Basketball boosters

[kybassfan]

I think what everybody is saying is that this is a illogical issue that quite frankly should have resolved itself days ago. The issue is simple, admissions is taking a hard stance that they won't make exceptions to this rule, which is not a national rule, but a UK rule. On top of it being a stupid rule to start with, they claim they don't make exceptions, yet already have exceptions in the rule. There is a whole list of countries in which English is not their primary language that UK excuses from having to take the test. If the point of the test is to make sure students are comfortable in English speaking classes and have an ability to learn, then all countries in which English is not the primary language should have to take it. Especially countries who are currently on the exempt list which have less than 25% English speaking people in it. If they want to be correct about it, then they should come out and say the policy is modified to include all foreign countries, or none. Otherwise, you are already making exceptions.

Except we don’t know anything you said is factual. Nothing more than internet hearsay. The guy can’t function with written and reading proficiency. Yeah, he can speak four languages. But can he function in a class room with them? I can speak a bit of French, German, little Spanish and even a few words in Korean. Am I academically functioning in any of them? Oh hell no.

Two entities know anything about this situation. UK and the kid under consideration. Everything else you see is BS. UK says they ate doing what can be done. Maybe we’ll see him after Christmas.

 

[kybassfan]

All due respect, bullshit. UNC has zero integrity remaining and yet keeps right on trucking. Still being held up as some bastion of academic excellence. Still haven’t had to vacate any titles or even any wins. Hell, they just stole our NIL guy.

So go cheer for the University Of Filth. We don’t don’t act like that pool of scum.

 

[Cobb4uk]

This is an uninformed post. Basketball program success directly impacts applications to the university and enrollment.

UK basketball absolutely moves the needle for university enrollment more than anything else. Many students are there just because of the prestige of the basketball program. THERE IS ACTUAL DATA TO BACK THIS UP.

The graph below shows the spike in applications that occurred after the 2012 national title and up until the 2014 Title game appearance.

View embedded media

Not only was there an increase in applications there was also a double digit % increase in freshman class size after those two seasons.

View embedded media

I've read many of the post replies, some good, some not so good but whatever decision is made the University will have to live with that decision. I think a boosters, which is a Doctor in my family, said it best, "UK is going to be the Bud Light, shoot yourself in the foot type decision and will be used against the University at every opportunity from top to bottom". For those that look at UK as a redneck backward school, well, I leave that for you to imagation.

 

[bbncal02]

I've read many of the post replies, some good, some not so good but whatever decision is made the University will have to live with that decision. I think a boosters, which is a Doctor in my family, said it best, "UK is going to be the Bud Light, shoot yourself in the foot type decision and will be used against the University at every opportunity from top to bottom". For those that look at UK as a redneck backward school, well, I leave that for you to imagation.

It is ABSOLUTELY going to impact recruiting going forward, especially internationally.

 

[BigBlueFanGA]

Except we don’t know anything you said is factual. Nothing more than internet hearsay. The guy can’t function with written and reading proficiency. Yeah, he can speak four languages. But can he function in a class room with them? I can speak a bit of French, German, little Spanish and even a few words in Korean. Am I academically functioning in any of them? Oh hell no.

Two entities know anything about this situation. UK and the kid under consideration. Everything else you see is BS. UK says they ate doing what can be done. Maybe we’ll see him after Christmas.

I take it you haven't listened to him. He is quite proficient with English. I guess I shouldn't expect anything more from you than your usual bootlicking position.

 

[kybassfan]

I take it you haven't listened to him. He is quite proficient with English. I guess I shouldn't expect anything more from you than your usual bootlicking position.

So? Have you seen his writing? Can he read college level texts? When I went to school we had foreign students that spoke decent but struggled with reading and writing.

The point here is nobody has any facts on this situation. Only anecdotal evidence exists. Further, nobody has any right to know the details of the kids application nor its consideration. All we see are tantrums and hissy fits by an entitled few.

