Kentucky Gets First Rejection

General NCS Basketball103

Based on the standard the media last year during the NC State Coaching search, Kentucky has now been turned down by its first ‘candidate’ for its open coaching position.

Pitino Says No

Pitino said Monday that while he enjoyed his eight years with the Wildcats, he’s happy coaching Louisville and wouldn’t consider returning to the school he led to the national championship in 1996.

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General NCS Basketball

103 Responses to Kentucky Gets First Rejection

  1. Dan 03/27/2007 at 12:04 PM #

    btw, I’m hearing rumors that Iowa has received official permission to talk to the Orange Chest.

    Black paint is a much better concealer of flaws and excessive body hair. It would be a good move for Pearl and the viewing public.

  2. joe 03/27/2007 at 12:16 PM #

    I guess the race is on to make sure somebody gets turned down more than Lee Fowler.

  3. foz 03/27/2007 at 12:22 PM #

    Why can’t someone fire their AD so we can advertise a great sale on LF.

  4. MrPlywood 03/27/2007 at 12:25 PM #

    I would like to announce today that that I have no intention of accepting the position of basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. Although I am not able to confirm whether or not I have actually been contacted by UK, I can say that I am happy at my current position.

    Same goes for Tennessee.

    And Iowa.

  5. Gene 03/27/2007 at 12:28 PM #

    I know in the most recent history – Calipari, Tim Floyd, Mike Montgomery, Rick Pitino, Leonard Hamilton, Kruger…you saw successful college coaches go to the NBA to take HC jobs and fail. In recent history, I can’t think of any who have successfully transitioned.

    Pitino did pretty well with the Knicks, in the 1980’s, before heading over to Kentucky.

  6. Jeremy Hyatt 03/27/2007 at 12:31 PM #

    aren’t you happy we’re not going through this? : }
    thanks for the recruiting trail news TNCSU, if anything perks up regarding Tracy Smith’s qualification, I expect to hear it here first ; }

  7. TNCSU 03/27/2007 at 12:58 PM #

    This is from this past November on a UK blog:

    Tracy Smith HAS qualified. I’ve seen Matt make mention to him not being qualified a couple of times now so I just wanted to step in and say that.

    Here’s a quote from a Scout article done on Oct 24, 2006 about Tracy:

    “Durham (NC) Mt. Zion forward Tracy Smith is now qualified. Could his recruitment be coming to an end?

    Tracy Smith recently found out the good news. After taking the SAT, the Durham (NC) Mt. Zion star received a qualifying test score and now he just needs to focus on his official visits and picking a school.

    ‘Everything has been going the same with recruiting, but now I’m qualified,” Smith told Pack Pride. “I feel real good about that. I studied for it, and I did real good on it so I’m all good. With the score I got and my GPA, I don’t even have to take it again.’”

    I wouldn’t take it as gospel, but it’s the only thing I can dig up at this point. At this point, it seems to be more of a Mt. Zion issue than a Tracy Smith issue.

  8. choppack1 03/27/2007 at 1:10 PM #

    “Pitino did pretty well with the Knicks, in the 1980’s, before heading over to Kentucky.”

    Yep, then he went back to Kentucky and went to Boston – where he had control over everything and it went totally south for him.

  9. westwolf 03/27/2007 at 1:12 PM #

    ^There’s been some mention that perhaps his grades aren’t what they were originally thought, so that the new combination of those and his test scores might be problematic. Also, the accreditation of Mt. Zion may still be an issue.

    I hope he has qualified and that all of this angst is simply a product of a long suffering fan base wanting to add another highly rated and skilled big man to the roster.

  10. Dan 03/27/2007 at 1:17 PM #

    http://sectionsix.blogspot.com/

    The boys at Section Six have a great read on the diploma mill situation and shed a little light on the situation at Mount Zion.

  11. beowolf 03/27/2007 at 1:29 PM #

    Note: MrPlywood has not turned down Arkansas.

    Go get ’em, hog boy!

  12. PapaJohn 03/27/2007 at 1:42 PM #

    Tracy – Sooner or later the powers that be are going to make an example of some kid, hope we can avoid that – let’s keep the positive press rolling for awhile, huh?

    Javi – I don’t know about you guys, but normally it seems like you sign your highest priority recruit as early as possble, and the more distant from signing day the less exciting the recruit. But the more you hear about Javi, the more excited I get. You wonder why LSU is apparently the only other major that expressed interest.
    Thanks for the link TNSU.

    Gavin – I’ll be glad once that deportation hearing is over, assuming it goes our way.

  13. beowolf 03/27/2007 at 1:46 PM #

    PapaJohn, I too am hoping Javi is the “late bloomer” he seems to be. Previous late signees wound up being transfers, but with a new coach and a new staff (especially one with so much experience at PG), I’m hoping they’ve seen something special.

  14. tcthdi-tgsf-twhwtnc 03/27/2007 at 1:50 PM #

    If Gavin is deported there must be Carolina fans on the board. I don’t the U.S. has deported anyone in 20 years.

