The NCAA and the situation with Kansas basketball player Thomas Robinson

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/14600748/jayhawks-doing-their-best-to-cope-with-grief-off-the-court

I'm sure there have been situations like this before crop up, but to summarize, sophomore Thomas Robinson and his 9-year-old sister have, in the last month, lost every consistent adult figure in their lives - a grandma, a grandpa and now their mother.

Essentially, Jayla Robinson is an orphan. It seems her father (not Thomas' father) has not really been in her life, based on comments from Bill Self. Her brother is really all she has left.

A number of Kansas boosters have supposedly inquired about becoming Jayla's legal guardian. Obviously, this would break the letter of the NCAA law by providing financial support to a family member. But what other options are there? I suppose Thomas could move to DC to be with his sister, or declare for the draft if his prospects are promising. If she doesn't know her father, why would she want to live with him? And what if Thomas wants to remain in Kansas, which I would think he does?

Be interesting to see how the NCAA handles this.

 

Knowing Kansas basketball, I'm not sure any of those people are actually dead, they might be living in Roger Morningstar's basement and working as ticket scalpers. ... OK bad joke maybe. But the post-Roy Kansas program deserves as little leeway and benefit of the doubt as whatever franchise John Calipari is running.

That said, the NCAA can find a way to handle this without involving the boosters.

 

You do realize that the lack of institutional control sanctions the NCAA hit KU with stemmed from Roy Williams' tenure there, and that there have been no violations since Bill Self took over Lawrence, right? To put Self on the level with Calipari when it comes to integrity running a program is laughable.

And you're right, it was a bad joke. Not funny. Bad form given all the funerals Robinson and his little sister have gone to the past three weeks.

 

OK, apologies for the joke. ... Regarding Self's tenure, do the words "Darrell Arthur" ring a bell? How about that little ticket thing that Yahoo explained in glorious detail but KU, the NCAA and the Kansas City media decided to sweep under the rug as the athletic department being victimized? Why is Brady Morningstar even on the floor after such a flagrant violation involving his dad?

And that's just the stuff we know about.

 

Knowing what we know about the NCAA, I'm sure if there's a way to mishandle this, they'll find it.

 

The Darrell Arthur bit involved a changed grade in his high school transcript. The NCAA clearninghouse approved Arthur, as did KU. Apparently, no one knew until it came to light after the championship. The high school was at fault, not the player. It's nothing like Derrick Rose asking someone to take the SAT so he could pass it, blatantly going around the rules.

Also, that ticket scandal certainly didn't help KU's athletic department. That robbed the school of anywhere between $3 million and $5 million that should've gone back into the athletic department for scholarships, upgrades, etc. They were victimized, by greedy people inside their own department.

 

Seriously, bringing up Darrell Arthur, Roger Morningstar and Lew Perkins? What in the blue fuck do any of those have to do with a 19-year-old basketball player and his 9-year-old sister who have no parental figures in their life?

Robinson checked his voice mail Friday night. One message came from his little sister. She said, "Mommy's dead."

So because Kansas has had some shady moments the last few years, let's bring them up now because a player has lost his mom, grandma and grandpa in three weeks. Oh, and now his sister might be an orphan too.

 

Sometimes there are situations where exceptions should be made. The NCAA needs to realize this.

 

Kansas' athletic department and boosters are asking for an exception to the NCAA rules. Kansas' athletic department and boosters have a less-than-sterling reputation for adhering to the NCAA rules. That would make the idea of granting an exception less palatable in my opinion.

However, the silver lining is that college basketball is such a cesspool that the rules might as well not exist anyway.

 

If they were asking for an exception for Perry Ellis' dad to be Bill Self's assistant, yes, I'd see questioning the motives.

When they're asking for a 9-year-old girl to be close to pretty much the only family she has left, I'd say that's a little different.

 

I fear I am coming off as unsympathetic here, so let me just say, I got off on wrong foot on this thread and I apologize. I too want Thomas and the girl to be taken care of and preferably to be together.

To the larger point of the NCAA allowing the KU community to help: The problem when they make an exception is that every unethical coach, which is basically every coach, will try to drive a truck through the same loophole.