I’m confident UK will defend any decision it makes on athletes to relevant governance. Fans and boosters are not relevant to any of this decision making. In their announcement they made this statement point blank but it clearly went over the heads of some.

 

[bluefaithful]

He speaks better english than my cousin Sid and Sid has been in the 3rd grade going on 8 years now.

 

[kybassfan]

He speaks better english than my cousin Sid and Sid has been in the 3rd grade going on 8 years now.

Well,,, He got further than Jethro Bodine.

 

[weatherbird]

Except we don’t know anything you said is factual. Nothing more than internet hearsay. The guy can’t function with written and reading proficiency. Yeah, he can speak four languages. But can he function in a class room with them? I can speak a bit of French, German, little Spanish and even a few words in Korean. Am I academically functioning in any of them? Oh hell no.

Two entities know anything about this situation. UK and the kid under consideration. Everything else you see is BS. UK says they ate doing what can be done. Maybe we’ll see him after Christmas.

With all due respect, you have no idea who I am or what I know. But the only thing I said that could be considered hearsay is that he failed a portion of the test, which obviously you believe to be true as it is the basis of your argument in the second part of your 1st paragraph. Everything else I said is factual and can be found in the stated policies at UK, not hearsay.

It's nice that you wanna defend them, but nothing you said dealt with the simple fact that UK is not requiring this test for all foreign students as there is a list of countries by which a native of those countries are not required to take the test. Fiji is one such country where a mere 25% of the inhabitants speak English. In Croatia about 75% speak English. So why is Fiji exempt and Croatia not if the point is to make sure they are comfortable in an academic setting?

 

[kybassfan]

With all due respect, you have no idea who I am or what I know. But the only thing I said that could be considered hearsay is that he failed a portion of the test, which obviously you believe to be true as it is the basis of your argument in the second part of your 1st paragraph. Everything else I said is factual and can be found in the stated policies at UK, not hearsay.

It's nice that you wanna defend them, but nothing you said dealt with the simple fact that UK is not requiring this test for all foreign students as there is a list of countries by which a native of those countries are not required to take the test. Fiji is one such country where a mere 25% of the inhabitants speak English. In Croatia about 75% speak English. So why is Fiji exempt and Croatia not if the point is to make sure they are comfortable in an academic setting?

Are you on the admissions committee? Have you personally read or reviewed thus kids admissions credentials? We are not playing a statistical game here or making inferences based on population characteristics. This is one person that is applying to the university and unless you have direct access to the committee or you have one on one experience with this kids, you know nothing that will serve to contradict anything admissions has done. Bluster and babbling population data contributes nothing here except to rationalize a desired result

Further, there are many reasons why admissions criteria might vary from one country to another. One very simple one would be to attract certain ethnic backgrounds to the institution.

 

[K_TIME]

UK athletics represented about 2% of the school’s revenues last year.

Perhaps Capiluoto is giving this situation the amount of attention that is appropriate given the size of the athletics department relative to other parts of the university.

You could not hardly mis represent the situation any worse

First, the university is 3 Billion but the largest portion of that is the hospital whch is the major hospital system for the entire state of Ky. That alone makes the comparison apples to oranges of share ir revenue….you remove the hospital side of the business….now we’re taking. 20 percent of school’s revenue

Secondly, to say Capiluto is giving the attention it deserves…..nobody knows if he’s involved at all to be honest

Regardless to say…..this kid is ncaa eligible and isn’t some low IQ jock. He speaks multiple languages. This ruling reeks of academic snobbery and he’s gong to play at another school but it just won’t be UK

SEC athletics revenue by school​

• Dave Matter
• Jun 14, 2023
• 0

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School	FY 2022 revenue	D-1 rank
Alabama	$214,365,357	3
Georgia	$203,048,566	5
LSU	$199,309,382	6
Texas A&M	$193,139,619	7
Florida	$190,417,139	8
Auburn	$174,568,442	11
Kentucky	$159,079,024	16
Tennessee	$154,566,935	18
Arkansas	$152,513,755	20

