predate the athlete’s status achieved as a result of their athletics ability/reputation?

• Was the pattern of benefits provided before the athlete’s notoriety similar to those provided after?

O’Neill also brings up the Derrick Rose case at Memphis, and the Souhern Cal case of improper benefits being given to O.J. Mayo.
http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2010/05/30/...r-bledsoe/

[Stardust]

http://johnclay.bloginky.com/2010/05/30/...stigation/

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

New York Times reports that Alabama High School Athletic Association now reviewing Bledsoe:

Steve Savarese, the executive director of the Alabama association, said that if the allegations prove to be true, Parker might have to forfeit its season, which ended with a loss in the state championship game. “We’ll formulate and evaluate and see if we have enough information to investigate,” Savarese said.

Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader writes that Eric Bledsoe’s former coach says he has proof of classwork:

In a statement released by spokesman DeWayne Peevy, UK said the NCAA approved of Bledsoe’s eligibility more than once.

“Often high-profile student-athletes are selected for an extensive prospective student-athlete review,” the statement said. “Eric Bledsoe participated in the normal academic review process and also an extensive PSA review by the NCAA Eligibility Center and was cleared academically.”

My column about John Calipari and the New York Times story:

To be sure, there was nothing in the Times report Friday night implicating Kentucky or Calipari. It merely reported the NCAA has been to Alabama asking questions concerning the leap in Bledsoe’s GPA from a 1.9 after his junior year in high school to a 2.5 at graduation, and whether Bledsoe’s high school coach provided extra benefits to the blue-chip guard. But there is more than enough information in the story to make you believe that alarms should have been going off somewhere over on the Avenue of Champions.

Tipton reminds us that Bledoe’s high school coach was no fan of Kentucky:

“If you kept up with the story, you know I was against him coming to Kentucky to play with John Wall,” Ford said. “So how could I be shopping him to Kentucky when I was against him coming to Kentucky. What sense does that make?

“I was on record stating I did not want him coming to Kentucky to play back-seat fiddle to John Wall. Why would I shop him to a school I didn’t want him to go to? What sense does that make?”


Chip Cosby of the H-L writes that Joker Phillips is happy with early haul:

Phillips credits most of the early recruiting success to his staff, particularly newcomers Tee Martin, David Turner and Mike Summers.

“Our staff has been pretty aggressive in getting guys offered, calling and staying on top of the coaches and really getting after it,” Phillips said. “It’s really been a team effort. A lot of times one guy gets the credit, but it’s been the whole staff. A guy has to be just as comfortable with his position coach as he is with the guy recruiting him. We’ve all tried to double- and triple-team up on guys.”

Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal on UK’s statement with regards to Bledsoe:

The NCAA Eligibility Center certifies the academic and amateur credentials of all college-bound student-athletes in DivisionI and DivisionII. Kentucky basketball spokesman DeWayne Peevy said neither coach John Calipari nor athletic director Mitch Barnhart would have any further comment Saturday.

L.Z. Granderson of espn.com says there are plenty of questions out there about DeMarcus Cousins:

Without question, Cousins possesses the skill set; but given the history of similar players, is he worth the risk? Seriously, if a player shows up chubby as a 19-year-old looking for work, what’s going to happen at 21 when he’s gainfully employed? Consider that at 292 pounds, Cousins showed up in Chicago more than 20 pounds heavier than his listed playing weight at Kentucky. Or that he’s about two inches shorter than Shaq, who had 12.2 percent body fat as a rook. Or that Kansas’ Cole Aldrich, the next highest rated big man on this year’s list, has about half the body fat.

(Hat tip Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

A Sea of Blue on the NCAA investigation into Bledsoe:

Of course, Calipari’s actual culpability makes no difference to his detractors, but if we aren’t used to that yet, we are truly doomed. I am not vindicating Calipari here, make no mistake — he may well have known about some of these allegations, and if he did know about them, there should be consequences to his employment. We should not be recruiting players who may wind up found in pre-college violations of NCAA guidelines, and if there were warning signs that Calipari should have heeded, particularly after the Rose affair, that will be a major problem in my eyes, and in the eyes of many UK fans.

John Hunt of the Oregonian writes that Terrence Jones was headed to Oregon before Ernie Kent was fired:

And both Payne and Jones made tough decisions that could have turned out differently if Ernie Kent were still head coach at Oregon. “I know for a fact (Jones) would have come,” Rosemond said. “They got close to Ernie Kent and got to close to me. It’s nobody’s fault, it’s just bad timing.”

(Hat tip Bluegrass State Basketball.)

Kentucky Sports Radio doesn’t believe there is anything to worry about:

So what we are left with is this. As of now, I can see nothing in the news we have now that would make Bledsoe ineligible or UK in trouble. The academic record has been looked at by everyone and as of now, no one has found impropriety. The $1200 issue has the potential to be sticky but the Durrel Arthur situation at Kansas suggests that if UK is shown to have no knowledge, it would effect eligibility if the money has no connection to agents or the school (which seems unlikely since the landlord says that there is $3200 left owed to this day).

Straitpinkie on the Bledsoe case and the NCAA:

I don’t want to sound too much like a UK apologist/homer/defender, but I have a couple qualms here. First, it’s frustrating to me that the NCAA initiates investigations in February, after Bledsoe had already completed an entire semester. What information became available in the eight months after the NCAA originally said Bledsoe was good to go. Again, this is a case where the NCAA assigned itself the responsibility of approving Bledsoe’s eligibility, but will hold UK responsible when they discover their own decision was erroneous.