Freshman point guard Daniel West has been ruled ineligible for the season, Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl announced Monday.
Pearl is not allowed to comment on the specifics of the ruling, but sources close to the situation told the News Sentinel it involves an accreditation issue with one of the standardized testing agencies.
“Daniel’s family is still involved with trying to appeal,’’ Pearl said at Monday’s press conference, “but the appeal process, as far as we understand it, has run its course.’’
Pearl said West’s options are to finish the fall semester at UT — which he must now pay for — and transfer to a junior college or finish the entire school year at UT at his expense and be eligible for next season.
West, who hails from Saginaw, Mich., has not practiced with the team since the start of fall drills on Oct. 17 and has not announced his future plans.
West’s ineligibility leaves Junior College All-American Bobby Maze as the Vols’ only bona fide point guard on scholarship.
UT has been using walk-on Michael Hubert as the No. 2 point guard through the exhibition season, but Pearl said junior Josh Tabb and junior J.P. Prince are more than likely the permanent options.
Neither Prince nor Tabb played in either of the Vols’ exhibition games. Prince has been out with a shoulder injury and remains questionable for Saturday’s 7 p.m. season opener with Chattanooga, and Tabb has been serving a team-level academic suspension.
Pearl said his heart goes out to West, who had passed through the NCAA Clearinghouse before his standardized test score was flagged.
“The frustration is he passed many checks and balances and was in summer school and did very well,’’ Pearl said. “To get the rug pulled out from underneath you is certainly disappointing.
“Then, to go through the process, it takes time, and being in limbo as long as he was . . . it’s real tough.’’
Pearl said West’s departure will no doubt affect the team.
“Certainly it has a negative impact on our team,’’ Pearl said. “The most frustrating part has been the waiting, and to think, at one time it was not an issue.’’
Pearl said West was “head-to-head’’ with Maze for the starting point guard position in the preseason.
The academic issue that ultimately took West out arose just as the fall semester was getting started, Pearl said.
“He goes from being in a situation where he made it, at a place he had always dreamed of being,’’ Pearl said. “Life was 10 times better than he dreamed it could be.’’
Fresh Prince: UT junior J.P. Prince (shoulder) wasn’t cleared Friday night, but he said he felt he could have played.
“It’s not as bad as we first thought,’’ said Prince. “It’s just a bruise and a little tear. I could’ve played in the last game.’’
Prince said the injury is similar to the one he suffered on his other shoulder that required surgery.
“But it’s not as bad,’’ Prince said. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.’’
Baby, Too: Sophomore post Brian “Big Baby” Williams practiced Monday and said he’ll be ready to play against Chattanooga in the 14th-ranked Vols’ season opener at 7 p.m. Saturday night.
Williams sat out Friday’s exhibition game after the tendinitis in his knee flared up.
“We were doing an alley-oop drill in warm-ups and it just locked up,’’ Williams said. “It felt better today. I’ll be ready.’’
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Comments » 51
SemperVol writes:
Good news is hard to come by on this November 11, 2008.
Govols2012 writes:
this stinks, i hope we have prince back by the chattanoga game
utvolz#637682 writes:
Dang, that's certainly not what we wanted to hear!
SemperVol writes:
My bad, I was already looking forward to tomorrow ....(correction: November 10)
comshirt writes:
Daniel West is a really good young man. He has a ton of talent. I am sorry to hear about this transpiring. While I am concerned for the program, I am more concerned for the young man. I hope he and his family get everything worked out to the best that it can be. While he will be missed in the program, the loss is greater to him personally. Go Vols!!!
newtonrail writes:
I hope this doesn't mean he has to pay for this semester. Not clear. Whole situation stinks that it could have taken 8 months to find this out, drop it on him. If he can and does pay his way next semester, and is passing all his courses, how can he not be eligible to play? This is nuts.
alfrizzle097 writes:
My guess would be that the NCAA defines your eligibility by the previous year, not semester. Were West to attend for a year and maintain the minimum GPA, I believe he would then become eligible.
auttat writes:
THE_VOL broke this last week.
MidTennVol writes:
Lord, when it rains on Tennessee athletics, it pours. Best of luck to you, Daniel West. Hope you can find a way to stay.
HallowedHill writes:
The NCAA really needs to handle these issues before the kids get to college. If this is an accreditation issue, this should have been addressed while he was in high school. Once the student has been admitted to college, it's patently unfair to say he can't play/attend classes because he took the wrong accreditation test.
WVVOLFAN writes:
hey ncaa, nice job guys. taking the athletes side has always been your strong suit. letting this drag on like it has, is nothing short of incompetence.
maroons
jasonn1970 writes:
It's this kind of phooey that really makes the NCAA look bad.
cjraney writes:
UT's hopes of making a deep tourney run just took a big hit. Best of luck Daniel, stick with it.
tmartin writes:
this makes no sense. . . how can the kid be in school at UT, taking classes and not be eligible for b ball? how did he get into school in the first place if thats the case? i thought the ncaa had the STUDENT interest first. so, now they are going to make the kid pay for classes that he has attended and force him out of school? what a bunch of morons (not maroons).
rockytop4ever writes:
Well thats the NCAA for ya. Sitting around with their thumbs up their @$$ and now he has to pay for school? The NCAA should pay for this semester. I feel for him.
