How do they remain academically eligible?

Well…we can add the name of Hakeem Nicks to the ever-growing list of UNC-CH athletes who find academic matriculation at UNC-Chapel Hill significantly easier than daily tasks such as simultaneously thinking and breathing.

Nicks will enter the powder blue’s ‘Pantheon of Paradox’ with a seat firmly entrenched between the likes of Kevin Madden, Rasheed Wallace, Jeff McInnis and so many other Tar heel athletes who rushed towards graduation without a hiccup despite intellect that wouldn’t grant them admission into some local high schools.

I saw the Chicago Tribune’s article yesterday but didn’t have time to post this entry until it just came across my RSS reader through the Wiz.

Wide receivers: NFL teams would like for receivers’ test scores to be about 18, but several of the top prospects fell below that mark. Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech scored 15, Darrius Heyward-Bey of Maryland scored 14, Percy Harvin of Florida scored 12 and Hakeem Nicks of North Carolina scored 11. The test result is particularly interesting in the case of Harvin, who will have more learning to do than the others based on the offense he played in at Florida and the fact he could be used in multiple roles. Jeremy Maclin of Missouri was outstanding by comparison with a 25 test score.

Among people of various professions, chemists score an average of 31, journalists 26, clerical workers 21 and warehouse employees 15. A score under 10 is an indication of literacy problems.

The Chicago Tribune reports Hicks scored an 11.

How would YOU do at the Wonderlic?  Take a Practice Test here.

Remember Antawn Jamison’s two-year quest in high school to reach the all-important (ACT equivalent of) 700 on the SAT that he miraculously satisfied on the last attempt of his senior season while taking the test at the McDonald’s All-American game? Despite these troubles to achieve the most remedial of scores, ‘Tawn’ managed to not only remain eligible during the demands of collegiate basketball, but to earn enough credit hours to still graduate with ease despite foregoing his senior season in Chapel Hill.

At the rate the Chief is going over there in Chapel Hill, there is no telling what the value of that Carolina degree will be worth when all is said and done.

…please cue ‘Washburn’…’Shackleford’…and the ensuing math lesson that will result from explaining to our friends that NC State’s (1) academic issues were some 25 years ago; (2) dumb athletes not only failed to graduate – thereby not diluting the integrity of the degree – but usually encountered at least some form of academic difficulty that often impacted their eligibility.

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96 Responses to How do they remain academically eligible?

  1. gcpack 03/23/2009 at 4:09 PM #

    99.9 the fan is reporting that Costner and Ferguson are NOT coming back next year.

    Quite frankly I don’t think losing Costner is that big of a deal. He usually looks like he just dogs it. I don’t think his attitude helps the team at all.

    Now Ferguson isn’t much help either but why would he leave? I mean where is he going to go? Really always amazed me that Pittsburgh wanted him anyway before he came to State.

  2. redfred2 03/23/2009 at 4:12 PM #

    X

  3. Ed89 03/23/2009 at 4:20 PM #

    ^^^^Really always amazed me that Pittsburgh wanted him anyway before he came to State.

    Why?? Not long ago (5-10 years), Pittsburgh was an afterthought in NCAA basketball circles. I can’t believe they EVER thought they could compete with the top teams in the Big East, much less on the national scene!!

  4. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 4:22 PM #

    Chop,
    OK but it sure seems like one and done. How about two and threw, as in threw up?
    `
    I feel better now. Talking here in the family is one thing but don’t start talking shit if you ain’t Wolfpack family. I really don’t mind Boeheim saying what he said. The man is obviously a friend of Herb and IMNSHO friends ought to stick up for one another.
    `
    I think it’s time to close ranks a little. That smart mouthed, CS, MF, SE, SOB Thamel dissed Lowe too. Who the hell does he think is, John Swofford?

  5. packof81 03/23/2009 at 4:22 PM #

    Wolfdog said, “Bottom line is NCSU had bad graduation rates as a university at the time.”

    That was also true for non-athletes back then. NCSU was less selective in their admissions. They would give late bloomers a chance. I coasted through high school in the early 70s with mediocre grades. NCSU gave me a chance to prove myself and I graduated with honors in Electrical Engineering. Today, a kid with such mediocre HS grades would not be admitted.

    Many who were admitted long ago with mediocre grades did not graduate. Certainly the increased selectivity ensures the university is admitting students with a better chance of graduating. But this comes at the price of excluding the late bloomers.

  6. caniac45 03/23/2009 at 4:24 PM #
  7. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 4:31 PM #

    redfred2
    March 23rd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
    “Most of the fan base is appreciative of the job Herb Sendek did in restoring academic acheivement to the basketball program…”

    “Uh, what???

    Sendek did NOT RESTORE academics.”
    `
    That was for that douche bag, Thamel, to read, fred, to give him the false impression that the fan base here had appreciation for Sendek. The comment to Thamel was to fuck with him like he fucked with us. I don’t believe in resentment, I believe in revenge. Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, gonad for a gonad, you know what I mean? The only battle I’ve ever felt in the final analysis like I took a real beating on was my divorce from my first wife. That was brutal. The f*****g I got was not worth the f*****g I took on that one.
    `
    So what have you heard about Spring Football, fred?

  8. TheCOWDOG 03/23/2009 at 4:34 PM #

    I’m sorry folks. I’ve pretty near read every single post here and I’m laughing out loud.

    I envisioned this scenario for some reason.

    You and your buddies are in the C-F and we face a 3rd and 12. Our wide out does a 13 yrd. curl and gets leveled into next week by the strong side safety at the ball’s arrival.

