Sources: Kansas' Cheick Diallo hires attorney for possible NCAA eligibility fight
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Sources: Kansas’ Cheick Diallo hires attorney for possible NCAA eligibility fight
As he awaits a ruling on his eligibility, Kansas freshman Cheick Diallo has hired an attorney with experience battling the NCAA on student-athlete rights issues, Yahoo Sports has learned. Attorney Don Jackson was formally hired Monday to join Diallo’s legal team.
The NCAA received 2,000 pages of homework from Diallo’s Our Savior high school courses, and has requested middle-school transcripts as far back as sixth grade, multiple sources told Yahoo.
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Turning into a circus! hope this gets resolved soon, one way or the other, otherwise this will become a distraction for the team.
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I think this shows Diallo is serious about wanting to play, not just prepare for the NBA at KU’s expense.
Publishing the story now may be an attempt to nudge the NCAA toward a quicker resolution - though I’m sure the NCAA would have been happy to say “no” a long time ago.
“Distraction for the team” - not sure. It might develop a chip. The distraction would be on the coaching level: do you scheme the same with and without Diallo?
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Really the NCAA only has one completely logical thing it can do now and that’s ask for transcripts from his Pre-K days. It’s evident they must get their hands on the fingering paintings from the fridge. They need to know did he pick the right colors for that bear? Did he keep those colors in the lines?? How high could he count because we have standards for that too! Did he over sleep or under sleep at nap time!!! And did he put some letters backwards when doing his ABCs??
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What I don’t get is how this decision favors the NCAA side?
On Monday, Self reiterated that statement, adding that, according to its bylaws, the NCAA is working in a partnership with the University to find the “right answer” to the situation, rather than the one that favors either side — Kansas or the NCAA.
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@Statmachine Somebody explain to me how the NCAA can have a “side”?
Does a judge in a trial have a “side”?
Do referees in a game have a “side”?
Kind of a Freudian slip on Self’s part, suggesting that the NCAA is not on KU’s “side”.
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Maybe that’s how he feels with the circumstances that have been playing out in this situation. I think he believes the NCAA is picking on a good kid who is innocent. I bet this frustrates him more than anyone, there was a lot of time invested into this guy to get him here.
He wasn’t brought here to sit the bench.
If the report is true about homework & pre-high school this is extremely out of bounds from what should be going on.
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@BeddieKU23 said:
If the report is true about homework & pre-high school this is extremely out of bounds from what should be going on.
Clearly this is part of an appeal. The NCAA said no and KU said “if you looked closer you’d say yes”, so the NCAA agreed to look closer.
How “looking closer” involves sixth grade transcripts is an exercise left to the reader…
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@ParisHawk said:
Do referees in a game have a “side”?
Have you watched a Duke game in the past 15 years?
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@Texas-Hawk-10 15 years? What about Leattner’s foot stomp in the 1992 tournament?
History shows it goes way back back back.
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1992?
What about the 1986 Final four? 28 fouls against us and 13 against Duke. This goes back 30 years?
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@wissoxfan83 said:
1992?
What about the 1986 Final four? 28 fouls against us and 13 against Duke. This goes back 30 years?
Yeah what you said!!!
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I have been trying not to comment on the situation. You guys do a far better job and we don’t really know what’s being said behind close doors. But asking for 6th grade transcripts!? I am at a loss for words.
“Yahoo Sports says if the NCAA does not declare Diallo eligible today, Jackson will be given clearance to use KU’s case information and battle for a final decision.”
I hope this is true. Put the NCAA on the hot seat and open the closed doors they have been hiding behind.
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When I read the article this morning, it just screams that Diallo has been denied, and they are in the appeal process, I think it is time to continue and come to the realization that Cheick will not touch the floor in a KU uniform. The NCAA is a joke I was reading off another site and read how there was topic of the power 5 conferences saying the hell with the NCAA and forming a new situation and leaving the NCAA out completely, I mean come on over 2000 pages of paperwork? Like other posters stated hell they hadn’t done 2000 pages of paperwork their entire life, or as another stated even with his masters in college and had several assignments with long pages he didn’t think he had 2000 pages. Hiring an attorney I feel is going to do no good, they will continue to drag their feet. It was stated by a poster probably what has happened is the NCAA deemed Diallo as a partial qualifier and the Big twelve has said it will not play partial qualifers, giving the NCAA an out, by sayin hey it was not us, but your conference that deemed him ineligible. it’s just a mess time to move on and chalk it up as another screwing from the NCAA for us. ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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More news … Rustin Dodd is reporting that the NCAA is also looking into Diallo’s relationship with Tidian Drame, his “guardian.”
