How do they remain academically eligible?

General Headscratchers NCS Basketball NCS Football96

Well…we can add the name of Hakeem Nicks to the ever-growing list of UNC-CH athletes who find academic matriculation at UNC-Chapel Hill significantly easier than daily tasks such as simultaneously thinking and breathing.

Nicks will enter the powder blue’s ‘Pantheon of Paradox’ with a seat firmly entrenched between the likes of Kevin Madden, Rasheed Wallace, Jeff McInnis and so many other Tar heel athletes who rushed towards graduation without a hiccup despite intellect that wouldn’t grant them admission into some local high schools.

I saw the Chicago Tribune’s article yesterday but didn’t have time to post this entry until it just came across my RSS reader through the Wiz.

Wide receivers: NFL teams would like for receivers’ test scores to be about 18, but several of the top prospects fell below that mark. Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech scored 15, Darrius Heyward-Bey of Maryland scored 14, Percy Harvin of Florida scored 12 and Hakeem Nicks of North Carolina scored 11. The test result is particularly interesting in the case of Harvin, who will have more learning to do than the others based on the offense he played in at Florida and the fact he could be used in multiple roles. Jeremy Maclin of Missouri was outstanding by comparison with a 25 test score.

Among people of various professions, chemists score an average of 31, journalists 26, clerical workers 21 and warehouse employees 15. A score under 10 is an indication of literacy problems.

The Chicago Tribune reports Hicks scored an 11.

How would YOU do at the Wonderlic?  Take a Practice Test here.

Remember Antawn Jamison’s two-year quest in high school to reach the all-important (ACT equivalent of) 700 on the SAT that he miraculously satisfied on the last attempt of his senior season while taking the test at the McDonald’s All-American game? Despite these troubles to achieve the most remedial of scores, ‘Tawn’ managed to not only remain eligible during the demands of collegiate basketball, but to earn enough credit hours to still graduate with ease despite foregoing his senior season in Chapel Hill.

At the rate the Chief is going over there in Chapel Hill, there is no telling what the value of that Carolina degree will be worth when all is said and done.

…please cue ‘Washburn’…’Shackleford’…and the ensuing math lesson that will result from explaining to our friends that NC State’s (1) academic issues were some 25 years ago; (2) dumb athletes not only failed to graduate – thereby not diluting the integrity of the degree – but usually encountered at least some form of academic difficulty that often impacted their eligibility.

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96 Responses to How do they remain academically eligible?

  1. Alpha Wolf 03/23/2009 at 1:15 PM #

    ^ That’s exactly right.

    An untaxed business at that.

    I wonder how big a business college sports would be if donations to booster clubs were not tax deductible.

  2. Wolf Dog 03/23/2009 at 1:45 PM #

    Texpack. I never felt V took any stance that undervalued a NCSU degree. In fact he put out some amazing facts at the time that clearly defended how hard it was to get an NCSU degree and you better value it.

    What V did do was defend himself to the UNC Board of Govs. He was being grilled for graduation rates. His point was it was harder to recruit at State because the University as a whole had low graduation rates compared to the Dukes and UNCs. Plus students at UNC and Duke were able to retake and drop a flunking grade while NCSU didn’t allow that at the time. So comparing GPA’s between the schools was not a level playing field either.

    5 years at Duke 95% graduate and UNC was over 90%. I don’t think NCSU was even 70% at the time. A scary fact was that even though State had more students UNC was producing more alumni due to their high graduation rate. A stat the Board of Govs used for years to validate their reasoning for giving UNC more money.

    Graduation for black students was some terrible number like 8% at the time. V could not understand how he could be in trouble over graduation rates when his graduation rates for his black players was more than triple that of the university’s? That question and others is why the minutes from his meeting with the Board was sealed for years.

    Bottom line is NCSU had bad graduation rates as a university at the time. An issue that is not as bad today, but one that still needs to be addressed.
    V was outperforming the school in academic achievement with minority students and people that don’t have a clue about the facts say State let V go over academics. That was never the case.

  3. buttPACKer 03/23/2009 at 1:48 PM #

    NC State is to the “big 4” in the ACC, as Cornell is to the Ivy League. . . perhaps a tad easier to get into, but harder to get out of!

  4. buttPACKer 03/23/2009 at 1:53 PM #

    BTW, –off topic–

    we have another tournament WIN:

    North Carolina State sophomore Matt Hill won his second consecutive tournament, finishing at 7-under 209 to win the Schenkel E-Z Go Invitational by three shots.

    –Golfweek

  5. wolf pack 03/23/2009 at 2:07 PM #

    off subject
    did anyone here about trevor ferguson not returning next year?

