Sorry for the delay recently. I was sick and have been traveling.
I alluded to it in Saturday's Fresno State preview, but it is apparently school policy to suspend Pope following his arrest. There is a social misconduct committee that has yet to meet on the issue. The commitee normally meets within 72 hours of any legal infraction involving a student athlete but since Pope has two pending court dates (Jan 8 in Penn. for the DUI and Jan. 14 in Las Cruces for the court injunction) the committee has yet to meet.
Dr. Boston said the NCAA has yet to respond regarding potential penalties should Pope play, but now that seems to be irrelevant since Pope could possibly be suspended for his situation in Penn. Boston said Here is a quote from Boston "A lot of things are at play that could impact his situation so I don't see a lot happening until after the 14th. Even if we allowed him to play, there could be a suspension with his other scenerio."
I asked Dr. Boston is Pope was enrolled for the Spring semester and he said he didn't know that as of Friday.
JG
6 comments:
Wow, I know there are a lot of athletes to keep track of, but it sounds like dr. b is trying to cover something re: Pope's enrollement. How do you not know your the status of your biggest question mark? The future of or program was mortgaged on this kid, how do you not know if he is even enrolled? Baffeling!
I.C.
The university's discipline policy is located here:
http://www.nmsu.edu/~vpsa/DRPAP/related_policies.pdf
It seem that NMSU needs to start looking for a new Athletic Director that will do his job. First, NMSU dropped the ball in getting Pope's paperwork to the NCAA. Now it seem that the AD does not know what is going on with the best athlete the university has recruited in the past 20 years. I will not be surprised if Pope decides to go elsewhere. That might be the reason Las Cruces does not support the Aggies.
I frequently think back to something JG (or Teddy) wrote on this blog a month or so ago - " I have a hunch Pope will never suit up for NMSU". With the latest developments, including our AD not knowing whether the highest profile recruit in NMSU history is enrolled for the Spring semester, your hunch may very well turn out to be true. Put yourself in Pope's shoes: the HC who recruited you left for the NBA, you can't play because the NCAA won't make a decision regarding your eligibility, the LC community does not support the team, and you get busted for DUI. Unless he has become extremely fond of LC, why would'nt he change things up and go elsewhere? He certainly needs structure in a good environment, but I doubt that's what he looks for.
Oh, and on a different topic, Menso needs to hire a media consultant. With home losses to UNT and UTEP, a sweep by UTEP, and an ugly blow-out loss at UNM, he should shut up and focus on getting wins against teams with inferior talent. Even though I agree that LC needs to be more supportive of our b-ball program, the HC calling out the community at this juncture is wrong. WIN and they will come. If he doesn't beleive that, have him call Steve Alford.
And speaking of attendance at home games, what's up with that students and Crucens? I certainly understand a drop-off because the team has underperformed and is missing its prized recruit. But not even averaging 5,000?? Wow, things sure have changed since the late 70s/early 80s, especially considering the increase in population of LC/NMSU and the renovated PAC.
-Aggie Glare
Aggie Glare,
The lack of student attendance has surprised me as well. They did show up for the two rivalry games and I'm sure most are gone between semesters, but I always think back to the North Texas game. With a few more students in the stands under the basket, maybe some of those tough shots North Texas was making don't go in. Who Knows? But is there that much to do in Las Cruces on a weekend evening for a college student?
JG
Anyone else read this story on Herb Pope on Yahoo sports?
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news;_ylt=Ai9GzctKC1.ND5rB3NbpvZ45nYcB?slug=ap-newmexicost-pope&prov=ap&type=lgns
I.C.
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