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ponyboy wrote:I don't like what screenname is on here implying. He's assuming SMU guilt it seems to me.

PonySnob wrote:Interesting discussion about it on the WFAA Facebook page...........

hoopmanx wrote:Rally round family, w/a pocket full of shells....

Beat usf

LA_Mustang wrote:

hoopmanx wrote:Rally round family, w/a pocket full of shells....

Beat usf

Bingo. The sentiment of a true fan. Until there is evidence of wrongdoing, I'll always have the back of my coaches and players.

RE Tycoon wrote:

Pony_Law wrote:
Keep calm and carry on. Boycott WFAA for their blatant attempt at a hit job without any facts against SMU and encourage everyone you know to join in. SMU throw down the gauntlet against this attack, send a cease and desist letter and let WFAA know you are preparing a slander/libel suit against them if corrective action is not taken (SMU has lots of legal heavy hitters in their alumni pool), deny all media access to WFAA for all sports indefinitely, grant significant access to LB/SMU sports to other local news media, put the assistant coach on Channel 4 vehemently denying anything improper was done, promote everything SMU does to make sure players like KF succeed academically at SMU and what an opportunity SMU is providing to these and many other disadvantage kids, pull all advertising from WFAA, Work with SMU's sponsors to encourage them to drop advertising from WFAA (imply that they might not be able to market with smu or be present on campus at all), and finally continue to win and sell your self as Dallas's college basketball team for everyone to enjoy.

You think SMU has significantly more stroke than they actually do.

Dallas ISD to investigate credit recovery program after report finds grades were changed for top basketball recruit
By Matthew Haag
[email protected]
1:49 pm on January 27, 2014 | Permalink

Dallas ISD investigators are reviewing a district program that has helped thousands of struggling seniors graduate after a separate investigation found that a top basketball recruit’s grades were improperly changed.

A DISD investigation uncovered that a former Kimball High School teacher pressured other teachers there in May to increase a basketball player’s failing grades so that he would be eligible to attend Southern Methodist Univeristy this year. When teachers refused to change the grades, former teacher Demarco King modified them himself and sent the "fraudulent report card" to SMU, the DISD investigation found.

The report is heavily redacted, including all students’ names. But the only SMU player who went to Kimball is Keith Frazier, a highly recruited guard who led the high school to the Class 4A State Championship in 2012. The Dallas Morning News named him Area Player of the Year in 2013.

The investigation shows that an SMU assistant basketball inquired about the player’s academic grades in May, about the same time the report card was modified. In an interview with DISD investigators, SMU assistant athletic director Kyle Conder denied that the university asked or suggested that grades be changed

Following SMU’s game on Sunday against the University of Houston, head coach Larry Brown told WFAA (Channel that he didn’t know about the grade-changing allegations. The Dallas Morning News requested the investigation from Dallas ISD in December and received it Monday.

The report reveals King and volunteer Kimball basketball coach Toby Daniels scrambled last May to get the player’s grades changed as the school year came to a close. Without passing grades, Frazier would not qualify for the NCAA Clearinghouse, which is the registration system for college athletes.

More to come.

SMUmessageboardScreename wrote:I'm a huge SMU basketball fan, but I think you guys are coming off absolutely horrible in this thread and are not representing SMU very well.

Just think about SMU basketball for a second. In one year, they've gone from 15-17 (5-11 in CUSA) to 16-4 (5-2) in the quasi Big East. I'm not exactly enlightened to all of the details of exactly how each player made his way to SMU, but suddenly we have one of the deepest and most athletic teams in the whole country. We are landing big time transfers, McDonald's All American recruits, etc. I think when you tread as heavily in the recruiting waters as SMU has had to do in the last year, it comes with the territory that things are going to get questioned.

I'm not here to launch accusations at Larry Brown or staff, but you have to be a special kind of naive to think that college basketball is super clean. Whether it's something relatively "harmless" like relaxing the academic standards for athletes or helping athletes get through it with extensive tutoring, etc. (SMU clearly does this), or something more serious like outright paying the players or maliciously changing highschool grades, this stuff happens.

I've read a little bit about the Brett Shipp investigation, and it appears to me like he attempted to contact the SMU basketball program a number of times as part of his investigation and they've stonewalled him, so he showed up at the press conference asking questions. It's exactly what he's supposed to do if he's doing his job.

I have no personal knowledge of the underlying facts of his report, but the allegations with regard to Frazier's grade changing is pretty specific on exactly what was done and why it shouldn't have been done, and he states that the details are coming directly from a DISD internal audit, not his own speculation.

I think you guys are off base and out of line for spewing hate at the reporter for the mere fact he is investigating your favorite team. It's that type of illogical homerism that allowed so many people to cover up the Sandusky situation at Penn State. As an SMU alum and someone who is an ardent supporter of the SMU basketball team, my response as a fan to this investigation is that I hope Frazier and SMU did nothing wrong. But if they did, they need to face the consequences. And same thing goes for Brett Shipp. If it turns out he's reporting at a way that's out of line, he deserves to face consequences too. I hope that nothing comes of this but, frankly, I think that the fans, supporters, and the program itself owes it to themselves to be upfront, responsible and cooperative. SMU always talks about holding itself to a higher standard and here's the perfect time to do just that.

Dooby wrote:Screenname's comments mirror Keith whitmire's comments to me on twitter. I am not saying this is Keith (don't think it is) or Brett Shipp. I think this is some scrub at wfaa or the DMN.

Cronies, cronies, cronies.


Why'd you go to Houston, Shipp?

I was being stonewalled! Stonewalled I tell ya!

When investigators contacted SMU basketball officials they took two months to respond.