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Monday, February 06, 2006
An anonymous e-mailer sent along this in the Lehigh student paper giving an apologists view of the Joe Knight story.
The e-mailer must have thought this paragraph was important since it was included in the message:
Actually, a lot of folks had a different interpretation, for good reason. Lehigh's interpretation of the phase "hours earned or accepted for degree credit toward any of the institutions degree program" is fundamentally flawed.
Those who drink Brown Koo-Aid want to believe that means "hour earned" can be read independent of the "toward any of the institution's degree program."
At the risk of boring those who already know the background of NCAA Bylaw 14.4.3.4.1, let us explain this one more time. The idea is to make sure students are on a reasonable track to get their degree. It's the rule that keeps athletes from taking four years of assorted 100 level gut courses, getting good enough grades to have an eligible GPA while never getting close to earning a degree.
The Brown and White writes:
There are other things in the story that are not quite accurate. For example:
And then there is this:
Frankly, we are tired of this whole story. We are tired of it. There's a good race going on for the Patriot League championship. We'd prefer to discuss Knight's role in that race than the games he did not play. We remain convinced that it is fundamentally unfair that the only one punished was Knight, who relied on the guidance of people paid to know better.
What we are most tired of is the seemingly absolute refusal of anyone other than Knight to admit mistakes were made. It's not the fact that Knight appeared in games he should not have played that bothers us most. What bothers us most is the way Lehigh has handled the whole mess, from the initial cover-up to the ongoing denials.
We wonder what kind of role models Lehigh's educators are when they are unwilling to admit and take responsibility for their mistake.
The e-mailer must have thought this paragraph was important since it was included in the message:
When consulted, the registrar at Lafayette College came up with the same interpretation Lehigh's registrar had. The only group having a different interpretation was the governing body of the NCAA.Our suggestion: next time consult someone in the athletic department at another school. That way you might find someone familiar with the intent of the NCAA rule that govens this situation.
Actually, a lot of folks had a different interpretation, for good reason. Lehigh's interpretation of the phase "hours earned or accepted for degree credit toward any of the institutions degree program" is fundamentally flawed.
Those who drink Brown Koo-Aid want to believe that means "hour earned" can be read independent of the "toward any of the institution's degree program."
At the risk of boring those who already know the background of NCAA Bylaw 14.4.3.4.1, let us explain this one more time. The idea is to make sure students are on a reasonable track to get their degree. It's the rule that keeps athletes from taking four years of assorted 100 level gut courses, getting good enough grades to have an eligible GPA while never getting close to earning a degree.
The Brown and White writes:
(Lehigh athletic director Joe) Sterrett said he does not believe an error was made, just a miscommunication.What the phrase means is the credits, whether earned there or accepted from elsewhere, must count towards a degree program if you want to count them for eligibility.
"I don't think it's an honest mistake, just a different interpretation," Sterrett said.
There are other things in the story that are not quite accurate. For example:
Sterrett has already contacted most of the athletic directors from the schools Lehigh played in non-league games and beat last year. Two of the athletic directors have replied and neither accepted his offer of a forfeit in lieu of the Knight complications because they are under the impression that Lehigh, its coaching staff, athletic department and Joe Knight did nothing illegal or immoral under the NCAA guidelines.Who are those ADs? Did you talk to them? Did they tell you that was the reason they did not accept the forfeit? And don't you think it is worth a mention that at least one non-conference opponent, Ivy League member , has accepted the forfeit.
And then there is this:
Knight has never been in academic difficulty in terms of GPA or lack of credit hours at any of the schools he has attended.Depends how you define "academic difficulty." Sterrett previously described Knight's GPA at High Point as being around 2.0. Knight himself is quoted in the story saying:
"If I did it right at the beginning in the classroom, I wouldn't be in this situation now."It was also nice of the Brown and White to let us know:
. . . Knight said he wanted to challenge himself more academically. His search for a more rigorous academic experience took him to Lehigh . . .Up until now, we'd been under the impression Knight's interest in Lehigh was more basketball than books. We probably got that impression because, in an interview with Sterrett, the Lehigh A.D. mentioned Knight's connection with Lehigh assistant Bret Reed, who originally recruited Knight when he was an assistant at High Point, as the catalyst of Knight's interest.
Frankly, we are tired of this whole story. We are tired of it. There's a good race going on for the Patriot League championship. We'd prefer to discuss Knight's role in that race than the games he did not play. We remain convinced that it is fundamentally unfair that the only one punished was Knight, who relied on the guidance of people paid to know better.
What we are most tired of is the seemingly absolute refusal of anyone other than Knight to admit mistakes were made. It's not the fact that Knight appeared in games he should not have played that bothers us most. What bothers us most is the way Lehigh has handled the whole mess, from the initial cover-up to the ongoing denials.
We wonder what kind of role models Lehigh's educators are when they are unwilling to admit and take responsibility for their mistake.
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