Clemson signed a good class yesterday, ranked as high as 14th and as low as 26th nationally. something to be proud of. (Click here for the results) However, it could have been a great class akin to what our feathered friends in Columbia landed, if it weren't for interference from the academic administration of Clemson. I'm not referring to recruiting kids who can't meet minimum standards of the university and NCAA Clearinghouse. I am referring to recruiting kids who meet all academic standards, only to have a university board force the coaches to call up the recruits the day before signing day and ax their scholly. Mickey Plyler, Clemson alumn and local radio show host/blogger, sums the situation up perfectly here.
This entire situation brings to mind the clash between academics and athletics that occurred during, and ultimately ended, the era of Danny Ford. Uttles and some of our older Clemson fans will understand the Ford situation better than I and can probably explain the similarities a bit better.
Plyler details the situation better than I could ever hope to, so read his blog for the nuts and bolts of the fiasco. My thoughts on it are basically it seems the administration is handicapping the efforts of our football team. How can Clemson turn the corner if they can't recruit the same players as our biggest competitors? How can I throw my support behind a football team I know will always be an 8-4, 8-5 alsoran? I don't believe in sacrificing academic integrity for the sake of athletics, as many big time programs have done, but I also think it's silly to hold our athletes to the same standard as a Duke or Vanderbilt. You can't tell me that Dwight Jones couldn't make our academic standards but had no problem meeting those of UNC, a top 10 public university.
Read the Plyler blog and let me know what you think about the situation. Things are going to be nasty in Tiger Town for a while now and this might result in a new coach or a new president, at the very least.
COVERUP! Compliance sitting in! And ex compliance. Dwight Jones was illegaly recruited. TRUTH!
ReplyDeleteCould be... however it has not been proven that D. Jones was illegally recruited. Certainly something was up with all those students meeting him during his recruiting visit, but accusations that a mass email was sent out through IPTAY CC have proven false. I've heard that this caused us to drop his scholarship to avoid trouble, but I've also heard we did nothing wrong and this wouldn't affect our signing of him either way.
ReplyDeleteBut something is definitely fishy.
Plyler's blog indicates there was a review and a 2nd review upon request.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds to me like Bowden knew damn well which kids couldn't make the cut but believed the administration was bluffing.
Whoops.
This is all meaningless jibber jabbber. It doesn't matter what recruits we get, our coach is a piece of shit. You could get the top 25 kids each year and still get beat if you can't teach them how to play the college game. Our coaching staff can't develop players, it can't develop gameplans, it can't make adjustments, and it can't win championships. This is just more excuse-making by Bowden and his supporters.
ReplyDeleteUttles, you can't just look at this situation and knock Bowden, there's a lot of collusion going on behind his back that has little to do with him. I was hoping to get your opinion on that and on the academics vs. athletics issue instead of more Bowden bashing.
ReplyDeleteI usually disagree with Plyler, because 99% of the time he's too much of a cheerleading homer for my tastes. But "The Truth" is perhaps the best blog of his I've read in a looong time. I linked him up on my blog as well, people gotta read that.
ReplyDeleteBowden isn't that great of a coach, I'll admit. And he does need to go. But the administration is nothing short of a cancer that hit the lymph nodes a long time ago and no one knew it. They need to go, and now. The university started its quest to become an elite, Ivy-League type school over 20 years ago and they're still nowhere close. Because since Max Lennon the school has dumped all their financial contributions into cosmetic shit like the Madren Center and Walker Course instead of into the classes, professors pay, lab supplies, industry relations, etc. Clemson will never be an elite academic college, and I hope it never becomes one. Because elite academic schools are rarely fun schools, unless you're into raping strippers at team parties.
Hey, I'll bash Bowden if I want to! lol
ReplyDeleteI didn't really add any thoughts to Academics vs Athletics because I agree with your post. It's ridiculous for a state school to refuse a kid that qualifies. Ridiculous.
The thing is, it just doesn't matter, and the fact that this story is getting so much press is because the Bowden loving homers just want to give him MORE excuses to fall back on for the next few years of Mediocrity.
Besides, I'm personally not in favor of the current NCAA system at all. I think you should have to go to college for a year and earn an athletic scholarship, but that's just me.
The Madren Center is far from strictly cosmetic. In combination with the Martin Inn (built from donations where the donors knew exactly what they were purchasing) and Walker Course, the Conference Center and Inn generates a hell of a lot of money for Clemson University and the town.
ReplyDelete