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Ole Miss says Nkemdiche doesn't meet academic standards for Lott Trophy
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:06 am
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:06 am
SIAP, I searched.
I was perusing the weekly Forde-Yard Dash column and came across his bit on Robert Nkemdiche:
LINK
As Forde mentions, if Ole Miss doesn't feel he is doing enough off the field to earn support from the school, I'd imagine his eligibility for the post season is going to be a concern.
I know players can turn their focus to the NFL pretty quickly, but it just seems a bit concerning that Ole Miss would bluntly remove Nkemdiche from consideration on their own unless things had really deteriorated between him and the school.
I was perusing the weekly Forde-Yard Dash column and came across his bit on Robert Nkemdiche:
quote:
When the Lott Impact Trophy folks sent out the lengthy ballot of quarterfinalists for the award for the nation’s top defensive player, there was a surprising footnote at the bottom: “ROBERT NKEMDICHE, DE, Ole Miss – School does not feel he meets academic standards.”
Two other players – Joey Bosa of Ohio State and Shawn Oakman of Baylor – were omitted from the quarterfinal ballot after being suspended for a game. But the exclusion of Robert Nkemdiche (31) – a potential high draft pick after this, his junior season – wasn’t tied to a specific incident or situation.
Ole Miss simply felt he wasn’t doing the job in the classroom in order to push him for an award that takes that into consideration.
The Dash asked Lott Trophy spokesman Pete Donovan for further explanation. He emailed back: “We do not have a specific academic criteria, such as a minimum grade point average. We ask the Sports Information Directors if their student-athlete is attending and passing classes. In the case of Nkemdiche, Ole Miss notified us after the season began that they felt he did not qualify academically for our award.”
The Dash sought comment from Mississippi on Monday and did not receive a response. However, the school got in touch with the Lott people Monday in response to the Yahoo inquiry, according to an email that was forwarded to The Dash. They forwarded an email chain from earlier in October that included the following between Lott Award officers, from Oct. 6:
“After several attempts, I finally connected w/ my guys at Ole Miss re; Robert Nkemdiche. They were very apologetic for not getting back to me sooner, however they stated that unfortunately they don’t feel that Robert is suitable for consideration. While stellar on the field, they don’t believe that he has the academics nor the community service that would be suitable for consideration.”
If Nkemdiche’s academics are that suspect, you wonder whether he’d be eligible for a bowl game. Those are almost universally played after fall-semester grades are in, and several players in past years have missed bowls after a bad semester.
Between that and star offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil missing seven games due to NCAA violations regarding impermissible benefits from agents, it’s clear that there can be a price to pay for recruiting players with eyes fixed on the NFL.
LINK
As Forde mentions, if Ole Miss doesn't feel he is doing enough off the field to earn support from the school, I'd imagine his eligibility for the post season is going to be a concern.
I know players can turn their focus to the NFL pretty quickly, but it just seems a bit concerning that Ole Miss would bluntly remove Nkemdiche from consideration on their own unless things had really deteriorated between him and the school.
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Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:08 am to slackster
That's very interesting. I'm surprised that Ole Miss would mention anything about that. Makes you wonder what's going on, but drawing any further conclusions other than it being strange (and maybe unprecedented) is impossible based on the facts we know.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:11 am to slackster
shocked Ole Miss would throw him under the bus
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:13 am to slackster
I guess he isn't worried about another concussion or an even worse injury. I would be terrified.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:13 am to slackster
How is that not a FERPA violation with RN's permission?
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:14 am to slackster
What an odd deal. Tough to draw any conclusions from, though. Except for that Ole Miss is on tDecline, of course.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:15 am to therick711
quote:
Makes you wonder what's going on, but drawing any further conclusions other than it being strange (and maybe unprecedented) is impossible based on the facts we know.
I agree, but it just seemed like a weird thing for a school to do. Granted, if Ole Miss is worried about Nkemdiche winning the award and then being ineligible a week later, I appreciate their honesty about it now.
I just found it odd that they would basically say, "Yeah, he's a great football player, but he doesn't give a shite about school or the community, so we don't believe he embodies what your award is trying to recognize."
And for those of you who aren't familiar with the Lott IMPACT trophy:
quote:
The Lott IMPACT Trophy is presented annually to the college football Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year. IMPACT is an acronym for: Integrity, Maturity, Performance, Academics, Community, and Tenacity. The award purports to equally recognize the personal character of the winning player as well as his athletic excellence.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:16 am to Diamondawg
quote:Doesn't sound like they turned over records, just gave a general statement that he wasn't performing well academically
How is that not a FERPA violation with RN's permission?
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:20 am to slackster
There are other OM players that fit this situation as well. More will come out in a few weeks.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:21 am to genro
it is still weird
It is like telling your wife yeah that dress does make you look fat
there are ways to answer a question better lol
It is like telling your wife yeah that dress does make you look fat
there are ways to answer a question better lol
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:22 am to cas4t
quote:
Ole Miss is on tDecline
7-6
8-5
9-4
=
tDecline
Flawless logic from cas4t yet again.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:23 am to Diamondawg
quote:
How is that not a FERPA violation with RN's permission?
As others have said they can make general statements like that on academic standing (like if a coach said in a press conference a student was out for X games due to academic issues).
But it could also be a motivational move by Ole Miss if he's not attending class like he should, but is doing well enough to academically eligible.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:24 am to Lebowski
quote:
There are other OM players that fit this situation as well. More will come out in a few weeks.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:26 am to GnashRebel
quote:
There are other OM players that fit this situation as well. More will come out in a few weeks.
I am going to take that to mean that there is an academic scandal coming. Probably why Tunsil took so long.
Hope I am not getting ahead of myself, but we are looking at serious implications here lol
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:26 am to thelawnwranglers
quote:
Hope I am not getting ahead of myself
you are
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:26 am to thelawnwranglers
yeah, that sounds like a bunch of bs hearsay.
I'll believe it when I see it.
I'll believe it when I see it.
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:26 am to thelawnwranglers
Oh I agree. Something weird is going on. The admin/staff at OM must be pretty fed up with him.
Just saying it's probably silly to try to make it a violation in itself
Just saying it's probably silly to try to make it a violation in itself
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:28 am to slackster
And absolutely nothing will come out of this, good job wasting your time researching it tho.
This post was edited on 10/27/15 at 9:28 am
Posted on 10/27/15 at 9:28 am to slackster
I'm waiting on freeze to gimmick out and use NKem to kickoff in the egg bowl. Then I'd like to see him used as RB, QB, Lineman, TE, and kick the extra point all on one drive.
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