Fab Melo to miss NCAA Tournament

[THRILLHOUSE]

I guess those Fab Melo eligibility issues aren't done yet. Syracuse announced he will miss the entire tournament. How convenient of them to announce this after the selection sunday.

[BMoreX]

Link?

[coasterville95]

But thoughtful for them to tell us this before brakcets are due in...

[THRILLHOUSE]

Link?

http://www.suathletics.com/news/2012/3/13/MBB_0313122020.aspx

[THRILLHOUSE]

But thoughtful for them to tell us this before brakcets are due in...

Good point.

[xubrew]

Syracuse is on semesters, not quarters. He wouldn't be eligible last week and ineligible this week. Syracuse, to their credit (I guess), is making this decision on their own. He's eligible to play. He's go to be, or he couldn't have played from January on. Technically, he's suspended not ineligiible.

[drudy23]

Or...one of those who didn't pass a drug test that they let play anyway.

[xubrew]

Or...one of those who didn't pass a drug test that they let play anyway.

I guess it could be. Even with that, if the drug a player tests positive for isn't considered to be a performance enhancing drug, he's not necessarily ineligible. The rules on that are kind of strange. Schools have to have drug policy, but there are no real rules or parameters as to what that drug policy needs to be. You just need to have one. If the NCAA tests a player and they test positive for a drug that is on the banned substance list, but not classified as a performance enhancer, they generally just turn the results over to the school and let them handle it. If it's Syracuse's policy that a positive drug test is a suspenson (I have no idea if it is or not), then I guess it could be that.

[drudy23]

I guess it could be. Even with that, if the drug a player tests positive for isn't considered to be a performance enhancing drug, he's not necessarily ineligible. The rules on that are kind of strange. Schools have to have drug policy, but there are no real rules or parameters as to what that drug policy needs to be. You just need to have one. If the NCAA tests a player and they test positive for a drug that is on the banned substance list, but not classified as a performance enhancer, they generally just turn the results over to the school and let them handle it. If it's Syracuse's policy that a positive drug test is a suspenson (I have no idea if it is or not), then I guess it could be that.

Wasn't the whole recent issue with Syracuse and hiding drug results about them not following their policy regarding recreational drug abuse?

[xubrew]

Wasn't the whole recent issue with Syracuse and hiding drug results about them not following their policy regarding recreational drug abuse?

I don't really know any of the details.

As I understand it, someone blew the whistle because they weren't following their own internal drug policy. To what extent, I don't know. According to Syracuse, they had already self-reported a failure to follow their own internal policy. If that's true, it's a violation, but I don't think it's a serious one. It's in the media and involves Syracuse basketball and drugs, so attention is being paid to it though.

[THRILLHOUSE]

It's about his schoolwork...or lack thereof: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/17772278/loss-of-melo-spells-doom-to-syracuses-chances-in-ncaa-tournament

[xubrew]

From the article....


"The NCAA went back and looked at his schoolwork," one source told CBSSports.com. "They are looking into the fact that he didn't do some of the work."

If the NCAA is looking into it, that sounds pretty serious. If he's not eligible now, then he wasn't eligible at any point this semester.

[GoMuskies]

Lack of institutional control seems pretty evident here.

[smileyy]

They have to hope this stretches out past the tournament. To have to vacate wins in the middle of the tournament renders a good chunk of the bracket FUBARed.

[xubrew]

Lack of institutional control seems pretty evident here.

Lack of institutional control can apply to just about anything.

The quote itself is bizarre. "The NCAA is looking at some of his work." Other than initial eligibility, the NCAA doesn't go around checking people's work. It could be that the source doesn't know what he/she is talking about.

He's only a sophomore. He needed 24 hours to be eligible for the Fall, which he was, and he only needed to pass six hours to be eligible for the Spring. He doesn't even have to declare a major yet, so literally anything in the catalog would count. What the hell is there to look at?? There's no question about counting classes that shouldn't be counted since he doesn't need a major. He either passed six hours of literally anything, or he didn't.

The only thing I can think of is that he was credited with an Incomplete, and he was certified as if he had passed the class when technically he hadn't yet, and they're just now catching it. I could see how that could happen at a lot of places, but not at Syracuse. A lot of places don't have the money to hire someone to oversee all of this, so someone in the registrar who doesn't know how to do it gets stuck doing it. That's not the case at Syracuse, though.

[Masterofreality]

Ah, yes.

Another scandal in the haughty Big Least. How surprising.