craigoscarson said:

(on another note, I'll personally fly to Utah and toilet paper Marty Haws place if his kid doesn't chose the Y)

I'm not old enough to remember Marty Haws. But, I do remember that he is apparently one of only three athletes to graduate from my Alma Mater (Hillcrest High in Midvale, UT) who was considered good enough to get a plaque in the front hallway. Great for him. But, only three great athletes?! - how sad for Hillcrest.

Not that I really care as much about my high school as I used to. GO COUGARS!! Get Kaveinga!

So Cruiser, just wondering how you rate your source now. Since he whiffed on the Kavienga prediction, does he go from 4 stars to 3 stars as a source, or do you just chalk it up to being misled big time.

Florwood wrote:

So Cruiser, just wondering how you rate your source now. Since he whiffed on the Kavienga prediction, does he go from 4 stars to 3 stars as a source, or do you just chalk it up to being misled big time.

Three and a half. I have since learned that Kaveinga's entire family expected him to announce for BYU. One of them was even wearing a BYU cap behind him when he announced. Uona actually told Shiloah Te'o that he was committed to BYU the night before the announcement. Here's part of Shiloah's quote from TBS:

"[Kaveinga told me to call him every day before he committed to USC. I called him every day and he told me he was coming even the night before. Then he chose USC the next day. I talked to him after that and he just said he wanted to stay close to home. I don't know, maybe he got caught up in the hype or something. I told him 'You looked like you were ready to cry on TV.' I told him, 'It looked like you made the wrong choice.' He said, 'Stop hating on me man.' I told him that I wasn't mad at him and congratulated him.... He said there was a lot of pressure on him in LA to go to USC. Like his head coach wanted him to go to USC, and a lot of people wanted him to go USC." [url]http://byu.scout.com/2/728719.html[/url]

I figure if his friends and family were misled, I'll cut my source a break. The reason I only give him three and a half stars is because he's been wrong on a couple of smaller things before too. But he's right about 98% of the time. We all take our lumps sometimes.

As I said in a post three or four weeks ago, I was concerned about Uona Kaveinga coming to BYU for other reasons. Although he was cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse, I wonder how well he would have adjusted to the increasingly competitive academics at BYU. Maybe USC is really where he belongs. Although USC and BYU are similarly ranked in several fields, Pete Carroll is a magician at getting his lower-performing players to remain eligible. How does he do it? When all else fails, he signs them up for correspondence classes and hires tutors to "help" them with their papers for those classes. Where do those correspondence courses come from?

BYU.

According to a recent book, BYU's Independent Study courses "have become the worst-kept secret in college sports" (Meat Market, Bruce Feldman, ESPN Books, 2007, 171). I have written more about this in my article for Cougar Legion this morning. http://cougarlegion.com/

Overall, I'm happy with our recruiting this year and feel that they will continue the upward growth of our program. I think several of them are underrated, and more importantly, I think Bronco and Co. are able to get more out of their athletes than most coaches are able to. I look for great things in the future--even without Uona Kaveinga.

i'm guessing you had a concussion

cruiser wrote:

How does he do it? When all else fails, he signs them up for correspondence classes and hires tutors to "help" them with their papers for those classes. Where do those correspondence courses come from?

BYU.

According to a recent book, BYU's Independent Study courses "have become the worst-kept secret in college sports" (Meat Market, Bruce Feldman, ESPN Books, 2007, 171). I have written more about this in my article for Cougar Legion this morning. http://cougarlegion.com/

I didnt read your Cougarlegion artile but it is against BYU and Im pretty sure NCAA policy for student athletes who attend schools other then BYU to take independent study classe.

College athletes from schools other than BYU are not allowed to enroll in BYU Independent Study university-level courses. This restriction applies to students who are currently eligible as well as those seeking eligibility to participate in any collegiate athletic program (e.g. NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA).

That is from BYU's website. I actually have a friend who works for Independent Study and she spent all summer tracking down athletes who were taking Independent Study classes but were not BYU students. If Pete really does this and its common knowledge its just more evidence that the NCAA has favorites and is VERY selctive in who they go after.

jbar1221 wrote:

cruiser wrote:

How does he do it? When all else fails, he signs them up for correspondence classes and hires tutors to "help" them with their papers for those classes. Where do those correspondence courses come from?

BYU.

According to a recent book, BYU's Independent Study courses "have become the worst-kept secret in college sports" (Meat Market, Bruce Feldman, ESPN Books, 2007, 171). I have written more about this in my article for Cougar Legion this morning. http://cougarlegion.com/

I didnt read your Cougarlegion artile but it is against BYU and Im pretty sure NCAA policy for student athletes who attend schools other then BYU to take independent study classe.

College athletes from schools other than BYU are not allowed to enroll in BYU Independent Study university-level courses. This restriction applies to students who are currently eligible as well as those seeking eligibility to participate in any collegiate athletic program (e.g. NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA).

That is from BYU's website. I actually have a friend who works for Independent Study and she spent all summer tracking down athletes who were taking Independent Study classes but were not BYU students. If Pete really does this and its common knowledge its just more evidence that the NCAA has favorites and is VERY selctive in who they go after.

jbar, thank you for this clarification. Two recent books have documented this scandal: "Meat Market" and "Blind Side," and both mention Pete Carroll and USC. According to "Meat Market," BYU changed its policies in 2006 to make it more difficult for other athletic programs to use our Independent Study classes. But it also implies that some schools, even USC, continue to use these classes as a "last resort." Here is the quote:

"Still, so long as it was within NCAA rules, USC had no qualms about accepting courses from BYU. If a student-athlete was one course short, the Trojans used BYU as a last resort" (Meat Market, ESPN Books, 2007, p. 172).

I'm not sure how they continue to cheat, but it may be that the athlete does not identify his affiliation with another school when he enrolls for the classes. Also, Carroll sometimes enrolls his high school recruits in these classes to help them qualify at the NCAA Clearinghouse. The problem in this case, as I understand it, is not that a high school senior or a recent graduate is taking these classes to help him qualify for another university, it is that the tutors who "help" him with these classes may actually be doing much of the work for him. Although the students still need to pass tests under observation at an LDS Institute or in another controlled environment, they still get high marks on their papers, which helps to pull their overall grade up.

Although BYU has done about all it can to prevent this kind of abuse, some coaches will always find a way to circumvent the rules if it helps them get an advantage.