So it's official now?

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

The hammer is about to come down. book it.

This would be something I don't understand, many are complaining that we don't push the envelope and be creative in keeping players eligible, basically wanting the program to live on the outer edge of the razor thin line of what is legal and what is not.

We say SMU is playing it too safe and by the book. Then in the next sentence, we get rumors and shadowy predictions that SMU is about to be in big trouble.

If that is the case, then SMU must have went to enormous and possibly illegal lengths to keep these players eligible and is about to get caught, basically doing what many on here wanted from the program and the administration.

Which is it, we didn't do enough, played it by the book and lost players to eligibility, or we did too much and got caught?

Good point. It can't be both.

[StallionsModelT]

Anyone else concerned about this "mushroom cloud" of impropriety? That sounds very serious.

Also, I don't know how much I really blame SMU for this. I knew athletes at SMU and literally all they had to do was attend class and they were eligible. If anything this falls on the coaches and players for not taking care of business. I think the larger issue now is that this will start to be a major issue with recruiting. Schools will tell recruits that SMU doesn't care about its players staying on the court and will leave them hanging out to dry. That's going to be tough to overcome.

[Harry0569]

damn you pat forde

[1983 Cotton Bowl]

I'll be honest. . .I'm getting a little worried now. Academic ineligibility by itself is one thing. But what concerns me more is the news that's trickling out a little at a time. . .EM suddenly bails and goes to China. . .Maligi mysteriously put on indefinite leave. . .now KF declared ineligible (and there have been whispers about KF's academics at both the HS level and at SMU since the day he set foot on campus). I'm not going to speculate about whether this is all connected and is heading to a bad place. But I've been around SMU long enough to admit that it worries me.

[EconPony'10]

Live by the sword die by the sword. We take kids who are academic risks and it happens. Hopefully we build to a point that we don't need to gamble as much. All these guys are worth the risk, but it is a risk. Move on, let's see what Ben can do.

If you are taking that attitude, then every single NCAA bball program are taking the same/more risks with much more reward.

Not true. Keith came from a high school in the midst of a grade cheating scandal, so it's quite possible he hadn't had any kind of real education since 8th grade. Not every high level recruit is in that particularly bad situation. Just because you can hoop and are black does not mean you are an idiot or don't work [deleted] your academics, or went to a school that gave you NCAA minimum grades automatically.

Why do you have to bring race into this thing? When I played there were plenty of humans of all colors that were having trouble academically. Top recruits (no matter what their color) generally care less about school than most. Therefore they become an academic risk no matter what HS they went to. IMO it should be the universities job to keep the top players ineligible unless they are a detriment to the university/team.

[Puckhead48E]

So what is the Magili and Keith connection, and what could this hammer be? I don't currently pay for any service, nor do I plan to, so I would love a little more insight into the impending doom of the NCAA deathstar that is being reported. Did we recruit and sign Keith knowing he was not technically academically eligible due to the HS problems, or is this a current issue?

Also, my up-vote for the above mavens of logic that point out that we wouldn't be hearing cryptic hints of impending NCAA sanctioned doom if the school wasn't pushing the limits of what is legal. Also, if we do get hit with anything, they better fight this crap using recent examples of NCAA sanctioned malfeasance (if you don't effectively punish, you are promoting).

[Prideful Pony]

Reading between the lines, could be he wasn't eligible out of high school without a little creativity from his recruiter (Maligi) and Kimball. May not have anything to do with Keith's effort once at SMU. Which is scary for the program and could explain that ominous "mushroom cloud" comment.

[Nacho]

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com ... gram.html/

ncaa investigating smu.

[ponyinNC]

Reading between the lines, could be he wasn't eligible out of high school without a little creativity from his recruiter (Maligi) and Prime Prep. May not have anything to do with Keith's effort once at SMU. Which is scary for the program and could explain that ominous "mushroom cloud" comment.

he was at Kimball, not Prime Prep

[Puckhead48E]

Maybe he mistakingly inferred race from your introduction of stupid.

What next...now that the school has bolted athletes to segway's so they can't not go to classes, the school is also going to assign an additional set of student assistants to retrieve all missed shots and rebounds mid-game to help them execute better decisions on the court too. Why stop in the classroom...make sure the never miss a free throw. Or, do we only expect them to act as people responsible for their actions on the court?

[StallionsModelT]

Reading between the lines, could be he wasn't eligible out of high school without a little creativity from his recruiter (Maligi) and Prime Prep. May not have anything to do with Keith's effort once at SMU. Which is scary for the program and could explain that ominous "mushroom cloud" comment.

If that is the case then we are looking at probation and likely a one year postseason ban.

[Prideful Pony]

Reading between the lines, could be he wasn't eligible out of high school without a little creativity from his recruiter (Maligi) and Prime Prep. May not have anything to do with Keith's effort once at SMU. Which is scary for the program and could explain that ominous "mushroom cloud" comment.

he was at Kimball, not Prime Prep

My mistake, updated it. Wasn't Kimball already in trouble at the time with a vice principal changing grades?

ETA: This is what I as remembering. It was a TA, not a VP. Thought nothing came of the original DISD investigation -- http://www.dallasnews.com/news/educatio ... hanged.ece

[Mustang11]

Good time for a Moody price hike...

[RGV Pony]

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3399372

[Puckhead48E]

Prior report on Keith's HS grade issues from January of 14:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc ... n/4934833/

If it is a furtherance of his issue, with Maligi being involved in contacting the school, then I can see issues but absent Maligi sending texts or emails stating "change the grade" I don't see anything that can be proved beyond question. I just hope Maligi or others weren't stupid enough to write anything down...

Also, wouldn't this have been looked at when reported by the NCAA?