Kentucky, Enes Kanter

Ramsay, McAdoo Appeals Scheduled

Via ACC Now:

North Carolina’s appeal on behalf of two football players declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA will be heard by the NCAA this week, team spokesman Kevin Best said today.

Defensive end Michael McAdoo’s appeal is scheduled for Tuesday, and fullback Devon Ramsay’s appeal is set for Thursday.

UNC announced on Nov. 15 that both players had been ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA in its investigation of academic misconduct and impermissible benefits provided by agents and others.

Dick Baddour, UNC’s athletic director, has said the facts in both cases do not support permanent ineligibility.

Ramsay’s mother, Sharon Lee, has said her son was banned solely on the basis of changes that a tutor then employed by the university provided on one three-page written assignment in 2008. In a story published Nov. 27 by The Charlotte Observer and the News & Observer, Lee said her son’s situation wasn’t considered serious enough to be forwarded to UNC’s honor court system for possible sanctions, so she was shocked when Ramsay received a harsh penalty from the NCAA.

Ah…note the NCAA’s inclination for speed or lack thereof. In the case of Auburn’s Cam Newton, the NCAA was like email, quick and almost instant communication between parties. In the case of Devon Ramsay and Michael McAdoo it has been a fleet of pigeons who first had to fly over a park full of statues on their way to their destination. I am sure someone will point out this is apples and oranges. They will also point out that the NCAA was fairly expedient with Deunta Williams and Kendric Burney, more so than they have been with Kentucky’s Enes Kanter. Still, I find there is some level of humor rooted in hearing appeals after the season is over, though it matters not, neither one of these guys were going to play this season anyway.  Still, the NCAA ruled on them almost a month ago and now is getting around to the appeal?

Anyone care to lay odds? Well, of course not. This is the NCAA we are talking about so the best method of prediction is to figure out what the most illogical ruling would be and go with that. I am thinking a 16 game suspension. That sounds pretty stupid. Not as dumb as authorizing the use of nuclear weapons on Ramsay and McAdoo, unless there are some sordid details to which we have not been privy. Ramsay’s mother, Sharon Lee, took his case to the media with the assertion that it was one paper. My finely honed sense of skepticism and belief the NCAA operates with some framework of rules says there has to be more to it than that. Why? Because the alternative is being held hostage by an organization who is so punchy they destroy random players’ careers just because. Oh wait, that is exactly what the NCAA does, well that sucks. On top of that, I think the appeals process is a joke and will be shocked if the appeals committee reverses anything handed down so far.

I don’t know what Ramsay did, aside from what Sharon Lee has said. I have no clue what McAdoo did only that he did not fair well at the honor court. Since these two guys have their college careers hanging in the balance, it would be nice to know the whole story. The problem there is the NCAA says academic issues are for UNC to comment on and UNC says they can’t comment on it because of FERPA. This is fun, isn’t it?
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