Chris Donald: Academic superstar
Remember Chris Donald, the Tennessee linebacker who was one of ND’s primary recruiting targets last year, and whose recruitment was rumored to have involved numerous silent verbals to multiple institutions, only to culminate in his picking up a UT cap at the Army All-American game? Remember the drama, the agony, the disappointment?
Well, it turns out your frustration wasn’t half that of the poor suckers who ended up with him in the classroom:
The Vols’ leading receiver, Lucas Taylor, is ineligible to play against Wisconsin on Jan. 1 as well as reserve receiver Kenny O’Neal, reserve defensive back Ricardo Kemp and freshman linebacker Chris Donald. ESPN.com reported on Thursday that defensive starters Demonte Bolden and Rico McCoy failed to meet the necessary academic requirements to play in the Outback Bowl, too.
Now, THAT’S impressive. One semester as a college student, zero minutes of playing time, one disqualification for failing to make it to class:
“We have every resource available through our academic center for academic success by our athletes in all of our sports,” [head coach Phillip] Fulmer said in a statement. “In most of these cases, it was simply the student-athlete not being accountable and doing their work. … One bright spot is the fact that all of these athletes will be in school spring semester.”
Well, isn’t that good to hear.
Really, there’s nothing quite so hilarious about the college bowl season as watching the disqualifications roll in as soon as final grades are handed out. It’s a shame the NCAA doesn’t take a look at how players are doing on their midterms …
(HT: “Ebeling,” on the IRT shout box.)
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