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Why is Syracuse's Edelin on the bench? Ask the NCAA

Bad enough that football coach Paul Pasqualoni is feeling some heat in Syracuse. That happens when you’re 3-6 and closing out the schedule against Virginia Tech, Boston College and Miami. But as Jim Boeheim’s hoops team gets ready to tip off Nov. 14 against Memphis in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, there’s still no word on the availability of freshman guard Billy Edelin.

Last fall, Syracuse suspended Edelin indefinitely after two female students accused him of sexual misconduct. The university readmitted him in June. You can debate Syracuse’s decision all day, but where the NCAA enters the equation is Edelin played some rec league ball last winter. That's against NCAA rules on outside competition.

As we speak, the NCAA’s student-athlete reinstatement committee is deciding when Edelin can make his Syracuse debut. Worst-case scenario is that the 6-foot-4 guard could get a one-game suspension for every game played in the non-sanctioned league -- and word is he played as many as 12 games.

What really makes the head spin is the NCAA has a rule [Bylaw 12.2.2] permitting its student-athletes to practice with professional teams provided there’s no compensation, no signed contract and it doesn’t constitute a scrimmage or game. So, when looking to improve your game you’re best advised to practice with the pros.

The rule in play with Edelin supposedly is geared to lessen the pressure on players to compete outside their season, presumably to afford them more time to hit the books. There’s also a touch of history dating to the 1950s and '60s, a time when players were paid by some outside leagues tied to gambling interests.

OK, none of this seems to fly here, and the NCAA looks silly if it ends up suspending a kid who was just trying to work on his game. Asked if a similarly suspended football player could play in a flag football league or if a track athlete could run in a AAU meet, Syracuse athletic director Jake Crouthamel told us: “I don’t know the answer to that one.’’

Welcome to the group, Jake.

And now let’s move to today’s mailbag, which touches on other college issues, spending in baseball, drugs in sports and the woeful lack of attention paid world-class distance runners.

Thanks for your article concerning the graduation rates of Division I colleges/universities across the United States. This is an area that has long been overlooked "as long as my team is winning." I am disgusted at the percentages listed. As I watch a college football/basketball game on TV and see the starting lineups listed with the athlete's major, I wonder: Just what does someone do after graduation with a degree in "pre-math" or "recreation and leisure?"
-- Dave Barnhart, Davenport, Iowa

That’s simple: Pray the pro ball thing works out.

Say what you will about Bob Knight, but to claim he is a detriment to academics in the world of college sports is just as idiotic as giving Myles Brand credit for IU's clean sports programs. IU had two coaches with stellar graduation rates -- Bob Knight and Cam Cameron -- and incidentally both were fired by Brand. In the meantime, IU's overall graduation rates dropped under Brand's tenure, so which side of Myles' mouth should we be listening to?
-- M. Fletcher, Los Angeles

Not so fast, please. We never meant to imply Knight had problems in the academic arena. And, in fact, we’d always bought into the mantra that Knight’s players graduated. But you inspired us to do some checking. We could only get our hands on the last three NCAA graduation reports, which proved shockingly horrible: 0 percent in 2002, 20 percent in 2001 and 40 percent in 2000. The numbers obviously suffer because of transfers and players run off by The General. As for Cameron, the numbers posted by his football recruits are indeed worth bragging about: 68 percent in 2002, 86 percent in 2001 and 62 percent in 2000.

Speaking of graduation rates, Oklahoma SID Kenny Mossman contacted us in a bid to put the Sooners’ low 6 percent rate for football players in perspective. Mossman cites Howard Schnellenberger’s first and only recruiting class at OU, which saw 11 of 19 recruits head out of Norman along with the coach. The Schnellenberger Factor is legit, but the previous two OU football graduation rates won’t win any prize, either: 47 percent (2001) and 17 percent (2000). What really catches the eye is the Sooner basketball program, which hasn’t graduated a player in the last three years.

Spending priorities at major universities around this country are way out of line with what their key mission should be. College should be for gaining a broad understanding of how a particular field works while simultaneously preparing a student to enter the workplace and be successful. Recently, this has been interpreted to mean that each student and athletic supporter [pun intended] has access to football games of "national importance." Yet, supposedly independent reviews of college quality (U.S. News and World Report) consistently rank schools with marginal football teams at the top in the nation. Have we all gone bonkers or do we just not want to admit that we have gone down a road that would have been better off not traveled?
-- H. Gale Bateman, Ph.D., assistant professor, LSU Agricultural Center

Kudos, professor. I think you nailed it. Where we’ve screwed up -- along with letting the almighty dollar rule -- is listening to alums and fans who believe colleges are primarily in the business of fielding sports teams for their entertainment.