  15. choppack1 03/27/2007 at 1:53 PM #

    Thanks Dan – You know what’s funny is that the NCAA has no one to blame but themselves for this. When they went to the sliding scale, they essentially said, “SATs don’t matter if you have a good GPA.” Well, these “prep schools” are the ways around it.

    This is what happens when bureaucrats make rules…The shaddier folks operate much faster than a bureaucrat. These “prep” schools really became a necessary evil when the sliding scale was introduced. The SAT/ACT scores were the only protection the NCAA had that a student could at least complete some work legitimately.

    Of course, the really dirty secret of these prep schools is that they engage in a tactic practiced by some rather elite colleges….Grade inflation. Granted, it’s not as grand, or maybe not even w/out merit – but what evidence does the NCAA have that a student is getting a grade he/she deserves once they get into college?

  16. noah 03/27/2007 at 1:55 PM #

    Tracy Smith has not qualified. I was told a couple of weeks ago that his coach is now claiming that he was “misquoted” regarding Smith’s test scores. Whatever that means.

    And unless something happened recently, Mt. Zion has not been accredited. And unless things have changed drastically at Mt. Zion, I doubt the NCAA is going to break its neck granting them accredited status.

    The NCAA crack-down on diploma mills was loooong overdue. When Colby Nolan* got a degree Trinity Southern University, people should have started paying attention.

    These schools hide in the shadows of churches and are run by charlatans.

    *(Colby Nolan is a housecat. And graduated with a 3.5 GPA)

  17. noah 03/27/2007 at 1:59 PM #

    Choppack slipped in.

    This is NOT about grade inflation. At all. The kids at some of these “schools” don’t even go to class. Read about “University High School” in Miami and tell me the problem is grade inflation.

  18. Dan 03/27/2007 at 2:02 PM #

    If this is allowed to exist…

    http://circus.fsu.edu/

    Then there is no way the NCAA should shut down Mt Zion.

  19. TNCSU 03/27/2007 at 2:08 PM #

    The fact that these schools even exist is sad. I’m sorry, but graduating High School — at a legitimate HS — is not that tough. If they are having a hard time in HS, I really don’t want them at State. If anything, I hope we learned some lessons from Washburn, Shackelford, and others. Get the guy a tutor, and give him an SAT and a GED. If he passes, let ’em come, if not, I think we’ll be okay at the PF position next year. The kids NEED to learn, as John Wayne said, “Life is tough, but it’s tougher if you’re Stupid!”

  20. joe 03/27/2007 at 2:14 PM #

    The NCAA minimums are so low , if you can’t hack that at a normal high school you got big problems.

    Also the NCAA gives you 3 chances to get in:

    Straight from high school
    After going to prep school
    Transfer from a junior college

    How much easier can they make it? And guys still go to these bogus diploma mills.

  21. PapaJohn 03/27/2007 at 2:17 PM #

    If Colby Nolan graduated, that really makes Charles “Mr. Shackleford, What classes are you taking? Science.”) Shakleford look pitiful.
    As much as we need quality players, we don’t need non-students. Been there, don’t want to go back. Send Tracey away for another year of school if he’s not ready to be a student.

  22. choppack1 03/27/2007 at 2:20 PM #

    “Choppack slipped in.

    This is NOT about grade inflation. At all. The kids at some of these “schools” don’t even go to class. Read about “University High School” in Miami and tell me the problem is grade inflation.”

    Don’t get my wrong, I agree that these diploma mills are a joke.

    I’m just throwing in ADDITIONAL criticism of what I see as the ongoing hypocrisy and stupidity of the NCAA:
    1) The creation of a sliding scale brought this all about. Sure, the Laurinburg Institute’s of the world existed before the sliding scale, but this encouraged every street scout in the country to start his own high school.

    2) The NCAAs new focus on graduation rates will do nothing but insure that colleges in essence secure that the shadier colleges go the Duke “sociology” route. It’s my opinion that there’s a lot of grade inflation at some pretty high profile schools in Division 1A. And IMHO, a high graduation rate is more suspicious than a low one if you’re letting in kids whose previous academic performance deviated significantly from the student body at large.

  23. TNCSU 03/27/2007 at 2:23 PM #

  24. RedTerror29 03/27/2007 at 2:36 PM #

    Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life. But tall, athletic, and stupid is tacitly accepted.

  25. MrPlywood 03/27/2007 at 2:39 PM #

    Beo has called me out. In light of that, I can unequivocally state that I have not contacted, or been contacted by Arkansas. Note: I did not mention my agent, wife, kids, dog, cats, mailman, FedEx guy, plumber, or Lou Holtz (who I used to babysit for when he coached at State) all of whom may or may not be involved behind the scenes.

    Re: Tracy Smith – I’m not expecting athletes to be academic all-stars, but they should be able to graduate high-school and handle a basic college curriculum. The Pack has been through so much of this in the past, I would hate to see any sort of problem crop up again. Besides, from what I’ve read here he sounds like a one-and-done anyway.

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