10-26-2006, 03:57 PM
Good news for UCONN. Bad news for rest of the college teams. I find it disturbing some coaches tried to mess with this kid's elibility.
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Thabeet declared eligible
By: Phil Chardis, Journal Inquirer
10/26/2006
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NEW YORK ---- The biggest story to come out of the Big East Conference's annual basketball media day Wednesday was announced by the University of Connecticut --- figuratively and literally.
And the Huskies couldn't have been happier to start spreading the news in New York, New York --- 7-foot-3, 265-pound freshman center Hasheem Thabeet of Tanzania has received word from the NCAA that he has been granted full freshman eligibility and will be a member of the 2006-2007 Huskies.
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And the second UConn team --- the one that had been practicing throughout the preseason on the premise that it would not have a major shot-blocker guarding the basket --- will be disbanded immediately.
"We always had enough confidence that the academic background that Hasheem had in Tanzania would hopefully stand up to the criteria set up by the NCAA," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "It's very difficult to match the two up. The fact that this case was handled individually is a tip of the hat to the NCAA. Obviously, I couldn't be happier for Hasheem, and for me, and for our basketball team."
By late last week, UConn had submitted to the NCAA all the information it thought necessary on Thabeet's academic background. The 19-year-old from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, had come to the United States two years ago, making stops at schools in California and Mississippi before attending and graduating from the Cyprus Christian School in Houston last year.
Mark McClanahan, Thabeet's coach in Houston last year, visited a UConn practice two weeks ago, and said that he believed Thabeet's academics were in order and that it was only a matter of time before the NCAA clearinghouse granted his eligibility.
The time came Tuesday at about 6 p.m., when Bill Shults, UConn's associate director of athletics for NCAA rules, education, and compliance received the call from the NCAA and spread the word to AD Jeff Hathaway, Calhoun, and Thabeet.
"Hasheem has a great smile, but this one didn't stop," Calhoun said. "A couple of days ago after practice, he had to answer more questions from our compliance people and after a while, he just couldn't understand why they had to ask so many questions. Well, I told him they needed to. I said he couldn't control this and neither could I. All we could do is tell them your academic story and hope you'll be acceptable to play college basketball, and I believe you are. It was tough for him to get through this."
Thabeet's eligibility was welcome news for 6-7 UConn sophomore Jeff Adrien, who was having thoughts about having to play center for the Huskies.
"It's a relief really, like taking one, big rock out of your backpack," Adrien said with a smile. "Knowing that Hasheem is going to be on my side, going to be in the middle with me, is great. It makes me feel like I want to step up my game to another level because I'll play against players of similar height and similar abilities as me, instead of playing a guy who's like, seven inches taller. Defensively for us, there's a mountain in the middle and we already have great scorers, so anything we get from Hasheem offensively will be a plus."
UConn took a gamble on Thabeet's eligibility and won while other schools decided he wouldn't be cleared and said so publicly, albeit anonymously. ESPN.com reported that coaches from Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Texas A&M were especially adamant that Thabeet never would be able to get eligible.
"ESPN.com has yet to come across a coach who recruited Thabeet who thought getting him eligible would be possible," wrote the web site's Andy Katz. "Louisville didn't think he would get his visa (which he did) while the others questioned if the transcripts from Africa would be approved here."
Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, also at the Big East media day, disputed that.
"No, I'm not surprised, I thought he'd be eligible," Pitino said. "When we recruited him, we thought he'd be eligible. I do know one thing, that they've got a Dikembe Mutombo-like shot-blocker in their program. He's a game-changer."
After the other schools were proved wrong by Tuesday's phone call from the NCAA, Calhoun fired back at those he thought tried to sabotage the effort.
"The only disappointing part about it is the fact that a lot of my fellow coaches --- I don't know if it's assistants or head --- decided to use the internet, based on transcripts, that this kid would never be eligible," Calhoun said. "The only official transcript was in the hands of us and the NCAA. I don't know anyone else who has it. I got it from his mother.
"So a couple of Big East schools had things to say about how they knew he wasn't going to be eligible. So, what they are doing is saying they didn't do their job.
"I don't know why people would say things like that. As it turns out, it wasn't harmful to our kid, but we did get feedback and it put the NCAA in a difficult position. 'We know this kid won't be eligible' --- you read it and I read it, from a coach in the Big East. We got feedback from the NCAA, 'Where's this information coming from?' I had no idea.
"I think in a coaching fraternity that's trying to make our game the best it can be, I think that trying to protect yourself, meantime taking a chance at hurting a kid, is probably not a great thing to do."
In any event, the bottom line is that Thabeet will be playing for UConn.
"Discounting foul situations, because he will get in foul trouble, he will have an impact on most every game," Calhoun said. "If you ask me who will probably have much of an impact on the college game this year, he would probably be in the top one or two --- not in the Big East, in the country. Because he has the ability to change games."
