(02-13-2018 09:19 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(02-13-2018 08:01 AM)JackieTreehorn Wrote:  

(02-12-2018 10:12 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  If he was a babysitter, put nanny cams in the house.

Yeah, part of the baby sitter job for his six figure checks were to make sure the players kept up academically. He looked the other way when many stopped going to class or taking exams, because hey, what did he care if they actually got their degrees? Of course, when the NIT games ran over into the Spring Quarter, several starters ended up ineligible. Whoops!
From what I understand, he also allowed Downey to go on "recruiting visits" to other schools during the season. WTF?
Some people here can all misty eyed about AK if they want, but the guy was an a$$.

I've heard so many differing stories on much of this, I feel like many just have an ax to grind against the guy. I heard from some people I consider reliable on the subject that AK didn't know those 2 were skipping their exams. I don't know which is true, really it doesn't matter.

As far as allowing Downey to go on a recruiting visit, I don't know whether it is true or not, but if so good for him. This is a kid who committed to play for a coach and his coach was fired before he ever stepped foot on campus. If I'm coaching I absolutely allow the kid make an informed decision on what he wants to do the next season even if that includes him checking out another school. Too often the student athletes are the ones we care least about during something like this and that is an awful thing.

The bottom line is this. If AK handled everything exactly like his harshest critics seem to have wanted too, the program still would have been decimated when the next guy came in. AK couldn't recruit and there were two legitimate players on the roster. Even if AK worked his ass off to convince Downey and Ced to stay, said nothing but great things about the administration and the job and personally walked every kid to class, UC would have been facing the same issues. There is no need to demonize the man.

I think you're leaving out that AK told people that he wanted UC to fail. Once you know that, all the stuff that happened under his watch looks less like he was a passive participant and more like he was actively doing his best to kill the program. I understand that he's a Huggins guy and thought that UC treated Huggs badly, so some people might not blame Kennedy for wanting UC hoops to suffer. But UC fans aren't likely to see it that way, you know?