The University of Memphis is being forced to forfeit its 07-08 season in which they won an NCAA record 38 games.  Granted, they don’t play in the toughest division, but they made it all the way through the tournament only to lose in the championship game in overtime.  Word on the street is, Derrick Rose, the teams best player at the time, had someone else take his SAT test for him.  After failing the ACT three times and possibly not being eligible for the upcoming season, mysteriously an acceptable score was obtained.  On top of that, the school gave Rose’s brother something around the $1,700 in traveling expenses so he could travel with the team.

This all sounds eerily similar to our very own UMass basketball team from the 95-96 season.  I remember watching this team all season shocked that a squad from UMass was making serious moves.  They were ranked number one for the first time in school history and went all the way to the final four, but lost to Kentucky.  Marcus Camby was the star of the team then but with a supporting cast of Lou Roe, Edgar Padillia, Carmello Travieso, Tyrone Weeks, Derrick Kellog, Donta Bright, Dana Dingle how can you go wrong.  This season was later vacated also because Marcus Camby admitted to accepting some $28,000 from agents while still in school.  For the record, I see nothing wrong with college players getting paid.  The schools make so much money when their athletic programs do well, so why shouldn’t the players be compensated?  Camby later reimbursed the school for the $151,617 in lost revenue.

Which brings me full circle back to Coach John Calipari.  Sure he left UMass for the NBA immediately after that final four season, but thats only because the New Jersey Nets were offering big bucks.  He was paid 3 million dollars a year which in 97 was a boat load for a coach.  The decision had nothing to due with the NCAA launching an investigation into wrongdoings at UMass.  After about three seasons the Nets fired Calipari.  Now with the Memphis situation, how was the coach supposed to know his star player was a dum dum?  Or that there was something wrong with Rose’s brother having enough funds be everywhere the team was going to be.  That doesn’t explain why Coach Calipari would suddenly jump ship from Memphis, a school he brought back from obscurity, to become head coach at neighboring Kentucky.  With the Kentucky job comes a lot more pressure.  Memphis had some of the top recruits in the country already committed to the team, who have since rescinded their commitments since the man who recruited them now isn’t going to be there.  Maybe the coach knew something we didn’t.

The University of Memphis is being forced to forfeit its 07-08 season in which they won an NCAA record 38 games.  Granted, they don’t play in the toughest division, but they made it all the way through the tournament only to lose in the championship game in overtime.  Word on the street is, Derrick Rose, the teams best player at the time, had someone else take his SAT test for him.  After failing the ACT three times and possibly not being eligible for the upcoming season, mysteriously an acceptable score was obtained.  On top of that, the school gave Rose’s brother something around the $1,700 in traveling expenses so he could travel with the team.

This all sounds eerily similar to our very own UMass basketball team from the 95-96 season.  I remember watching this team all season shocked that a squad from UMass was making serious moves.  They were ranked number one for the first time in school history and went all the way to the final four, but lost to Kentucky.  Marcus Camby was the star of the team then but with a supporting cast of Lou Roe, Edgar Padillia, Carmello Travieso, Tyrone Weeks, Derrick Kellog, Donta Bright, Dana Dingle how can you go wrong.  This season was later vacated also because Marcus Camby admitted to accepting some $28,000 from agents while still in school.  For the record, I see nothing wrong with college players getting paid.  The schools make so much money when their athletic programs do well, so why shouldn’t the players be compensated?  Camby later reimbursed the school for the $151,617 in lost revenue.

Which brings me full circle back to Coach John Calipari.  Sure he left UMass for the NBA immediately after that final four season, but thats only because the New Jersey Nets were offering big bucks.  He was paid 3 million dollars a year which in 97 was a boat load for a coach.  The decision had nothing to due with the NCAA launching an investigation into wrongdoings at UMass.  After about three seasons the Nets fired Calipari.  Now with the Memphis situation, how was the coach supposed to know his star player was a dum dum?  Or that there was something wrong with Rose’s brother having enough funds be everywhere the team was going to be.  That doesn’t explain why Coach Calipari would suddenly jump ship from Memphis, a school he brought back from obscurity, to become head coach at neighboring Kentucky.  With the Kentucky job comes a lot more pressure.  Memphis had some of the top recruits in the country already committed to the team, who have since rescinded their commitments since the man who recruited them now isn’t going to be there.  Maybe the coach knew something we didn’t.