  6. Noah 03/23/2009 at 2:22 PM #

    Noah I don’t see how TA compares to the topic? Is him getting busted any different than Rasheed Wallace for drugs? Why not link that? But leave it to Noah to defend his Heels and slam the pack once again!

    Well, then you’re dumber than I thought and I’m sorry I stopped ignoring you.

    TA McLendon getting arrested for being a drug dealer is WAAAAY more embarrassing than Hakeem Nicks being a retard. But McLendon’s bust didn’t get put on the front page of the paper. It didn’t make the front page of the sports section. It was buried on an inside page with a bunch of agate.

    My point…for those who scored lower than Nicks on the Wonderlic…was that it’s demonstrably untrue that anything embarrassing about NC State automatically gets front page news.

    I doubt very seriously that Nicks’ score will even make the paper. It’s FUNNY…but it isn’t news. Nicks is retarded. Whoopee. TA McLendon getting busted wasn’t news either. Who didn’t see that one coming?

    What the f*** does Rasheed Wallace have to do with anything being discussed here?

  7. wolfonthehill 03/23/2009 at 2:23 PM #

    ^^ I’ve seen it twice in this thread alone and at least once yesterday.

    Except for that, no.

  8. wolfonthehill 03/23/2009 at 2:26 PM #

    ^^ Noah – the difference to me is that an illiterate player graduating from the “flagship” of the UNC system calls into question the value of the degree from said institution.

    Getting busted for drugs may be an embarrassment, but it by no means indicates that your school gives anyone a free pass (and a free degree). There are some awfully damn smart kids who’ve been busted for selling pot. Let’s not confuse “drug dealer” with “kingpin”… selling your friend a dime-bag can splash you in the blotter as a drug dealer…

  9. Noah 03/23/2009 at 2:28 PM #

    I do agree with you though that because of the journalism school and radio & television we don’t get as many ways to voice our opinions. When you can put it in a paper or talk about it on radio some people just believe it’s true.

    I still disagree with this.

    There is no local paper. The N&O has been cut back so far that it’s basically just wire copy and an excuse for a handful of ads. They are probably looking at dropping back to five days a week fairly soon.

    Are you talking about callers on the local sports radio stations?

    Can you point me to any specific media reports that claim that ONLY NC State student athletes are idiots? Or even articles that claim UNC athletes are superior students?

    I remember several years ago, Dave Glenn asserted that Chuck Amato’s recruits for football were of the lowest caliber in the ACC. Dook and Ga. Tech and Wake were in the top tier. FSU, Clemson and State were in the bottom tier. Everyone else was in the middle.

    That was true. But it was also specific for Amato.

  10. Noah 03/23/2009 at 2:34 PM #

    Noah – the difference to me is that an illiterate player graduating from the “flagship” of the UNC system calls into question the value of the degree from said institution.

    Getting busted for drugs may be an embarrassment, but it by no means indicates that your school gives anyone a free pass (and a free degree).

    Did Nicks graduate? I know TA didn’t. I also know he flunked two drug tests while he was here and keeping him eligible was a chore.

    To me (and I may be alone in this), it’s like getting worked up over a booster giving someone a $50 handshake. Or a kid flunking a drug test. Or a kid majoring in African American studies or having a tutor cheat for him.

    The NCAA does not care. Try not to embarass the school too much, pay your taxes when Ed Martin gives you a $500,000 handshake, and don’t flip a car over coming back from a titty-bar with a naked 15 year old in it and you’ll be fine.

  11. McPete 03/23/2009 at 2:36 PM #

    “did anyone here about trevor ferguson not returning next year?”

    yes i mentioned it in the twitter thread. packpride has a story up about his future plans. and it seems that the staff is now down to going after jucos, juco transfers, and lightly recruited austrailians to round out the recruiting class. we’re f*cked eight ways from sunday.

  12. VaWolf82 03/23/2009 at 2:52 PM #

    I remember several years ago, Dave Glenn asserted that Chuck Amato’s recruits for football were of the lowest caliber in the ACC. Dook and Ga. Tech and Wake were in the top tier. FSU, Clemson and State were in the bottom tier. Everyone else was in the middle.

    If we are remembering the same article, Glenn started with the claim that Bunting’s four non-quals (Hunter, Mitchell, etc) ending up at Hargrave was unusual for UNC. Somewhere along the line he shifted focus to the last year that SAT scores were released (88 or 89) and made that claim that FSU and NCSU were at the bottom of the ACC, while UNC was much higher.

    Unfortunately for Glenn, the Standford SCOUT site had the SAT scores up and the actual list showed that both State and FSU’s average SAT scores were higher than UNCs…though the difference was too close to really draw any useful conclusions from. Yet another reason that Dave Glenn will never get a dime of my money.