    Lo and behold as he’s laid out on the turf the pill is still in his hands.

    C_F erupts ” Another Wolfpack….First Down!! ”

    You turn to your buds and yell over the crowd ” Helluva play! ” Your bud screams back, ” Yea, too bad it took him 2 summer semesters to barely clear English Lit. ”

    My peeps, this ex sees a ton of hypocrisy right now in this blog and it isn’t of the institutional variety. Come on, think about it.

  9. john of sparta 03/23/2009 at 4:35 PM #

    old “back in the day” sayings:
    1. it’s hard to get into Carolina.
    it’s harder to remain at State.
    2. more students get 1100 on the SAT
    than can jump 4 Feet straight up.
    3. it’s not who wins or loses,
    it’s who gets the BJ.

  10. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 4:40 PM #

    Damn, Dog. I thought you were talking Spring Practice. Go to your room.

  11. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 4:45 PM #

    john of sparta
    March 23rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
    old “back in the day” sayings:
    1. it’s hard to get into Carolina.
    it’s harder to remain at State.
    2. more students get 1100 on the SAT
    than can jump 4 Feet straight up.
    3. it’s not who wins or loses,
    it’s who gets the BJ.
    `
    and the mosquitos were so big, they could stand flat-footed and hump a turkey.

  12. pakfanistan 03/23/2009 at 4:46 PM #

    Here’s a little info on Josh Davis. Make sure to have your expectations sky high.

    Davis MVP of Carolinas All-Star Basketball Classic

    In the boys game, Raleigh Athens Drive’s Josh Davis had 15 points, on 5-for-5 shooting, and had 10 rebounds to earn team MVP.

    The Carolinas All-Star Basketball Classic was also attended by Earnest Ross and Garrius Adams.

  13. wufpup76 03/23/2009 at 4:47 PM #

    From the link caniac provided –

    Thank you Trevor and Brandon for your efforts.

    A potential climaxing season approaches … Mettle will be tested. Hope the team (staff and all) are up to it. Good luck and go Pack.

  14. highstick 03/23/2009 at 4:48 PM #

    Article last week had Clempson’s basketball team’s graduation rate at 27%. Now, I haven’t read the exact stats, but will find them.

  15. Greywolf 03/23/2009 at 4:59 PM #

    Thanks for the Wonderlic link. I thought the Wonderlic was something like that Heinnylick maneuver I tried the other night. After the test I can see why I had so much trouble getting a job. I could’ve made the Holes fb team as a wide receiver, however.

  16. Gene 03/23/2009 at 5:04 PM #

    NCSU being a land grant university has a different mission than UNC and Duke. We are supposed to make sure people in North Carolina have access higher learning in technical and agricultural fields and so our admissions are easier. We end up with more people who are not as ready to be in a quality four year college as UNC and Duke, therefore we have a higher drop out rate.

    This doesn’t mean you can’t be just as successful as a Duke grad or UNC grad, but just our attrition rate is higher.

  17. TheCOWDOG 03/23/2009 at 5:08 PM #

    Grey, I should have stayed in my room I suppose, but made the mistake of reading something my momma would have told me not to read.

    This particular post pisses me off ’cause I’m not really sure that anyone is going to get by the reality of what I just said minutes ago.

    I’m serious, the line of comment is beyond my comprehension. But what the hell do I know?

    I was just a dumbass jock too. Thank God in the end it was baseball over football. Gives me the shivers to think of what my NFL test would have looked like. 🙂

  18. redfred2 03/23/2009 at 5:11 PM #

    X

  19. highstick 03/23/2009 at 5:21 PM #

    http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney09/news/story?id=3987923

    Here’s the link to the article where Clempson’s APR is in the bottom.

  20. BoKnowsNCS71 03/23/2009 at 5:23 PM #

    Let’s hope these athletes stay off Jeff Foxworthy’s show “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?”

  21. john of sparta 03/23/2009 at 5:26 PM #

    Greywolf:
    the hen turkey squats down to get hers.
    the mosquitos didn’t have to stand up.
    oh my lord.

  22. TheCOWDOG 03/23/2009 at 5:31 PM #

    Let’s hope these athletes stay off Jeff Foxworthy’s show “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?”

    Yep, sure all of us would be looking forward to plying our knowledge on that show.

    Fabulous take there Bo.

  23. TheCOWDOG 03/23/2009 at 5:48 PM #

    john of sparta
    March 23rd, 2009 at 5:26 pm
    Greywolf:
    the hen turkey squats down to get hers.
    the mosquitos didn’t have to stand up.
    oh my lord.

    Was it you two guys sitting next to me copying my answers?

  24. redfred2 03/23/2009 at 5:56 PM #

    “AIR EXAM, AIR EXAM, AIR EXAM,…”

  25. TheCOWDOG 03/23/2009 at 6:34 PM #

    Good to see that a few of us are seeing this thread line from a different angle.

    It’s not that academics and athletics don’t intertwine. For Pete’s sake, that’s what 85% of it are all about.

    For some other 85%, partying and chics and academics are what it’s all about.

    For others, it may be 100% academics.

    Who cares? If you are in school and manage somehow to stay there, congratulations. You’ve a great accomplishment.

    If you’re struggling in grades and your knees are shot and you have constant headaches and you can’t quite straighten your back out and you have trouble holding a pen in your hand and some dickhead on SFN won’t get off your back…just carry on.

    Take solace in the cheers for the next good play.

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