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Nash said:
Long story long I actually know someone who was semi involved with White and Muhammad's academics case at Cincy. there were actually 3 players involved but for whatever reason the 3rd player was allowed to keep playing and was never named. They all failed to complete the mandated hours for the quarter and were suspended, no idea why the 3rd guy was cleared.
I agree that Cincy should have been in the NCAA's, my suspicion is that they knew White and Muhammad's situation and left cincy out because they knew they were going to lose 2 starters during the tournament? The guy I know was well aware of the case weeks before the suspension, he said it was widely known and by the time the team was aware of it, it was no longer possible for either kid to make up the necessary hours. FWIW the guy I know said a couple of days before it happened the big debate was do they let the guys play in the semis, help the team make the finals, and then go out and get killed because grades come out and they lose the players? They ultimately decided to suspend both guys, both were still eligible for the semis but the school held them out thinking it didn't make sense to play them when they couldn't play in the finals.
One of the reasons Kennedy didn't get the job is related to that whole situation. One of the revelations that came out of it was that Kennedy had actually pushed one of the players to skip academics to focus on preparing for the conference tournament, IIRC that player was James White. Downey came out and ripped both guys after the semifinal loss saying they'd let the whole team down, no way we lose with both players, apparently that and kennedy not getting the job were one of the reasons Downey chose to transfer.
FYI there's another academic situation coming at UC, similar to the academic fraud investigation going on at UA over Chris Rodgers independent study classes, there's another case at Cincy. I don't think it involved either White or Muhammad. but there's a reason Huggins is gone and kennedy didn't get the job, they got rid of Huggins to try and get rid of the academic black eye the program had, and then that stuff happened under kennedy.
The stuff about why White left Florida is rumor although much of it was so well reported that even Doyel of CBS Sportsline wrote about it at the time. White was one of the Bret Bearup all star kids who he steered to schools coached by friends. he steered White to Florida, as soon as he signed, White quit the all star team that Bearup was taking overseas, at the advice of Donovan who was getting tired of all the scrutiny his relationship with Bearup was getting. White played well in spurts for Florida but had been suspended twice and already quit the team once when he ultimately decided to transfer.
he was in academic trouble at Florida too IIRC.
Bearup then brokered his transfer, coming down to a choice between Cincy and Missouri, coached by 2 more of his close friends, Huggins and Quin Snyder.
he's absolutely an NBA prospect, hell I think his junior year in HS he was the top rated player in the country in his class, he's an exceptional talent, but he's had his share of problems getting to this point.
I've always kept an eye on him because one of my best friends in highschool was named james White.
Farmar at 21 (or MArdy Collins if he slips that low) and Saer Sene. I'd trade both picks if we could go up and get Hilton Armstrong, but some gut feeling says we get 2 players regardless this year.