So there is more to this.
I saw the homework thing – I guess there was a player in 2014 denied from Diallo’s school because he couldn’t produce homework. Hmmm.
And the 6th grade transcript thing mentioned above. I would have a hard time defending the NCAA on that one. @JayHawkFanToo, a little help? Not sure how to address that.
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I guess we aren’t the only school or player being punished!!!
Wow is all I got to say…
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What curious NCAA minds want to know -
“How long did it take before Cheick was potty trained?”
Their bar is at 24 months. Anything past that means he isn’t qualified to receive aid to get a college education.
NCAA GOAL: The marketing people that now control the NCAA in it’s entirety has determined Kansas winning another NC does not bring in enough media revenue.
Look at the rule changes… How many of those rules were written by marketing wonks? Half address branding issues.
Most of the rules seem to be about “making it a better game to watch” meaning… the goal is to increase viewership and bring in more revenue.
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One can feel two heavy weights that have been circling each other through the early rounds beginning to cut off the ring. There is a sense of closing in to commence the real fight.
There will be blood.
I hope someone really good is looking after Cheick.
There appears so much more here at stake than just one young basketball player, though in the final analysis he is the only thing that should really matter here to any decent person.
His individual clearance issue appears to be the incident that two huge opponents may use to start fighting a war both have been looking to engage in for quite some time.
Pray for Cheick.
Everyone else will fare well collecting fees in this fight.
But a college freshman only a few years in America?
We KU fans loyal to the legacy should become the voice of conscience in defense of him, for I fear no one else will be thinking much about that should the gloves come off.
There appears too much money at stake to put one young man first.
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Got me…
At this point everything is speculation and we really don’t know what the facts are. In past cases, “multiple sources” end up being several poster on a twitter thread, so unless there is a reputable name attached to the information, I would have to take it with a grain of salt.
Frankly, looking into middle school documents is well beyond where the NCAA should be looking at…unless they are looking at other issues such as age. If you recall, there have been numerous issues with this in the Little League World Series where older players forged documents to be eligible; maybe Diallo is 3 or 4 years older but this is really a way, way out stretch…but as much speculation as any of the other rumors out there.
It certainly looks like clearance was denied for multiple reasons and the process is in the appeals portion…maybe someday we will know what actually went on but I seriously doubt we will ever get the entire story.
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Believe me when I say this is not a slam against Skal Labwhatever, but… A kid gets a post Haiti earthquake ticket to the United States and has a “handler” set up a fake high school so he can play his senior year, and the NCAA says he’s ok, but they can’t say a young man who apparently is fluent in four languages is eligible? I know we don’t know all the facts, but did UK/$ECnetwork/E$PN throw their influen$e around $o $kal could play hoop$ thi$ $ea$on?
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@wissoxfan83 said:
Believe me when I say this is not a slam against Skal Labwhatever, but… A kid gets a post Haiti earthquake ticket to the United States and has a “handler” set up a fake high school so he can play his senior year, and the NCAA says he’s ok, but they can’t say a young man who apparently is fluent in four languages is eligible? I know we don’t know all the facts, but did UK/$ECnetwork/E$PN throw their influen$e around $o $kal could play hoop$ thi$ $ea$on?
wow…you truly must be a mizzou fan or from the area.
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@wissoxfan83
Once again…Labissiere attended a regular school and took regular classes and the basketball “fake” school was just to play basketball and not to take classes; there were no issues with his academic work, the issue was with is handler’s potential violations. Clearance by the NCAA is based on academics and not athletics; he did not even have to play HS sports at all to apply and get clearance by the NCAA. The “fake” school was set up so he could showcase his talent for college recruiters and not to get cleared by the NCAA.
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@elpoyo I don’t get why you think he’s a Mizzou fan…
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@Makeshift If he had seen spelling mistakes, grammar errors, random meth mentions, references to my cousin/wife then he could have assumed I was from Missouri.
@JayHawkFanToo You could have written that without the “once again” comment like I’m a little slow or something. I don’t read everything written here or elsewhere Thanks.
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@wissoxfan83
No offense intended but that particular subject has been discussed ad nauseam in this forum.