==============================================
Thabeet declared eligible
By: Phil Chardis, Journal Inquirer
10/26/2006
email this storyEmail to a friendpost a commentPost a Commentprinter friendlyPrinter-friendly
NEW YORK ---- The biggest story to come out of the Big East Conference's annual basketball media day Wednesday was announced by the University of Connecticut --- figuratively and literally.
And the Huskies couldn't have been happier to start spreading the news in New York, New York --- 7-foot-3, 265-pound freshman center Hasheem Thabeet of Tanzania has received word from the NCAA that he has been granted full freshman eligibility and will be a member of the 2006-2007 Huskies.
Advertisement
And the second UConn team --- the one that had been practicing throughout the preseason on the premise that it would not have a major shot-blocker guarding the basket --- will be disbanded immediately.
"We always had enough confidence that the academic background that Hasheem had in Tanzania would hopefully stand up to the criteria set up by the NCAA," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "It's very difficult to match the two up. The fact that this case was handled individually is a tip of the hat to the NCAA. Obviously, I couldn't be happier for Hasheem, and for me, and for our basketball team."
By late last week, UConn had submitted to the NCAA all the information it thought necessary on Thabeet's academic background. The 19-year-old from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, had come to the United States two years ago, making stops at schools in California and Mississippi before attending and graduating from the Cyprus Christian School in Houston last year.
Mark McClanahan, Thabeet's coach in Houston last year, visited a UConn practice two weeks ago, and said that he believed Thabeet's academics were in order and that it was only a matter of time before the NCAA clearinghouse granted his eligibility.
The time came Tuesday at about 6 p.m., when Bill Shults, UConn's associate director of athletics for NCAA rules, education, and compliance received the call from the NCAA and spread the word to AD Jeff Hathaway, Calhoun, and Thabeet.
"Hasheem has a great smile, but this one didn't stop," Calhoun said. "A couple of days ago after practice, he had to answer more questions from our compliance people and after a while, he just couldn't understand why they had to ask so many questions. Well, I told him they needed to. I said he couldn't control this and neither could I. All we could do is tell them your academic story and hope you'll be acceptable to play college basketball, and I believe you are. It was tough for him to get through this."
Thabeet's eligibility was welcome news for 6-7 UConn sophomore Jeff Adrien, who was having thoughts about having to play center for the Huskies.
"It's a relief really, like taking one, big rock out of your backpack," Adrien said with a smile. "Knowing that Hasheem is going to be on my side, going to be in the middle with me, is great. It makes me feel like I want to step up my game to another level because I'll play against players of similar height and similar abilities as me, instead of playing a guy who's like, seven inches taller. Defensively for us, there's a mountain in the middle and we already have great scorers, so anything we get from Hasheem offensively will be a plus."
UConn took a gamble on Thabeet's eligibility and won while other schools decided he wouldn't be cleared and said so publicly, albeit anonymously. ESPN.com reported that coaches from Louisville, Georgia Tech, and Texas A&M were especially adamant that Thabeet never would be able to get eligible.
"ESPN.com has yet to come across a coach who recruited Thabeet who thought getting him eligible would be possible," wrote the web site's Andy Katz. "Louisville didn't think he would get his visa (which he did) while the others questioned if the transcripts from Africa would be approved here."
Louisville head coach Rick Pitino, also at the Big East media day, disputed that.
"No, I'm not surprised, I thought he'd be eligible," Pitino said. "When we recruited him, we thought he'd be eligible. I do know one thing, that they've got a Dikembe Mutombo-like shot-blocker in their program. He's a game-changer."
After the other schools were proved wrong by Tuesday's phone call from the NCAA, Calhoun fired back at those he thought tried to sabotage the effort.
"The only disappointing part about it is the fact that a lot of my fellow coaches --- I don't know if it's assistants or head --- decided to use the internet, based on transcripts, that this kid would never be eligible," Calhoun said. "The only official transcript was in the hands of us and the NCAA. I don't know anyone else who has it. I got it from his mother.
"So a couple of Big East schools had things to say about how they knew he wasn't going to be eligible. So, what they are doing is saying they didn't do their job.
"I don't know why people would say things like that. As it turns out, it wasn't harmful to our kid, but we did get feedback and it put the NCAA in a difficult position. 'We know this kid won't be eligible' --- you read it and I read it, from a coach in the Big East. We got feedback from the NCAA, 'Where's this information coming from?' I had no idea.
"I think in a coaching fraternity that's trying to make our game the best it can be, I think that trying to protect yourself, meantime taking a chance at hurting a kid, is probably not a great thing to do."
In any event, the bottom line is that Thabeet will be playing for UConn.
"Discounting foul situations, because he will get in foul trouble, he will have an impact on most every game," Calhoun said. "If you ask me who will probably have much of an impact on the college game this year, he would probably be in the top one or two --- not in the Big East, in the country. Because he has the ability to change games."
