Didn't we hear that Mudiay qualified without issue at SMU?

[KMKAT]

Reading Seth Davis, he says otherwise when discussing the Larry Brown regime:

"6-foot-5 guard Emmanuel Mudiay, couldn't get cleared academically by the
NCAA, so he decided last fall to forego college and play professionally
in China."

So did Cal dodge a bullet with this? No Ulis if we get Mudiay.....

http://www.si.com/college-basketball/2015/01/26/hoop-thoughts-larry-brown-smu-ncaa

 

[Smashcat]

I had a feeling that was the case. For more than a year everybody in the know said he'd have a tough time qualifying. Lucky Cal didn't win that one.

 

[IL Wildcat]

This is not the first time Cal recruited a guy for a while and then the kid ended up going elsewhere, and then we find out later he had eligibility issues for various reasons. I don't think this is an accident. Calipari is so good at what he does. Nothing seems to get by him, so it wouldn't surprise me to find out that he knew Mudiay was struggling to qualify and backed off him.

 

[BoulderCat]

I obviously don't know it ,but I think Cal wanted Mudiay. His spurning UK has turned out to be a major blessing in disguise, and I'm not so sure Tyler Ulis isn't the better player anyway.

 

[gossie21]

I think SMU, Brown, and Mudiay kept repeating the line that he qualified for admission to SMU. That is probably true. But the NCAA Clearinghouse also had to review his transcripts. People knew for years that Prime Prep was on the NCAAs hit list. I recall a couple recruits from the year before getting held up, but ultimately being able to play.

I think it could be the case that the NCAA let SMU and Mudiay know that they weren't going to make an exception for a second year in a row. Obviously I'm speculating here, but if it is the case that the NCAA has a problem with a school or a diploma mill, then they should let the player know in enough time to transfer and get their academics in order. The thing with Mudiay is that (at least from what I recall) he always had great test scores.

 

[AnarchoNeoLuddite]

Mudiays people said it had nothing to do with academics when he first bailed out. Prime Prep is a BS "school". Jordan Mickey is probably lucky that he is eligible..