 

[cats2010]

Are you on the admissions committee? Have you personally read or reviewed thus kids admissions credentials? We are not playing a statistical game here or making inferences based on population characteristics. This is one person that is applying to the university and unless you have direct access to the committee or you have one on one experience with this kids, you know nothing that will serve to contradict anything admissions has done. Bluster and babbling population data contributes nothing here except to rationalize a desired result

Further, there are many reasons why admissions criteria might vary from one country to another. One very simple one would be to attract certain ethnic backgrounds to the institution.

Doesn’t matter if they can read English proficiently, the same reason they are preventing Z from enrolling. All athletes at all schools are held to lesser standards for admissions than regular students. This is reason #1 and the only reason in my book this is total BS. If he is cleared to play by the NCAA, you get his ass to campus. He will have a full time Tudor helping him with his academics, he’s not going to be on his own. Not that damn hard to comprehend.

 

[NC Weasel]

As others have said, we're just guessing on the situation. Which means we're also guessing on solutions.

For all we know, Big Z got cold feet and "can't get qualified" is the story they've all agreed to. Or he has a pro contract, nobody knows yet, and we're doing due diligence to see if there's a way out. Or maybe he has a US Passport/Visa issue?

I'm not saying any of that is true, just that we have no idea what the delays really are. UK went out of their way to tell us we don't know. And even mocked those that said they do. The press release is their out when whatever truth comes out to say "Student Confidentiality, we couldn't and didn't say anything."

At this point, it has to be complicated than a partial test score.

 

[Wonky]

So go cheer for the University Of Filth. We don’t don’t act like that pool of scum.

Your holier than thou attitude reminds me of the one Hoosier fans adopted as their program was fading into obscurity. You have to change with the times. It’s no longer cheating when everyone else is doing it. If UK isn’t, they’re suckers at this point. Then again we are run by the ultimate sucker, Barnhart. So it’s not surprising.

 

[kybassfan]

Your holier than thou attitude reminds me of the one Hoosier fans adopted as their program was fading into obscurity. You have to change with the times. It’s no longer cheating when everyone else is doing it. If UK isn’t, they’re suckers at this point. Then again we are run by the ultimate sucker, Barnhart. So it’s not surprising.

Who said anything about cheating? Just because you buy into the scummier points of view about college athletics doesn’t mean it’s proper. Basically, the university has an issue with this prospective student, regardless of what it is. You advocate the waive the issue without knowing specifically what the issue is, it’s severity or anything else about it. That’s very U6ish of you. I applaud the school for sticking to its guns and maintaining its integrity. I further am proud of them maintaining some level of secrecy and protecting this prospective student’s privacy. UK is doing the right thing.

 

[RipThru]

I think folks are missing the point. In spite of the rape of college basketball by NIL and the transfer portal, this is about the University, their standard and THEIR basketball program. The university’s top priority is to maintain that integrity. Without it, money, students, boosters, fans, tradition are all pointless.

As far as admissions go, that standard is pretty low.

 

[RipThru]

So? Have you seen his writing? Can he read college level texts? When I went to school we had foreign students that spoke decent but struggled with reading and writing.

The point here is nobody has any facts on this situation. Only anecdotal evidence exists. Further, nobody has any right to know the details of the kids application nor its consideration. All we see are tantrums and hissy fits by an entitled few.

I’m confident UK will defend any decision it makes on athletes to relevant governance. Fans and boosters are not relevant to any of this decision making. In their announcement they made this statement point blank but it clearly went over the heads of some.

Pilgrim says the kid has a learning "disability" that requires accommodations and his camp is reporting he didn't get those. I have read he has dyslexia; don't know if that is true.

 

[kybassfan]

As far as admissions go, that standard is pretty low.