I recently read your article concerning the rapidly increasing amount of spending on NCAA football stadia and related facilities. While I do agree with the points that you make, I feel as though you did not tell the whole story concerning the renovations at Georgia Tech. Yes, the budget was $80 million. However, this also included the complete rebuilding of our baseball stadium. Granted, this leaves the football stadium budget at around $70 million, which is certainly nothing to sneeze at. While we “Techies’’ take pride in our stadium being the oldest on-campus Division I-A stadium in America, we also would be the first to tell you that it was definitely in need of these renovations. Secondly, Georgia Tech recently completed a school-wide capital campaign that raised approximately $712 million. There are many, many renovations currently being performed on the Tech campus.
-- Matthew R. Ware, Greenville, S.C.

Sounds like Techies have mastered the art of fund-raising, and it’s nice to see a bulk of the money headed to non-athletic projects. But, hey, $70 million is still a pricey stadium fix-up. And what worries the Knight Commission and other critics of the athletic arms race is that when one school sinks money into its facilities, others soon follow in a bid to keep pace.

The University of Oklahoma is in the midst of an $80 million-plus stadium expansion paid for entirely by the private sector. . . . Of course, private funding hasn't always been the case at OU. There have always been many critics of the inordinate amount of money spent on athletics. However, a dose of pragmatism and a little indulgence are in order here. In smaller states generally bereft of excitement, including the lack of a professional sports franchise, college football is one thing that galvanizes a state. Right or wrong, the fact is that Sooner football [much like Nebraska football or Indiana basketball] is the primary source of state pride. It may seem outlandish to spend so much on athletic facilities in a state whose citizens rank in the bottom 20 percent in income, but in the eyes of a great many of those lower-income Oklahomans -- people who may never even go to a game but are avid fans nonetheless -- they're dollars well spent.
-- Greg Lim, Austin, Texas

You’re entitled to favor such indulgence. I just wonder, if the matter were put to a vote, if some of those dirt poor folks wouldn’t think differently.

Excuse me, but if the baseball commissioner’s office is supposed to oversee that the money paid to the poorly run clubs is actually reinvested in building the club, who will be watching Bud Selig? Let’s not forget that for the last few years this commissioner has been willing to destroy baseball to achieve the destruction of the New York Yankees or at least ensure that baseball would be a safe haven for incompetent owners.
-- Richard Leslie, Burke, Va.

OK, Selig is an easy target, but he’s smart enough not to make a move without the backing from a majority of owners. And you’re right about the new system not being friendly towards George Steinbrenner or the cross-town rival Mets. But, hey, $100 million should be enough to field a competitive club, even in the Big Apple.

THE ISSUE IS MONEY! The fans have it, the owners take it, the players want it, and they get it now, too. ... This insanity will come to an end. To me, it’s like an Internet bubble waiting to burst. I can’t stand to look at A-Rod. His talent isn't so great. It’s a game, you morons. The best part, the writers just have more to pontificate about. Amazing how fast America forgot about what's really important. I guess we are a bunch of lazy-ass idiots. A year has passed and greed is king once again.
-- Lt. Steve Gaudet, FDNY

Yes, sad but true.

Here in Brazil we have strong rules about taking anti-inflammatory medication while being an athlete. I believe that our “anti-doping" rules are different than those of the U.S. Last month an important doctor accused our top athletes of steroid use. That was a very serious accusation. But in the end it couldn't be proved, although there were some serious indications that this doctor was telling the truth. What's the take on steroids and some other supplements that those players might take in the NBA and other sports in the United States? Those have a lot of side effects, too.
-- Marcos Cardoso, Brazil

Let’s face it, doping is a universal problem. No country, sport or league can say it’s immune to the issue. The NBA has policies against performance-enhancing drugs, but it’d be naïve to assume a player or two hasn’t sought an advantage. At the same time, no one has linked the kidney ailments suffered by NBA players to steroid usage.

I can tell you that the problem with recognition for distance runners is solely to be blamed on the USA Track and Field federation. For almost 20 years, over 90 percent of road races, totaling in the hundreds, have been televised on national and regional cable networks with an average delay of weeks, sometimes months. How the hell is Khalid Khannouchi or any other distance runner going to get respect in the media when nobody has ever seen them on a week-to-week basis or on the CNN sportscasts, not to mention ESPNews, Sports Center and all the others?
-- Mike Morrisey, Lexington, Mass.

There’s plenty of blame to go around. Unfortunately, the networks are driven by ratings and distance running -- track and field, in general -- lacks the buzz of football, baseball and basketball. That’s not so bad, either. At least you don't often catch a runner making headlines for beating a spouse or toting a gun.

Mike Fish is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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