NYT and NCAA Clearinghouse Article

[DKW 86 7,428]

Watch for an article on our paying players from South Florida to play. Article also slams

Link

You guys watch out. This would be typical Tide SOP to start an NCAA Probation hunt again on us. It is what they do.

TennStud says it nothing but rehashed crap from last year on

Turns out Rumor about this article having Recruiting Violations was from TIDER INSIDER!!!!

It is from the same sources as the slam piece on Chette Williams from last year, different writer but same folks.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

Link to article in question

The New York Times identified 14 who had signed with 11 Division I football programs: Auburn, Central Florida, Colorado State, Florida, Florida State, Florida International, Rutgers, South Carolina State, South Florida, Tennessee and Temple.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

ok...after having read the article, it didn't seem to mention PAYING players. what the article suggests is that this correspondence school is a sham... allowing non-qualifiers to qualify w/o doing the work and such.

it mentions 2 auburn players...

at first blush, it doesn't appear to be too damning in the 'probation' sense....we'll see.

ct

[Tigermike 3,037]

Do you remember this post, just a few days ago?

Normally probation comes after we start spanking bammer regularly, 5 in a row in the 50's, 3 out of 4 in the early 70's, and 4 in a row in the late 80's. Funny how that happens. Now 4 in a row and 5 of the last 6. How hard do you think the Mullet Nation is looking for anything real, imagined or fabricated to send to the NCAA?

I think CTT is running a clean program and in no way expect anything real. But the folks wearing crimson will not take much more before loosing it. They are at the precipice now. Deep down they know that this 9 - 2 (with the possibility of 10 wins) is more of an aberration than a return to glory. They watched that game last Saturday and were thinking to themselves that the future was not as bright as they were thinking just two short weeks ago. In fact they were thinking of next year with the AUBURN defensive ends & DB's another year older, stronger and smarter. They were looking at their vaunted SENIOR led defense being manhandled by the AUBURN offense which will return some great players with very capable backups ready to move up.

Remember what Pat Dye said, "If you think they are bad now, just wait till we beat them several times!"

[DKW 86 7,428]

I have seen, used, and graded the home schooling material they talk about and the kids describe it very accurately. Some Christian homeschool systems are set up the same way. A kid of average intelligence could legitimately knock a workbook out in about 30-40 minutes. You could do a whole year in just over a week. If you stayed on it.

Any kids would benefit from it. The degree from which they benefit from it is open to discussion though. I think the school's connection with the NCAA did not start until 2004 and evidently the school is approved of by the NCAA.

University High's literature claims it is accredited by the National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools. The association's Web site says it is "not meant to represent an evaluation and/or approval of the materials, teaching staff or educational philosophy employed by the applicant program." It says "only one standard is applied: consumer protection."

A Quick Fix for College

This listing for University High School appears on the directory of a building located in South Miami. University High School has raised the G.P.A.s of several college-bound athletes.

The Florida Department of Education's Web site lists accreditation for University High by the National Coalition of Alternative and Community Schools and by the Association of Christian Schools International. But the alternative schools coalition does not accredit high schools, and David Ray, the Florida regional director of the Christian schools association said, "University was never accredited and has never sought accreditation with us."

To Some, a Second Chance

Simmons said that he opened University High School in 2000 to serve adults and that in the first few years the average age of students was 36. Football players from public schools in poor neighborhoods began enrolling around March 2004, when University applied for membership to the N.C.A.A. Clearinghouse, which determines if a student is eligible and can qualify for a scholarship. Several players said Wright led them to University High

...

By transferring to University High, students can bypass the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, which is mandatory for public school graduation, and focus on passing through the N.C.A.A. Clearinghouse.

N.C.A.A. minimum standards require the completion of 14 core courses. Grade-point average in those courses and standardized test scores are rated on a scale. Students with high averages can qualify with lower test scores and vice versa.

...

In the end, the panel never voted, accepting the transcript because the N.C.A.A. approved University High and Bertani found that Morley had done his own work there. But when told of Simmons's fraud conviction, Mayhew said Tennessee should have been more careful.

"I think we need to add a new layer of caution to deal with high school diploma mills," she said.

Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer lauded the university, pointing out that no other college had visited University High.