Hopson2008 writes:
Huge hit to our season. Tabb is far from a viable backup at point. He is a 6'3" wing defensive specialist with very little offensive skills at all. Prince will have to be the backup point (if healthy), and we need him as much as possible at SF. Maze better live up to his billing, or we are in serious trouble.
CoverOrange writes:
If I understand all the articles I've read, this is not the NCAA's doing but the agency doing the testing. Given that West retook the test and, apparently, did not pass means the testing agency had a legitimate issue, albeit, a bit late. But, how does he stay enrolled at UT if he doesn't have a minimum ACT/SAT or whatever it was?
Hiresanders, "Pearl's players" wouldn't be eligible to graduate until next April. AND NOTHING INDICATES West IS A DRUGGIE OR A THUG!!! You owe Daniel an apology.
samjrr writes:
You are a tard.
comshirt writes:
The NCAA Clearing House, The testing agency and the school each have some culpability here. Most Universities have a MARS center for exam discrepencies and retake exams, for all students as they happen every day. The entire process, particularly eligibility through the NCAA Clearing House, is a mess to navigate. The recruiter and the athletic staff should have been double checking everything. The UT BB team will be ultimately fine. Daniel West has probably missed several opportunities to play ball by virtue of this fiasco! He may even have to go to a JR college and play this year. And the Privacy Act keeps everyone from knowing what the issues are exactly, as they could be largely technical. The loss to the program is magnified by the injuries and the other eligibilty issues, but it pales by comparison to the situation that this young man is in.
WVVOLFAN writes:
maroons is my way of not taking the ncaa seriously. maroons/morons same thing.
golfballs03 writes:
this is bobo.
jeremyinitalia writes:
Hopefully Mr. West will approach this with the right attitude and be back with the big orange in the near future. He has some great examples of perseverance in Tyler, JP, Maze, among others.
Waldorf writes:
We won't even get into UK's drunken coach's exploits that would have made news if he hadn't started winning.....
Apparently liking college co-eds runs deep through the franternity of SEC coaches......at least ours isn't a drunk on top of it.
Ironcity writes:
We are not two deep at the point. If Tabb could have played point he assuredly would have last year as bad as the two we had were. Prince is not the answer either. This is a big blow. I hope we can get him for next year.
NOLAvol writes:
Agent_0range... did you read ANYthing here before you came up with that response? Next thing, you'll be telling us is he ought to pay his own way back home to Ohio!
(I know, Mr. West is from Michigan... but Ohio is the only state Agent_0range can spell -- unless you count D.C.
DadwasaVol writes:
I do not believe Tennessee's tourney chances have taken any kind of hit. I don't know what I'm talkin about but I heard last Spring when West was recruited that, yes, he helped his high school team win a state championship, but there was another player on that team that contributed as much, or more, than West in leading the team. I believe recruiting will find an even better replacement at point guard for next year.
THE_VOL writes:
HELLO PEOPLE?????? CAN ANYBODY HERE ACTUALLY READ??????
First, this was NOT a Tennessee issue. This was NOT a NCAA issue. West took the ACT again last spring and got a qualifying score. HOWEVER, as they do on an on-going basis, the TESTING COMPANY reviews ALL "re-takes" against the previous ones taken by that person and flags any on which the score jumps by a degree outside their statistical parameters. This process is designed to guard against cheating - not saying West cheated either - but that's the reason for it. On his test last spring West had a significant increase in his score and it was flagged. The remedy is to take it again. A score in the same range as the previous one makes everything okay. A score significantly lower - and the higher one is thrown out. West scored WAY lower on this most recent re-take than he did last spring, therefore the spring score was disallowed and as a result he is ineligible.
Now - whose fault is it? Well the blame can probably be spread pretty wide here. First, West himself cause whatever caused him to get so smart last spring certainly didn't last into this most recent test. Next, his parents and high school. I'm willing to bet large sums that somebody KNEW that the spring score wouldn't hold up - especially within his high school - yet nobody apparently said anything to him or UT. Third, TN coaches. It would seem to be SOP to make sure you KNOW ALL the scores a kid has had and be able to understand and question a significant increase as this apparently was. Finally, TN admissions. For the same reasons TN coaches should have known, the admissions folks should have known even more! They are the supposed pro's here.
Finally, as this article CORRECTLY states - for those that actually bother to READ and have the ability to COMPREHEND - West CAN stay at TN this semester and even the remainder of the year. He simply has to pay his own way. That should not be a problem if he REALLY wants to be here cause there are all kinds of student loans and grants I'm sure he would qualify for to get him through the year. After all non-athletes do it that way every single day. IF he stays AND pays his own way the full year AND passes enough hours with good enough grades he CAN be eligible next season but would lose a year of eligibility. He COULD gain that year back IF he graduates on time.
