Oscar Combs
UPDATE: Steve Moss of WKYT tweets: “John Calipari says move to make Joe B a Dominican assistant opens the door for Hall to coach the NBA players. More with Cal on WKYT at 6.”
When I was talking to Joe B. Hall on Friday, while the former UK coach wouldn’t say it, I got the feeling that Hall wasn’t convinced that it was the NCAA that ruled he and Sam Bowie could not coach the Kentucky Pros in the August 15 exhibition game against the Dominican Republic National Team.
“I can’t get anyone to tell me who made the decision,” Hall kept saying. “I don’t understand that.”
Hall said he had even asked his good friend, local attorney and former Lt. Governor Terry McBrayer to try and get an answer, to no avail.
Most just assumed it was an NCAA ruling.
But now Oscar Combs, a close friend of the Beasman, has tweeted information that makes you scratch your heads.
Oscar’s tweets:
I don’t really know how to say this, but I may need to make big-time apology here in next few days. When you’re wrong, you need to admit it.
Maybe, just maybe, big brother NCAA wasn’t/isn’t as bad as I & lot of other people made them out to be recently. In time, all will come out.
Sorry, I can’t say more now, but for the time being, you won’t hear me lashing out at NCAA until all this is cleared up.
To clarify. Not saying NCAA is great. Just saying no one, including NCAA, should be criticized for something it may not be guilty of.
This leads me to wonder, was it the NCAA that said Joe B. could not coach the Kentucky Pros?
Or was it UK that made that ruling?
If not UK, or the NCAA, then as Joe B. asked Friday, “Who did?”
The NCAA has apparently released an official statement on the matter which after reading it has left me more confused than ever.
Perhaps John can actually translate the statement into English for us simple minded individuals.
I also got a laugh out of the fact that the NCAA is “blaming” (direct quote) “inaccurate media reporting” as the basis for all this.
OK…..it’s ALWAYS somebody else’s fault, the “paragon” of fairness and logic, the NCAA is NEVER wrong.
Bottom line, looks like Joe B. is going to coach the UK alumni team (the hell with the NCAA saying I can’t call them that…)and get another moment in the son.
Good for him.
Oh one more thing, folks wouldn’t be as quick to “blame” the NCAA for stupid, petty, illogical rulings (and I include myself there…) if there wasn’t a track record a mile long giving creedence to it.
You reap what you sow NCAA.
Mark Liptak
John:
By the way…great column on this entire matter on how Coach Cal is usually ahead of the game.
Mark Liptak
Mark,
Oscar Combs asks a good question: Why did UK silent while NCAA was incorrectly being blame?
John:
I can think of a lot of reasons myself! (LOL)
Mark Liptak
I’ll state the obvious….So, that the NCAA takes a beating for its past disgressions against the Cats, ala Enes Kanter.??? Maybe?
They would never do that at UK. Whoever cracked the whip on Hall played suddering Stan because the snowball rolling down hill got too big to handle.
Ooop!