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This Cheick situation really has me down in a funk all of the sudden. I have been super positive about him getting cleared from the day we found out this was happening but the more it goes on the more I start to become sort of depressed. I really want to see this kid play in a KU uniform more than anything.
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The way that article is worded makes it sound like the NCAA is investigating more than just grades and is also looking at Diallo’s handler for infractions as well.
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I wonder if Skal was at Kansas and Cheick at Kentucky… which player would be qualified today and which player would be disqualified or not yet qualified?
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@ParisHawk Thats just insane! 6th grade, are you freeking kidding me!?
The Nike BigShoe ties to the NCAA are painfully evident since they had no problem clearing Skal and dont even smell a whiff of wrong doing towards Calipari.
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@ParisHawk The NCAA is absolutely NOT on KU’s side.
Why would they drag this out for half a year and let Skal get cleared and Calipari get off with a free pass to cheat all the way to the Final Four again?
This same thing is happening to another kid 7’6", highly intelligent, taking calculus and high level science classes at his school but no clearance for him either. Of course that other school isnt a Nike school either.
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That article seemed to make racial overtones connected to this case.
I wonder what the NCAA will do when we have a few thousand fans protesting in front of their building?
F E R G U S O N !!!
(everything else gets linked to Ferguson, why not the Diallo case?)Time to make this real for them and protest in front of their building. Let them walk through a security threat on their way to work… It seems to be the new tactic for change these days, even if the change means something positive or not.
(partial sarcasm… but which part?)
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I wonder if the NCAA knows that Cliff Alexander didn’t change his name to Cheick Diallo?
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@SoftballDad2011 good one!!
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@Texas-Hawk-10 That was my first thought too…worried that they are looking at more than just grades.
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There’s no credible explanation the Eligibility Center has to drag an investigation that started in June and is now in November. If they had not found any justifiable basis in keeping the young man off the floor, they should leave him alone. When these investigations occur, it’s a de facto suspension to keep the young man off the floor when there’s no finding of improper conduct.”
Words from the Lawyer now representing Diallo’s guardian & probably Cheick going forward.
I was worried that the “de facto” suspension was going to come into effect. Cheick is going to miss games barring some miracle for absolutely no reason. I don’t care how you try and defend the NCAA’s position in this case, without disclosing what exactly is the hold up, they are absolutely dragging their feet. If your going to hold someone in Limbo at least make it public why so there isn’t thousands of people wondering what the hay is going on.
At this point this situation has passed the threshold of where I care anymore. If Diallo gets to play awesome, but the season starts in 2 days and that’s the only thing that matters.
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@BeddieKU23 et al,
Class, Professor jay von Bate 1.0 welcomes you to class this fine autumn day, and presents you with a pop quiz with this single multiple choice question.
Question: De facto suspensions continuing past the first exhibition appear to result predominantly, when:
a.) the NCAA cannot find what documents it wants to find;
b.) the NCAA cannot get the information that it wants to get;
c.) the player plays for an adidas contracted school; or
d.) a and c;
e.) b and c; or
f.) all of the above?
Please post your answer as you leave the virtual classroom to proceed to the fun part of your lives.
Rock Chalk!!!
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We have been hearing for years that the US is falling behind in basic high school skills. Could it be that there was no documentation of his Algebra grade in high school because they actually do Algebra in junior high in his country.
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@jaybate-1.0 Emphatically C!!! i mean look what is happening to the 7’6" kid over at FSU!! And, a&b too because the NCAA is proving to be nugatory and ephemeral.
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@KU-Flyer said:
there was no documentation of his Algebra grade in high school because they actually do Algebra in junior high in his country.
PHOF!
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@KU-Flyer said:
We have been hearing for years that the US is falling behind in basic high school skills. Could it be that there was no documentation of his Algebra grade in high school because they actually do Algebra in junior high in his country.
Doubtful because in Texas at least, Algebra is a freshman level course that some students take in 8th grade if they’re advanced in math. Algebra II is also a junior level math course in Texas.
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@DannyParkins: “I think Cheick’s chances of playing for Kansas this year are excellent… almost a certainty.” Diallo’s attorney on The Drive @610SportsKC
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"If they had not found any justifiable basis in keeping the young man off the floor, they should leave him alone. "
Actually… that is what they are doing… leaving him alone. What he needs is clearance. He needs to NOT be left alone. They need to focus in on his issue and resolve it asap.
