Quote :

"N.C. State coach Chuck Amato was factually correct with his recent comments about Akron football. "They're in a conference that allows non-qualifiers in school," Amato said. "Non-qualifiers. Do y'all need to look that one up to write your stories? ... Do you know what kind of players non-qualifiers are, usually? They're inversely proportional to what their grade-point average is. They can make a big difference." Akron, which defeated N.C. State 20-17 Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium on a controversial last-second touchdown, is from the Mid-American Conference. The MAC, like the SEC and a few other Division I-A conferences, permits its members to admit academic non-qualifiers. Under NCAA rules, non-qualifiers cannot play or practice during their first year on campus, but they can play in their second year and beyond if they meet specified academic requirements after one year of college. Generally speaking, the ACC has prohibited its members from admitting non-qualifiers ever since the NCAA adopted minimum academic requirements in the 1980s. (There have been occasional exceptions for prospects deemed learning-disabled or NCAA-certified under other mitigating circumstances.) Even the Big East, long a popular landing place for non-qualifiers, voted this summer to discontinue its standard practice of admitting them. Similarly, nobody who knows college football disputes Amato's claim about the impact of non-qualifiers. Any honest coach will tell you: The fewer academic restrictions he faces from his conference, his university or otherwise, the easier it is for him to build a successful gridiron program. Duke, Northwestern, Stanford and Vanderbilt have very stringent academic requirements and, more often than not, mediocre or poor football teams. Fresno State, Louisville, Texas Christian and Utah are examples of teams that built their recent success largely on the backs of non-qualifiers and other marginal students. So, yes, Amato was correct. Nevertheless, his words rang hollow. Here's the irony: The way Amato complained about Akron's academic standards is EXACTLY the way other ACC coaches privately have complained about the low academic bar N.C. State has adopted for its own football program ever since Amato arrived from Florida State. The Seminoles long have been known for their bottom-of-the-barrel approach to academics, and Amato adopted Bobby Bowden's blueprint -- academically and otherwise -- when he took over the Wolfpack. Based on statistics compiled by the ACC Sports Journal, the only publication that has studied such things since the NCAA stopped releasing GPA/SAT averages in the late 1990s, ACC football programs (the numbers are different for hoops) have settled into three tiers academically in recent years. Tier one: Duke, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest. Tier two: Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Miami. Tier three: Clemson, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Florida State. Another way to track the academic philosophy of a football program is simply to count the number of a team's signees who fail to qualify. Reminder: Since the NCAA adopted a more flexible, sliding scale for GPAs and SAT/ACT scores a few years ago, it's not very difficult to qualify. A player can do it with a 2.5 core GPA and an 820 SAT score, for example, and it's possible to be a full qualifier with a core GPA as low as 2.0 (combined with a 1,010 SAT score) or with an SAT score as low as 400 (combined with a 3.55 core GPA). Many junior college coaches complain that few good players "fall" to them anymore. Here, the Wolfpack ranks dead-last in the ACC since Amato took over in Raleigh. From 2001-06, here are the numbers of ACC football signees who were not eligible to play for academic reasons during the first year after their signings: 1. N.C. State (26), 2. Clemson (21), 3t. Florida State (19), Miami (19), Virginia Tech (19), 6. Virginia (15), 7. North Carolina (13), 8. Maryland (10), 9. Boston College (2), 10t. Georgia Tech (1), Wake Forest (1), 12. Duke (0). Considering those facts, nobody should have been surprised that Amato's recent complaints about Akron's academic standards didn't go over well. While the coach's statements were true, the term "glass houses" definitely came to mind."

9/15/2006 2:01:23 PM

Jesus Christ lets make another amato thread.

9/15/2006 2:03:41 PM

^^true story about us having a low bar...did anyone see that wral interview with one of our players? he had grillz and it was kinda sad to watch the interview...forgot who it was

[Edited on September 15, 2006 at 2:04 PM. Reason : yeah]

9/15/2006 2:03:59 PM

link?

9/15/2006 2:04:13 PM

Those numbers from the ACC Journal are not being honest. A person who fails to qualifiy is not on the team. Besides, the academic standards for the football team are the same as the basketball team and every other team at NC State. the academic standards are set by the UNC board of governors.

Just because recruits fail to qualify does not mean the university has lowered its standards.

9/15/2006 2:15:29 PM

Once again if this were basetball you fuckers would be all over Herb.

But then again, his players did well in the classroom.

9/15/2006 3:57:17 PM

Chuck's players are doing well in the classroom

And let's not forget for a few years there, Herb didn't graduate a single player worth a damn on the team.

Scooter, didn't graduate, Melvin didn't graduate, Collins had to come back for another year, etc. We had one of the lowest Academic Progress scores out there.

9/15/2006 4:42:04 PM

collins was in one of my classes a couple of years ago

dude is dumb as shit

9/15/2006 5:06:22 PM

^doesnt change the fact that he had 3,287 career rebounds

9/15/2006 5:10:52 PM

Quote :

"Chuck's players are doing well in the classroom"

Again, you are ill informed. There is a huge pile of academic dirt swept under the rug.

Herb's graduation rate has always been higher than Amato's.

9/15/2006 5:13:53 PM

its really easy to say things when you know you arent going to even try to support them

9/15/2006 5:16:51 PM

he would have to average 30 per game to get that many

9/15/2006 5:17:43 PM

^heres your proof

9/15/2006 5:30:42 PM

Quote :

"Again, you are ill informed. There is a huge pile of academic dirt swept under the rug."

the same could be said about a vast majority of D1A programs.

9/15/2006 5:37:11 PM

my old roomate caught a touchdown in the gator bowl

hadnt been to class all semester

found out they were playing after new years and wasnt going to be eligible

talked to his professors- they said, "just show up for the exam."


sad

9/15/2006 7:10:01 PM

^^^
Referencing NCAAwiki is no better than saying "Well my friend told me".

For the record, he had 184 career rebounds.

9/16/2006 8:59:14 AM

Quote :

" Again, you are ill informed. There is a huge pile of academic dirt swept under the rug. Herb's graduation rate has always been higher than Amato's."

there were years herb didn't even graduate anyone

^^I'm sure Berton wants you posting stuff like that.

9/16/2006 9:33:47 AM

im sure he gives a fuck what you people think

and i didnt leave his name.

9/16/2006 11:08:43 PM