  13. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 3:05 PM #

    “don’t flip a car over coming back from a titty-bar with a naked 15 year old in it and you’ll be fine.”
    `
    Now that’s a sign of stupid right there. 15 year olds are like square roots; smart people do them in their heads.

  14. bradleyb123 03/23/2009 at 3:12 PM #

    I think it’s a bigger black eye on UNC that someone as allegedly dumb as Hicks could get a degree from there, than for TA McClendon to get caught dealing drugs.

    TA has been out of school for years, and made some bad decisions in his personal life. No one knows what events in his life led to that. He embarrassed HIMSELF. The university did nothing to embarrass itself when he did that.

    Nicks’ graduation is a case of UNC embarrassing ITSELF, because it sounds as if UNC just gave Forrest Gump a degree.

  15. Texpack 03/23/2009 at 3:20 PM #

    Wolf Dog I certainly didn’t mean to imply that he ever said anything that would undervalue a degree from NC State. I always thought his comments about graduation rates of athletes vs the general student population were right on target.

  16. Ed89 03/23/2009 at 3:33 PM #

    Looks like we just got a commit from a local kid, Josh Davis, from Athens Drive High:

    http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/a.z?s=178&p=2&c=849837

    Has anyone seen him play??

  17. newt 03/23/2009 at 3:39 PM #

    I taught at State and had some athletes in my class. I realized then what a challenge it is to maintain grades with a packed athletics schedule. I gained a new admiration for student athletes. They participate in games and also practice for hours a day.

    A few times a semester, I was asked to complete a report on class attendence, participation, and academic progress of each student athlete.

  18. wufpup76 03/23/2009 at 3:46 PM #

    ^Thanks for sharing, Newt.

    It’s nice to hear that the term “student athlete” still has a little meaning to it.

  19. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 3:48 PM #

    Wrong place for this? Delete it.
    I just read the actual acticle Pete Thamel wrote in the NYT. What an asshole. Boeheim wasn’t disrespectful of NCSU, that asshole Thamel was. He wrote his opinion of NCSU like Boeheim said it. Only after looking for quote marks did I realize what was going on.
    `
    Here’s my comment (with more than a few typos corrected) to Thamel:
    “Sendek led the N.C. State to five consecutive N.C.A.A. tournament bids but was constantly badgered by a fan base that always wanted more.”
    You fail to note that in all but one incident, NCSU was one and done — bounced in the first round. The fan base here wants more — an occassional run into the sweet 16 or great 8 or final 4. We’re talking about a school that has had 2 National Championships and neighboring schools that used to be rivals before Sendek got to NCSU.

    Most of the fan base is appreciative of the job Herb Sendek did in restoring academic acheivement to the basketball program, but quite a few felt that Sendek had achieved a level of incompetence and could take the team no further.

    Zero conference championships in 10 years. Our standards are perhaps too high, but at least we’ve got them. Not at all like the reporter who would hear one side of a story and then dis the administration of NCSU.

  20. Classof89 03/23/2009 at 3:58 PM #

    IMO, the only valid statistic with respect to athletic graduation rates is the rate of the athletes compared to the rate of the general student body. Harvard graduates 90% of its athletes? Big whoop–the graduation rate for students in general is probably 95% or more, meaning that about the only way you wouldn’t graduate from Harvard once you got in would be if you were doing hard time for stealing Muffy’s Porsche.

  21. choppack1 03/23/2009 at 3:59 PM #

    grey – you gotta be fair.

    We were only bounced in the 1st round in one of Sendek’s 5 NCAA tournament appearances at NC State.

  22. choppack1 03/23/2009 at 3:59 PM #

    Use the term ‘Two and through”

  23. TOBtime 03/23/2009 at 3:59 PM #

    Noah, I wasn’t implying it only applied to student athletes nor did I mention a particular paper. I do think the one you mentioned sucks out loud in regards to fair reporting of anything related to NCSU. It’s probably a holdover from my student days when V was being shafted.
    Because we (NCSU) don’t feed media methods with graduates as readily as unx does we don’t get the pretty “painting” in general. We’re moo u, right? What could possibly be good about that? That general picture is what the sucker that PT Barnum targeted buys into without even knowing why. Media and mass marketing go hand-in-hand and in this state there simply is no denying the holes get put in a better light more often.

  24. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 4:00 PM #

    ^
    I wonder if a copy of the article sent to the editor of the NYT by the Chancellor’s office and demanding a public apology would perhaps provide Mr. Thamel some education in what’s appropriate to say about the administration of state university and what is not?

  25. redfred2 03/23/2009 at 4:00 PM #

    “I doubt very seriously that Nicks’ score will even make the paper.”

    You’re right, it probably won’t show up in the LOCAL newspaper, but Colin Cowherd was all over it on a national basis, on ESPN radio at lunchtime today.

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