Matt Pilgrim
Big Blue Links for Tuesday:
- H-L report on minor NCAA violation involving Darius Miller.
- In the Courier-Journal, Jody Demling writes on Joe Jackson and UK.
- Demling reports that California forward DeAndre Daniels visited UK on Sunday.
- Big Blue Uncensored writes on the curious case of Matt Pilgrim.
- Inner Circle wants UK basketball to give the open scholarship to Pilgrim.
- Kentucky State Basketball also has Matt Pilgrim on its mind.
- Andrew Gribble of the Opelika-Auburn News previews the UK-Auburn football game. (Hat tip to A Sea of Blue.)
- USA Today’s Jim Halley writes on the NBA player camp, focusing on Harrison Barnes and Brandon Knight.
- Zagsblog talks to Rod Strickland, who says Eric Bledsoe and John Wall can play together.
- Zagsblog also talks to possible UK target Tobias Harris.
- Straitpinkie looks at John Calipari’s summer priorities.
- A Sea of Blue wonders where Jodie Meeks might go in the draft.
- At Bleacher Report, Jacob Horrocks believes Kentucky will not miss Meeks as much as most people think.
John Clay is a sports columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader. A native of Central Kentucky and graduate of UK, he covered UK football for 13 seasons before being promoted to columnist in 2000. He lives in Lexington with his wife and two sons. You can e-mail him at jclay@herald-leader.com.
i don’t think you do anything until the draft
i haven’t heard that meeks has hired an agent, so if he doesn’t get drafted, he could actually come back
if he is drafted, i think we should definitely give the scholly to pilgrim
Already people think they know more about basketball than Coach Cal!! There is a reason why he did not renew his scholarship and part of it was in the best interest of Matt Pilgrim. He wants to play and would not get much playing time if he stayed at UK. How many of these people have actually seen Pilgrim play a real game? I have seen him play pick up games, but pick up games are not the same thing as a regualar college game. Despite the many times I have heard Pilgrim desribed as a “beast” on the court, I trust Coach Cal on this. Partly because I value his judgment of talent over that previous UK coach.
Gary and Chad the “we” and the “he” that awards the scholarship is none other than Mitch and Lee. Read the rules.
For federal fiscal year 2008 $1 billion in athletic scholarships were awarded to over 126,000 student-athletes through either a partial or full athletic scholarship. These scholarships are awarded and administered directly by each academic institution, not the NCAA. I suggest reading The Thin Thirty (Shannon Ragland) as to how an athletic director directing influences the awarding and administering of athletic scholarships.
The Provost receives the Athletic Budget and reviews it with the Athletic Director, including the total available for athletic scholarships. The Athletic Director determines scholarships allotments to each team. The head coach and assistant coaches for that sport recommend to the Athletic Director which student receives what amount.
Prior to the start of each semester, the Financial Aid Office will generate a “Focus Report” on all Student-Athletes for that semester and submit it to the Director of Athletics, who in turn reviews the report and forwards it to the Provost and President for approval.
Pilgrim lifted weights, ran sprints, went through every practice and as far as we know, went to class and did everything UK and the head BB coach asked of him. And he sat out entire year of his life not playing. He cheered on his team, he gave everything in practice and he kept a great attitude. He was excited about being part of Big Blue and from what the players were saying to the press was a pretty decent contributor in practice and scrimmages. He should definitely be given the chance to come back into the UK family if he is still interested. Wouldn’t blame him for saying no though.
i don’t really think everybody needed a 4 paragraph expansion because i used the word “we” . . . i know that i’m not personally involved in any of this
thanks for the book recommendation, i’ll pass . . .
CHAD:
Was not preaching here, it is just that scholarships are complicated, espically the first year. It is not a first come, first receive basis. In fact the amount an athletic scholarship for the first year and as to individual athletes which receive a scholarship is based on the athletes SAT Scores and his/her high school GPA. You can see why some athletes knowingly have their grades and SAT Scores changed.