"I'm a Tennessee graduate as well," he said. "I want the university to be represented in the right way."

.

[jared52 4,354]

The bammers at Bamamag are foaming at the mouth with this article, but I don't see one single bit of damaging information in that artice. Looks like "University High School" is a loophole in the Florida High School system. No mention of paying players, coaches, teachers, or administration. Some of the hopeful bammies are turning out these theories, but there's no mention of it in the article.

Bammie all think that Auburn, UT, and other schools are as truly corrupt as they are and they would be wrong about that.

[CarolinaTiger 0]

sounds like a shady way to operate...but not surprising really...

[vatz22au 142]

I'll say this much....No program in the SEC (with exception to the bottomfeeders) runs a 100% clean program.

With that being said, I think we have nothing to worry about. I remember a couple years ago some Auburn grad working for the NY times (had bad blood with Lowder) tried to pull this stint, nothing ever happened.

[WarTim 3,456]

Raise your hand if you have seen this little uat stunt before.

They simply can't win on the field playing by the rules , SO , they start trying this "stuff".

Very typical. Those of us that are "old timers" here have seen all of this type garbage before. As a matter of fact, I was looking for it and am suprised that it took them this long. They gotta' take the light off of flipper and their "program.".

[mcgufcm 4,107]

i don't give a dang if the ncaa thinks this is shady. if university high is so bad, why did you approve the use of its correspondence classes for eligibility? if they want to make it illegal now, go ahead. that won't impact anything we did b/c it was legal when we did it. so bama and the ncaa and the new york times can shove it for all i care.

[AUEng84 0]

Auburn admitted Ferguson in 2004 and a fellow University graduate, Ulysses Alexander, this year. "The bottom line is they were both qualifiers by the N.C.A.A.," said Mark Richard, a senior associate athletic director at Auburn.

Seems to me that we only signed players that were cleared by the NCAA. If there is a problem, it must be with the NCAA.

[auskull 239]

UAT has a history of turning in Auburn, whether valid or not, it keeps our program from gaining the upper hand. This has worked in the past but maybe it has all finally caught up with them. Hopefully CTT has not made a miss step anywhere. UT just beat UAT to the punch with their little game of stirring the pot.

[MDM4AU 332]

It's here in the Sunday Mobile Register

[Tigermike 3,037]

Auburn connected to diploma mill

It seems to me the headline in the Mobile Paper is a little misleading. They p probably used the appropriate color for their headline.

To me there appears to be little difference in this and all the players from an unnamed University that take numerous classes at Shelton State Community College.

[TrueBlue72 0]

No school in the history of the NCAA has more remarkable record of getting NCAA non-qualifiers into school than does SPUAT! Even on their current roster are players who were written off by other schools as non-qualifiers but who "magically" qualified once they were signed by the dark side.

If the NCAA does investigate the situation in Florida, I hope they also look at other ways and schools that allow non-qualifiers to skirt the rules, if that is in fact what is going on. The folks living in the glass house over in West Vance might find themselves deeper into this controversy than any other SEC school.

[quietfan 233]

From the Sunday Mobile paper linked above:

Auburn is one of nearly a dozen Division I-A football programs that have accepted players from a private Miami high school that appears to be a diploma mill, the New York Times reported Saturday.

...

Auburn has signed two former University students -- defensive back Lorenzo Ferguson and receiver Ulysses Alexander.

Ferguson has played sparingly this year for Auburn. Alexander, who is redshirting this season, is best known for being the nephew of rap legend Luther Campbell.

...

Despite the concerns, University graduates have been certified by the NCAA Clearinghouse and are eligible to play college athletics if they can get past schools' admission committees. In most cases, that hasn't presented a problem.

"The bottom line is (Ferguson and Alexander) were both qualifiers by the NCAA," Auburn senior associate athletics director Mark Richard told the Times.

I admit the description of the school in the article would make me hesitate to send my kid there, but:

1) Nearly a dozen colleges have accepted players from the school--we're hardly unique. 2) Only one of our two signees from there, Ferguson, has played a lick and I expect the NCAA will have to clarify the issue before next season when Alexander's redshirt comes off. 3) NCAA has approved the school and the players!

