A sad situation

I just wanted to take a minute to say how sad the Herb Pope situation is. I can't say I have any clue what it is like where Herb is from, but from talking to a reporter who covered him in high school, he told me that as soon as Pope played his last game in high school, he wouldn't play another game until he was in the NBA. That is for a variety of reasons, but it is looking like that may be the case. I was told Pope had a plane ticket back to Las Cruces, so it's unfortunate that prior to coming back, this kind of thing happens. It's similar to when he was shot during an altercation the morning before he was supposed to travel for a tournament.
The question now is what the university will do. Obviously the school let Tyrone Nelson play for far worse, and it's not like Pope is going to spend a day in prison, but do you feel he should be allowed on the court at NMSU given his background and his potential that could land him oversees or in the NBA as soon as next season should he choose that path.

JG

What are we talkin' about?

Herb Pope has yet to arrive in Las Cruces. I've been covering the prep tournament at the Pan Am, but I dropped by practice Friday night.

Hatila Passos and Paris Carter will be allowed to practice until grades become official on jan. 15. I saw Passos, but Paris Carter is still out of town after having twin baby girls. Both players will not play in games until their issues are resolved. If they can't get it cleared up by Jan. 15, both players are done for the year.

JG

Worth the risk?

I have seen questions as to what potential penalties the university faces if Herb Pope plays but is eventually ruled ineligible. Here they are from the NCAA manual.


If a student-athlete who is ineligible under the terms of the constitution, bylaws or other legislation of the Association
is permitted to participate in intercollegiate competition contrary to such NCAA legislation but in accordance
with the terms of a court restraining order or injunction operative against the institution attended by such
student-athlete or against the Association, or both, and said injunction is voluntarily vacated, stayed or reversed
or it is finally determined by the courts that injunctive relief is not or was not justified, the Management Council
may take any one or more of the following actions against such institution in the interest of restitution and fairness
to competing institutions

• “Require that individual records and performances achieved during participation by such ineligible studentathlete shall be vacated or stricken;
• Require that team records and performances achieved during participation by such ineligible student-athlete
shall be vacated or stricken;
• Require that team victories achieved during participation by such ineligible student-athlete shall be abrogated
and the games or events forfeited to the opposing institutions;
• Require that individual awards earned during participation by such ineligible student-athlete shall be returned
to the Association, the sponsor or the competing institution supplying same;
• Require that team awards earned during participation by such ineligible student-athlete shall be returned to
the Association, the sponsor or the competing institution supplying same;
•Determine that the institution is ineligible for one or more NCAA championships in the sports and in the
seasons in which such ineligible student-athlete participated;
•Determine that the institution is ineligible for invitational and postseason meets and tournaments in the
sports and in the seasons in which such ineligible student-athlete participated;
•Require that the institution shall remit to the NCAA the institution’s share of television receipts (other than
the portion shared with other conference members) for appearing on any live television series or program if
such ineligible student-athlete participates in the contest(s) selected for such telecast, or if the Management
Council concludes that the institution would not have been selected for such telecast but for the participation
of such ineligible student-athlete during the season of the telecast; any such funds thus remitted shall be
devoted to the NCAA postgraduate scholarship program; and
•Require that the institution that has been represented in an NCAA championship by such a student-athlete
shall be assessed a financial penalty as determined by the Committee on Infractions.”

JG

Two hours until gametime

I was informed that the injunction is still in place, but Pope will not play today, even if he made the trip to Louisville. The two sides will meet again in a scheduled hearing Jan. 14. I will update this post when I get to the arena.

JG

Nothing official but....

I have heard that Hawkins is good to go. Not from a qualified source though. We'll see...

Player grades....Up to the player or the coach

I will say this about college sports. There are loopholes in the grading system. I'm no expert on the loopholes. It wouldn't hurt me to become more adept at such things but it is what it is. And they do exist.

Now I will say, obviously the student athlete is the one responsible for getting to class, doing homework and getting the job done. But to think that a coach doesn't guide the athlete through the process is wrong.

From my understanding, Justin Hawkins always struggled with grades. He did last year and the year before that. But in the end, the staff found a way to get him through it and made sure he was eligible. Same with other players. For many players, the sport comes easy. Staying eligible is the hard part. And a lot of that falls on the player's support staff.

I don't know everything going on with the current situation at NMSU. But one must ask, why is the team's best player (Hawkins) stuggling with this? Why is another solid player (Passos) struggling with this? I'm no coach, but if I were, I would make sure that my two key players were in line and ready to roll. And that goes in all facets of life. Being a college basketball coach goes beyond the basketball court. That's what they sign up for. The good ones at least.

Herb Pope/Kenny Thomas

An unnamed source informed the Sun News on Thursday that there is a realistic chance that NMSU freshman forward Herb Pope will seek an injunction, which would allow him to practice and play for the Aggies this season pending the outcome of the initial certification process. The source also included Pope's fall semester was a successful one at NMSU in the classroom.

For those of you who have been around, how does this compare to former Lobo Kenny Thomas, who filed an injunction against the NCAA as a freshman in 1995. A judge ruled in Thomas' favor and he was ultimately cleared as a freshman, but had to sit for part of his senior season.

JG