Wasnt Peter Boulware a player that Lou really wanted and his admission was denied for academics? Wasnt that the straw that broke the camels back with Lou? I remember Lou saying he could not get the athletes to compete. Randy Moss and Peter Boulware were both steered to FSU by Lou after trouble with their ND admissions. (Moss went FSU and got busted for marijuana, ended up at marshall; peter boulware was drafted into the NFL) I know Moss decided to beat a dude up with a phone receiver, and that really got him denied to ND, but his academics wasnt exactly 'lighting it up' either.
Man, you always have the historical data...My brain is getting too old to recall this stuff...
Boulware...wouldn't be the first academic denial I'm sure. Further, I'd guess since ND is a Private Catholic Institution, they have time, and the desire to look at many factors that aggravate or mitigate academic performance...If you had a high IQ, got good gades but came from a crappy school district, and didn't do well on SATs, I bet the other stuff mitigates the SATs...If you built homes for the homeless, worked in a soup kitchen, and served in church, had great SATs, but blew off homework, and had less than stellar grades...I'm guessing the charity work and other stuff would mitigate the grades. If you had the minimum IQ, SAT scores, and grades and beat someone with a phone...that might Aggravate any perceived academic weakness (well and might get you punted all by itself). I don't know the timing of Moss beating on someone as relates to Lou forwarding him as a candidate...but truth be told, he's the guy that needed Lou and ND the most. As for pot...Scary...FSU chucked Moss, but we seem to eventually forgive that if you play hoops...
Joking!
I give Lou Credit for trying...he had alot of success taking some chances on people...and not just football success...Maybe Boulware and Moss would have been just fine...maybe not. Had it been my call, Lou would have had enough rope to hang himslef by that point. and no...not because of football success, but because he really churned out some quality individuals who were apparently lacking something when they came to ND. Until someone actually got in trouble, or he tried to add more than a couple of those guys a year, I figure he earned the right to try. He took responsibility for his guys. He disciplined them (ask Ricky Watters), and he did a dandy job of shaping young men. What evidence do we have he would have failed with Moss and Boulware? Was Lou's graduation rate = to CW's...I doubt it. Was it unnacceptable though? And if so what was/is the performance benchmark for Grad Rate?
