The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Nayquann Mitchell, who was a late addition to the Old Dominion basketball team last summer, has made an early departure from the squad.
A reserve forward, Mitchell failed to qualify academically after the first semester and is no longer with the team.
"He rendered himself ineligible, so I didn't invite him back," coach Blaine Taylor said Wednesday.
Mitchell played just 32 minutes in seven games and did not score. The 6-foot-7 junior was a transfer from Lon Morris Junior College in Texas. He was the first junior college player Taylor has taken in 11 seasons at ODU.
Mitchell signed in July, and helped fill in a roster thinned early in the season by an injury to guard Kent Bazemore, as well as the suspensions of forwards Nick Wright for a violation of team rules and Richard Ross for academics. Wright served a three-game suspension and Ross became eligible after the first semester.
ODU (6-6) hosts No. 8 Missouri (12-0) on Friday night at the Constant Center.
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ODU and Jr. College
Some kids are at Jr. College because their parents can't afford the tuition at a four year college. So excuse me. Loans are expensive. Grants are not always available. Scholarships don't magically appear. And, like my son, he was injuried his senior year. Junior colleges are cutting their athletic programs as well. Many sports are losing their opportunities to see great athletes because only those with money are getting seen by the four year colleges. You cannot say the sports talent in the junior colleges is poor. This economy is just placing that talent in other places than four year colleges and universities.
You're Kidding Right?
Only student athletes with money are being looked at by 4 year colleges??? That is the most ridiculous thing I have heard. Almost all of the top programs are filled with kids from low socioeconomic backgrounds, if not outright poverty. I am not condemning Junior Colleges, or their athletic programs. What I am saying is that most athletes, basketball in particular, who can get an athletic scholarship to a Division I program, but has to go the JUCO route first, represents an academic red flag.
Junior College!
Excuse me, but doesn't your football team take JC players? Seems to me the roster is loaded with them. Why so holy about basketball?
The football team needed to
The football team needed to have a good number of Jucos because if they didnt, every player would be in two sequential classes since its a startup program. Not all of them can be a freshman or a sophmore your first season or they'll all graduate at nearly the same time. Wilder has stated repeatedly that we will see fewer and fewer Jucos as the program matures. I have nothing against Jr. College players, but one must admit that for athletes, most are there either to develop D1 level skills or their academics are lacking. Regular non-athlete students may very well be there for economic reasons.
Are You Intellectually Dishonest or Utterly Uninformed?
Wilder purposely recruited many JuCos when initializing the football program so that the headcount of academic classes would be more evenly distributed, thus not losing a large % of players to graduation in any given year. It was a very smart move and has paid off substantially. Trying to equate the recruiting strategy of a football program (70+ players / 22 starting positions plus special teams) with a basketball program (13 players / 5 starting positions) is either intellectually dishonest or you are utterly uninformed. My guess is the former, and you just have some axe to grind w/ ODU, thus the spewing of non-objective nonsense.
Wrong
First of all we are talking about the basketball team, not the football team. That's comparing apples and oranges. Coach Taylor for 11 years has had a philosophy about the kind of program he wanted to run, and he has always placed a high importance on academics. For 11 years he avoided accepting JC transfers, and the first time he does, he has to kick him off of the team. Secondly, as far as I can tell there were only 3 JC transfers on the football team. That doesn't qualify as "loaded" in my book.
First and Last JC Transfer
I am willing to bet Coach doesn't bring in any more junior college transfers. Most of them are in JC for a reason.
Yep
I've seen way too many student/ATHLETES (and their misinformed parents) who think the academics at a JUCO will prepare them for the academics at a four year school. JUCOs are athletic hiding places. If you can't get recruited to play your sport in a four year program and/or you can't handle the academics just yet, stay home, attend a community college and get the academics under control first.