And just for the record, why is everybody so surprised by this???? I ONLY POSTED IT ON ABOUT FIVE DIFFERENT ARTICLES LAST WEEK!!!!! Great timing once again Griffith!
ajbake writes:
some donor has to be able to pick up West's tuition for the year, right?
murrayvol writes:
Good luck on that apology Turbo.
murrayvol writes:
We'll try to do better CatSnatch. Our apologies to Billy.
THE_VOL writes:
We can only hope that YOU are his victim!
murrayvol writes:
My advice for B. Maze - Use every available moment to get in shape and stay in shape. You're going to be playing lots of minutes.
THE_VOL writes:
CatScratch.....I KNOW ALOT about your boy Billy from FIRST HAND sources and he's NOT a "good guy." He's a self-indulged maniac that abuses most everyone that works for him. He possesses virtually NONE of the qualities you profess for him and your supposed testaments as to his personal and professional behavioral habits confirm to me that YOU know absolutely NOTHING about him FIRST-HAND. Get ready for another probation run cause it's damned sure on the way!
murrayvol writes:
You don't know anything about this young man beyond what you've read on GVX. And yet you're willing to bet he winds up "gangbanging and busted in a year." Unbelievable!
I'm willing to bet he doesn't.
ctownvol writes:
Well at least Maze is bonafide! And by the way....hiresanders has got to be the biggest moron to ever walk this earth. If that boy had a brain, he'd be dangerous!
newtonrail writes:
Put your opium pipe up. Now.
MidTennVol writes:
I trust Pearl completely, but , based on what we've seen in the past, it's hard for me to envision Tabb as a legitimate back-up at the 1. And I'd rather keep Prince focused on playing the 3. Again, I trust Pearl completely.
Let's just hope for a miracle with this walk-on, Michael Hubert. He apparently tried to walk on at UTC two years ago and didn't make it.
Bruce says: “He wasn’t good enough to walk on at Chattanooga, but he’s good enough to be my backup point guard.”
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/20...
oldorange writes:
I am still looking forward to the Old Spice Classic. Right now, I am just hoping UT can field a team.
GO VOLS!!!!!!!!!
THE_VOL writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
THE_VOL writes:
He'll be on probation before he ever hangs a banner!
CoverOrange writes:
Hey, The_Vol,
I've read most of your stuff and know you have inside scoop, especially on BB. But why the attitude? Most of us have jobs that don't involve walking the bowels of the UTAD and putting our ears to BP's door. While some on here deserve the thrashing, alot are pretty reasonable.
DandyVol writes:
THE VOL: I always look for your posts as you seem to have a clearer picture and better knowledge of what is going on. Thanks for the indepth information on Daniel. I hope he is able to stick it out and do well in classes so that we can all see him play next year. Again, thanks for your posts.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Are Dupree's grades good enuf to get him in as the BP wide-mop man at UT?
Irwin_Linker writes:
It might just be me, but I think we a little over rated at 14. Three new starters and only one point guard is typically not a recipe for success at this level. I will be extremely pleased if we can reach the sweet sixteen again this year. Beat Memphis
Volumnus writes:
One would hope! There were two HS Kids in the RTL, with really good academics. Haven't heard anything about them at all in association with Tennessee. If I remember one was being recruited as much for academics as ball skills. Novel approach, a seat on the bench that is occupied by a Jordan Howell or Dane Bradshaw type in case the superstars can't go....
THE_VOL writes:
Shouldn't you be cleaning those stalls instead of worrying about MY attitude????
THE_VOL writes:
You obviously have me mistaken with somebody that might care what you think or have done. You want to criticize posting of "defamatory messages" about other posters yet as the hypocrite you are, you apparently think it's okay to post defamatory messages about 18 year old kids who've done absolutely nothing wrong except not get a certain score on a test. Typical two-faced government employee BS!
THE_VOL writes:
Must be the FOOLmerites posting all this doom and gloom because we lost a BACK-UP point guard who's never played a minute of college ball. This is NOT a big deal folks!!! Yeah it changes the plan a bit but you have to understand the Maze was (and is) gonna play 30+ minutes a game anyway. West would have been nice to spot him the other 10 minutes or so but that simply falls now to the Prince/Tabb/Hubert trio. This is NOT last year's situation because last year we had NO point guard at the end. The rotation will work itself out and all will be well. We will still contend for the SEC, get our regular high seed, make the Sweet 16 and anything after that point is a crapshoot anyway. Prince is back at practice and will play Saturday night, Tabb is edging his head out of the doghouse and Hubert has actually shown some solid skills albeit the competition wasn't great. So relax....and remember basketball HAS a COACH - not a wannabe CEO!
trollhunter writes:
I HAVE ARRIVED AND YOU AND YOUR MASTER ARE IN DEEP, DEEP TROUBLE!!!!
hueypilot writes:
As a freshman Tabb had a great first step and could just blow by any defender on the dribble but had trouble finishing. I have hoped his skills would get better because he is major league quick, but seems doomed to be a defensive specialist
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