For in state, yeah. For out of state, it it varies. So it is for nearly every other public institution and many private ones.

 

[RipThru]

For in state, yeah. For out of state, it it varies. So it is for nearly every other public institution and many private ones.

Anecdotally, I have heard some UK athletes that can't put a coherent sentence together. I will have a hard time believing a kid who has learned 4 languages can't succeed at UK with all the services they are provided.

 

[cmallory]

Jack Pilgrim is on KSR this morning talking about how comical it is. According to him, this test was for the actual student/athlete to determine if they felt competent and/or comfortable enough with reading English in order to complete their college courses.

Admissions is looking at this purely black and white. They don't care if this kid plays basketball, or is a regular student from Waddy, KY. That's how clueless they are. Football and basketball fund that admissions office. We are a basketball school. It's not the ****in same.

Wrong. Admissions to the university is there to make sure that potential students meet simple qualifications. Playing basketball isn’t one of them but understanding English is

 

[kybassfan]

Pilgrim says the kid has a learning "disability" that requires accommodations and his camp is reporting he didn't get those. I have read he has dyslexia; don't know if that is true.

No idea. The people that need to know are dealing with it. It’s not a topic for talking sports heads.

 

[Mike-D]

Wrong. Admissions to the university is there to make sure that potential students meet simple qualifications. Playing basketball isn’t one of them but understanding English is

He understands English. Next.

 

[kybassfan]

Anecdotally, I have heard some UK athletes that can't put a coherent sentence together. I will have a hard time believing a kid who has learned 4 languages can't succeed at UK with all the services they are provided.

I speak bits of over 4 languages. I can read or write any except 1. Well 2 if you count mathematics. You are taking one fairly irrelevant factoid and trying to make it an admission standard. Conversation is not language proficiency.

 

[kybassfan]

He understands English. Next.

Really? So you have personal knowledge you can hand him a text in English and think he can understand it? Discuss it? Write essays on it? This is college. Not first grade.

 

[Mike-D]

Really? So you have personal knowledge you can hand him a text in English and think he can understand it? Discuss it? Write essays on it? This is college. Not first grade.

Oh look who's on here playing devils advocate again. This test is not for admissions to decide if the student is eligible or not. It's put in place for the student, and the intent and spirit of the rule is to make sure the student is comfortable enough with the language to attend the normal classes. Big Z said he was. We've all seen him speak English. Does he need a tutor? Probably.

 

[RipThru]

I speak bits of over 4 languages. I can read or write any except 1. Well 2 if you count mathematics. You are taking one fairly irrelevant factoid and trying to make it an admission standard. Conversation is not language proficiency.

No, I am making the point that I would bet on this kid being more successful academically than some other athletes I have heard speak at UK. Lukasz Obrzut still can't speak English. I am assuming you are not a 7'2 Croatian that would be in school 8 months and then go be a millionaire. A little common sense goes a long way.

 

[RipThru]

No idea. The people that need to know are dealing with it. It’s not a topic for talking sports heads.

Clearly you don't get to decide that

 

[Mike-D]

Clearly you don't get to decide that

You didn't know? He gets to be the contrarian in every thread on here. Oh, you dislike Cal's coaching? It's go time. Oh, you're defending Cal on admissions now? Oh, it's go time.

Lmao, dude is a ****ing clown.

 

[kybassfan]

Oh look who's on here playing devils advocate again. This test is not for admissions to decide if the student is eligible or not. It's put in place for the student, and the intent and spirit of the rule is to make sure the student is comfortable enough with the language to attend the normal classes. Big Z said he was. We've all seen him speak English. Does he need a tutor? Probably.

Test? I said text. Books? They have to read those in college.

Clearly you don't get to decide that

True. I can’t keep them from failing miserably.

 

[kybassfan]

No, I am making the point that I would bet on this kid being more successful academically than some other athletes I have heard speak at UK. Lukasz Obrzut still can't speak English. I am assuming you are not a 7'2 Croatian that would be in school 8 months and then go be a millionaire. A little common sense goes a long way.