---nothing to see here, folks. Move along!

[Draven 0]

Auburn admitted Ferguson in 2004 and a fellow University graduate, Ulysses Alexander, this year. "The bottom line is they were both qualifiers by the N.C.A.A.," said Mark Richard, a senior associate athletic director at Auburn.

If the NCAA cleared these guys and accepted the credits as legitimate, why would this have anything to do with Auburn or anyone else. They qualified by the NCAA view so that should be that on our end. Let the NCAA figure out the rest

[TrueBlue72 0]

Here's another article regarding irregularities with grades that you may want to read.

Here's how it is done

Seems like it has been going on for a while!

[jetermary 6]

Question: Don't these students still have to get a high enough score on the ACT?

As far as workbooks homeschoolers use, there are usually ten workbooks for each course and tests to complete every so often. Of course you can cheat, but the same is true with any high school. 2nd question: There was a quote from one student talking about repeating 9th and 10th grade classes. How did he ever get promoted,if he never finished the 9th grade? How do you get into 11th grade if there is a 9th grade class you didn't complete if its part of the core curriculum?

[AUTrey 0]

Jetermary,

I may be wrong here, but the way I see it is this thing is basically like the GAP policy that Auburn and alot of other schools have, just on a high school level. At AU, if you have a bad grade in a class, you use one of your three GAP credits, and retake the class. The grade you get the second time around replaces your first grade, at least on the unofficial transcript. It's not that the kids didn't get promoted, its that they went back when they were like Seniors and did the stuff to get a different grade in a Freshman level class. At least that's how I see it. I guess the difference is that GAP makes you completely retake the class, not just do some little workbook.

On the ACT...dunno...maybe they get lucky?

[AUTrey 0]

Wow, this got around in a hurry. I first read about it on a UAT board about two or three days ago, now I've seen it on all the Auburn boards and I think CFN, and now I go and find it on an Ohio St. board. The unfortunate thing is that they have the link from Al.com, so they never read the NYT article, only the one from the Alabama newspapers where they picked exactly what damaging little tidbits to write about. Not cool at all.

I don't have posting privileges there, if anybody here does, could you maybe go straighten them out on what this is really all about? A few of them jumped on AU without even reading the article.

Ohio St. Board

[freebody 0]

I admit the description of the school in the article would make me hesitate to send my kid there, but:

1) Nearly a dozen colleges have accepted players from the school--we're hardly unique.  2) Only one of our two signees from there, Ferguson, has played a lick and I expect the NCAA will have to clarify the issue before next season when Alexander's redshirt comes off. 3) NCAA has approved the school and the players!

---nothing to see here, folks.  Move along!

201743[/snapback]

Also of note is the fact that Alexander was originally a vol, who was released from his commitment over the summer (they oversigned). So it is not like Auburn had set him up with this traveshamockery of a school in order to get him through a loophole. The players are probably doing it themselves tp get themselves qualified - which is evidently legal with the ncaa. Nothing wrong with it, technically - besides, the college still has to make sure they can make the grades and progress when they get on campus in order to comply with the new requirements.

To this point, there is a preponderence of evidence of Tuberville & Co.'s success as judges of character (and character potential) - no way I can reasonably second-guess them right now.

[TigerOne 1,148]

Programming Note,

this non story and how uat won the second half of the Iron Bowl, plus all future

Heisman winners (uat recruits) will be discussed at length on the

BamaBaum network Monday.

[StatTiger 3,188]

Auburn admitted Ferguson in 2004 and a fellow University graduate, Ulysses Alexander, this year. "The bottom line is they were both qualifiers by the N.C.A.A.," said Mark Richard, a senior associate athletic director at Auburn.

Seems to me that we only signed players that were cleared by the NCAA. If there is a problem, it must be with the NCAA.

201563[/snapback]

BINGO

[GalensGhost 0]

If the students in question were granted eligibility by the NCAA Clearinghouse, this is a non-issue.

If the NCAA now has a problem with University High -- or even Sky High the fictitious alma mater of Kelly Preston -- they can't retroactively condemn schools for accepting students if they met their own qualification requirements. Any action from the NCAA in regard to this will have to be proactive and tied to future admissions.