So what’s up with the NCAA suddenly commenting on pending matters (Jim Harbaugh, Tez Walker) and bashing schools along the way?
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New President?
Schools more actively politicking against it?
Who knows.
The UNC statements and outrage when they (apparently) botched the waiver case is sort of ridiculous. The NCAA is just there to do what the schools say, and then the school departments that help come up with the laws drop the ball on the waiver case and create a public outrage campaign.
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“Behave” like they are a toddler. I’m sure UNC withheld information that could have helped their player get a waiver 
I mean, a lot of the comments from Mack Brown and the UNC AD seemed pretty toddler-like to me. The only thing missing was the crying and rolling on the ground of the Target toy aisle.
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Bad lawyers/administrators do exist…
Is it that crazy to think that UNC could have filed the wrong sort of waiver, or provided insufficient information because they thought they should get a waiver for some other reason?
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I guess, but this feels to me more like the NCAA taking negative heat and making up a reason to change their mind by blaming it on someone else.
The public statements that the NCAA has made lately have been very weird though. Not only commenting on matters that they previously didn’t, but releasing statements that have a level of vitriol/defensiveness rather than just stating information in a professional manner.
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I mean, maybe they are lying but what do we have to base that on other than vibes? And what would they gain from that?
What would they gain from what? Changing their mind? It’s all about PR. I’m sure they wanted to deny the waiver because by letter of the rulebook, they can/should. They took negative heat and by stating that some big important new information is out, it absolves them from blame for the original decision. They can’t just say that they changed their mind. They need something to point to in order to do it. It’s easy to see why they would try to frame public perception. “Don’t blame us. We would have given the waiver and avoided the bad press, but we didn’t know this information.”
What is the new information that they didn’t know and had they known it before, would have resulted in a granted waiver?
Making up a lie to save face in a small PR matter seems like a really slippery slope.
The most obvious thing would be proper medical records or logs of some sort I would imagine.
My thoughts on this thread:
- I am glad that the NCAA is trying to at least tighten some of the portal chaos and this new window of time isn’t quite as outrageous as I initially thought. However, I do fear that it may drive more players to pre-emptively enter the portal “just in case” and then result in even more roster chaos for teams/coaches trying to recruit new players and their own. We’ll see I guess.
- I wonder if the NCAA will revisit transfer waivers after this policy goes in place for situations when a school has a coach leave after the entry deadline or rules on a post-season ban after that deadline.
- I still wish there was more coherence around the NCAA/NBA relationship since the draft dates are so different than the NCAA dates. Do we know how this new window aligns with the combine invites?
- Dylan always says “why do schools complain when they are the ones creating the NCAA rules and telling them what to do?” While that is technically true and it is always funny to see a school support a rule until it burns them… One individual school and even one conference has limited power to influence policy. It takes time, collaboration, negotiation, and creativity. Rarely do any two schools agree on policy, let alone enough to influence it! The silliest example is how NCAA hockey decisions/rules are heavily influenced by the smallest schools/conferences because they outnumber the power conferences in that sport.
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If the NCAA was lying I would imagine it’d take North Carolina about three seconds to say “there wasn’t any new information.”
EDIT: Welp.
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And they couldn’t have reached out to UNC/the kid to say, “Hey, we need ___ (medical records, this form, etc.) if you want us to consider that when making a decision”? Seems like a simple phone call/email rather than what came after a denial.
I don’t think they are lying about getting “new” information. I think they are full of it when saying that this new information completely changes everything and suddenly makes them change their mind.
It’s weird seeing people defend the NCAA administration and give them the benefit of the doubt based on what we know about them and the many arbitrary decisions that they make.
Probably not if they’re getting their way
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Tough. I also will not get a chance to workshop my “Tolu Smith as an All-American is a ridiculous take if you’ve ever watched him play and not just read a box score.” take. Hate it for him, though.
It’s hilarious when schools complain about the ncaa like it’s some outside force. THEY ARE THE NCAA!
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Thinking maybe he lawyered up and they provided the right info that UNC did not provide originally. Weird war of words.
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Or he lawyered up and the NCAA backed down in the face of legal pressure like usual. They don’t want things taken to court. They lose there.
They even got the attorney general involved. NCAA didn’t want the smoke.
Apparently this Grasso stuff is about to be a serious doozy