I never feel better when an attorney is involved. (I apologize to any attorneys in here)
From my experience, they are first representing themselves. Second, comes the client. I’ve probably had at least a dozen experiences with attorneys in a situation that might have involved entering a courtroom, and in every example it seemed that most of their actions first benefited themselves more than me. Lots of unnecessary actions and then not taking care of what would get the job done. Stretching out the process to run up a monster tab! I can only speak from my own experiences… but they are plentiful… and painful!
Of course this attorney is going to say there is a great chance of getting Cheick on the court this year. That benefits himself and how he is posturing. Keep the hope there while bleeding out the client.
I’m not saying he won’t play ball this year. But it is no fluke that politicians usually have a background as attorneys…
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@drgnslayr they are not all like that!
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I’m sure you are right.
Confucius say: “In order to find happiness in life, first find a good and trustworthy accountant, dentist and attorney.”
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Lawyer was just on 610 sports. here’s a rundown of what he said.
- Guardian is the one who’s retained the lawyer
- DJ says Diallo ineligible b/c of academic review. Going back further than 9th grade. This is part of “academic review” process for international athletes. Usually don’t go back past 9th grade. Generally if you dont have all course work to prove academic rigorousness, they disregard the class of qualifying class.
- Need 16 core courses that start in the 9th grade. Why they’re going back past 9th grade is “beyond” the lawyer.
- Amateurism. Been subjected to both reviews lasting 6 months on BOTH amateurism and academic side.
- Usually end late August, early sept. Lawyer calls this “defacto suspension”, says its intentional
- Nobody at the NCAA has expertise to value the credibility of a course from the Republic of Mali, nobody is on staff at NCAA that is qualified enough to evaluate this type of course work, however they’ve taken on the authority to accept or not accept 9th grade classes as being academically rigorous enough even though they’re not qualified to do so.
- Lawyers seen cases that stretch into the season before
- In cases where they cant establish a student has violated NCAA rules, they drag cases out intentionally in an effort to “suspend” the player without having anything to suspend them for. This is what’s happening here.
- Diallo’s legal guardian hasn’t even been interviewed, even though he makes himself available for interviews and wants to interview with NCAA
- Lawsuit on behalf of Diallo is possible. However, goal is to resolve these issues administratively.
- These actions appear to be illegal per lawyer. No due process right to athletic eligibility. NCAA not allowed to violate their own rules, in this situation the manner which a determination has been made appears to be violating their own rules. Lawyer says, “How can you conduct a credible investigation, and target someone in the investigation (Diallos’s guardian) without having any interaction with that person?”
- Lawyers educated opinion says chances to play for Kansas “excellent”. Timeline determined over next day or so. When it becomes clear administrative possibilities have been exhausted, then legal action will need to be acted on.
- He’s encouraged b/c he knows the boundaries of administrative process. Facts lead to Diallo playing. Guardian is legal guardian by law of Mali. If that’s the case, it ends that area of consideration. Facts lead to things being good with guardian. Lawyers knowledge lead to the facts being correct.
Also Drame has said he’s willing to talk to the NCAA but that the NCAA hasn’t contacted him at all…
Whether from a Lawyer or not, this is completely nuts
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@Crimsonorblue22 said:
@DannyParkins: “I think Cheick’s chances of playing for Kansas this year are excellent… almost a certainty.” Diallo’s attorney on The Drive @610SportsKC
THAT is excellent news! Even if it is an opinion.
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For some time now I have suspected a second level to this Diallo eligibility situation: subsequent judgment by the Big 12, which did not hesitate to rule against Ben Mac and Traylor a few years ago. I am assuming that KU is appealing the NCAA’s unannounced ruling in order to change wording, in order better to present a “partial qualifier” case to the league. Diallo’s spectacular play in high school spring games might probably pitch him into 2016 lottery status whether he plays a collegiate game or not. So, if KU should lose his services for this entire season a scholarship would likely be blown to the wind, as Cheick could hardly afford or even care to gamble his millions away for a 2016-17 season of NCAA Division 1 Basketball, even at an institution which cherishes his talent and has stood by him through his hell of high waters. The attorney for his guardian talks a fine talk, and, indeed, might eventually win a substantial monetary judgment against the Powers That Be. I’m not holding my breath that Cheick will ever play a game of Big 12 Basketball. But then, again, I won’t be surprised if legal posturing turns this circus into our favor before Friday night… (How’s that for a forked tongue?!)
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I’m thinking of going on a hunger strike
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@VailHawk do it! How’s the nose?