Are you on the admissions committee? They don’t get involved in NBA contracts. I doubt they are concerned with height Most likely have no concerns about basketball. Academics. They deal with the student part of student athlete as common sense would suggest.

 

[RipThru]

Are you on the admissions committee? They don’t get involved in NBA contracts. I doubt they are concerned with height Most likely have no concerns about basketball. Academics. They deal with the student part of student athlete as common sense would suggest.

Oh yea. Real Concerned. 95% admissions in a state where education is near the bottom. A real Harvard we've got going there.

 

[bthaunert]

Are you on the admissions committee? They don’t get involved in NBA contracts. I doubt they are concerned with height Most likely have no concerns about basketball. Academics. They deal with the student part of student athlete as common sense would suggest.

This is where your mistaken. Kentucky (and just about every other university) regularly admits athletes that get in for one reason, and one reason only...they play a sport, otherwise they would not get in. Relaxed admission standards for athletes are a regular practice.

 

[Blueworld_3.0]

It's going to be interesting to see where Z lands. I've heard DePaul is in the mix but, I've heard a few others as well. I suspect DePaul is mentioned because of Calipari's relationship with Peavy. But, I've also read that there are several other, more elite programs interested.
It honestly sounds to me that someone in the admissions dept. has had a past experience with Calipari that might not have been positive and this might be a vendetta situation. Or, the admissions dept simply doesn't like Calipari leaning on them to help him out.

 

[kybassfan]

Oh yea. Real Concerned. 95% admissions in a state where education is near the bottom. A real Harvard we've got going there.

You think admissions requirements are the same for every student? In state, out of state, international? It’s pretty simple. The admissions folks are concerned about student success. You care about basketball. Their concerns take precedent.

 

[kybassfan]

This is where your mistaken. Kentucky (and just about every other university) regularly admits athletes that get in for one reason, and one reason only...they play a sport, otherwise they would not get in. Relaxed admission standards for athletes are a regular practice.

Yes. This is why kids scramble in the clearing house every year. They can’t meet admissions. Further, it’s not the same for foreign students with potential language issues.


Really don’t know why folks want to argue with me. Write to the admissions personnel and tell them how to do their jobs. I’m sure they need to laugh more than I do.

 

[KFuqua]

You didn't know? He gets to be the contrarian in every thread on here. Oh, you dislike Cal's coaching? It's go time. Oh, you're defending Cal on admissions now? Oh, it's go time.

Lmao, dude is a ****ing clown.

This! I put him on ignore a long time ago, because his only point of being on this board is to disagree with everyone else and try to stir things up.

 

[Blueworld_3.0]

This! I put him on ignore a long time ago, because his only point of being on this board is to disagree with everyone else and try to stir things up.

That nutjob is a obvious UofL troll.

 

[UKNothinButNet]

This! I put him on ignore a long time ago, because his only point of being on this board is to disagree with everyone else and try to stir things up.

It’s mind blowing the number of people who don’t do this and give him the opportunity to do what he does over and over and over.

 

[bthaunert]

Yes. This is why kids scramble in the clearing house every year. They can’t meet admissions. Further, it’s not the same for foreign students with potential language issues.


Really don’t know why folks want to argue with me. Write to the admissions personnel and tell them how to do their jobs. I’m sure they need to laugh more than I do.

I’m not arguing with you, just having a conversation . I’ve worked in Higher Ed (including athletics) for a long time now. I’m very aware how admissions standards are lowered for athletes. If he doesn’t get into UK and no other school takes him, I’m cool with it. If he doesn’t get into UK and another school, most likely with stricter admission standards, admits him, then it will be another story.

 

[Mike-McD]

I know many of the boosters that matter.

And none of them are concerned about this issue.

They find it comical that idiots like pilgrim have an audience