Hardcore college basketball fans may recognize the name Roburt Sallie.
He is a 6'5", 200 pound combo guard who has populated the recruiting scene since way back in 2005. Sallie is a triple-double talent with NBA potential who has been recruited by some of the best programs in the country not once, not twice, but three separate times.
Originally, Sallie signed with the University of Washington in 2005 after playing for Patterson Prep. He did not qualify academically and opted to spend another year in prep school, this time at the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina.
Let me go on record here as being fully aware that many of these prep schools are little more than basketball factories. Still, the NCAA recognizes them as legitimate academic institutions—albeit with a warranted amount of skepticism.
Anyway, Sallie spurned the likes of Memphis, Maryland, Wake Forest, and Kansas to sign with Nebraska in 2006. I am a Nebraskaf an, have been for many years, and Sallie was easily the most anticipated basketball recruit since Tyronn Lue.
One problem quickly arose: the NCAA Clearing House did not like Sallie's transcript. Sure, Roburt had the grades and the test scores, but that was not enough. The Clearing House wanted homework papers and copies of tests.
Quick show of hands from those of you who kept any of that more than the amount of time it took you to walk out of the classroom when you were in college. Anyone? Bueller?
Well, the Clearing House, apparently overwhelmed, just could not seem to make a decision on Sallie. Would he be eligible or not?
Time ticked by and August turned into September. For those you not aware, the University of Nebraska starts classes at the end of August. Nebraska changed head coaches and staff in August as Barry Collier resigned and Doc Sadler came onboard. Sallie stuck with the school.
Roburt came to Lincoln, hung out with his future teammates and waited for the NCAA to say yes or no. On Monday, September 11, Sallie attended classes, still waiting for his eligibility.
10 comments Last one added 3 months ago — Leave a Comment
j gibson about 1 year ago
go to kentucky, their coach could get you in the nba better than coach out there.. i like billy g and he is a great teaching coach.. i wish we had him.
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Curly Morris about 1 year ago
Great piece! I am Husker alum and I had not been paying much attention to our hoops program. This is just another example of the lunacy that exists withing the NCAA and why players like Mayo should absolutely take advantage of whatever perks may come along because when you try to play by the rules this is what you get anyway. If Stern wasn't trying to line the pockets of Miles Brandt and his cronies, this kid could've spent the past two years in the NBA developmental league and already have a leg up on playing with the A division. Instead he has to endure the political garbage of collegiate sports. All of the people who want to cry that kid's like Mayo are getting over on the system should read this piece and hopefully they can see through the hypocrisy that exists in college sports. I hope the kid makes it to the league in spite of the NCAA.
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Paul Editan about 1 year ago
Rules are complicated. Hopefully he will show up well at UK and prove strong in the NBA.
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Daniel Muth about 1 year ago
How about this. The NCAA needs competition. It needs some new, fresh, up-to-date organization to start seducing schools away with programs that MAKE SENSE. The bureaucracy that rules college sports today is bloated, self-aggrandizing, completely out-of-touch, and hypocritical. As Thomas Jefferson once wrote, "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." The NCAA doesn't even know who it's protecting anymore, or maybe it does, itself. STUDENT ATHLETES REVOLT!!! These idiots don't care about you. I propose a new government, new leadership, and yes, an end to the BCS. Any takers?
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Jim Heavrin about 1 year ago
I think you have a great idea in suggesting an alternative to the NCAA. I've been saying it for years. The NCAA is to college sports what the Federal government is to us citizens, an extra load to pack consisting of freeloaders and crooks. Pay these college kids some walking around money instead of making crooks out of them - or paupers. I'm a Kentucky fan but think what has happened to this kid and the University of Nebraska is a rip.
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Maclane Scott about 1 year ago
Great story!
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JIM KATZENBRUGER about 1 year ago
We will take him in MEMPHIS!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOOOO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
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Socrates 3 months ago
We've unlocked the hem and the greek saints will become masters today
Sion and Noah
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Dude 3 months ago
You can't really fault the NCAA for ruling him ineligible at Washington. He had to be aware of the academic requirements going in and probably just assumed they would make some kind of exception for him. It's too bad that he didn't get in to Nebraska after that though, because it sounds like he figured out that basketball wasn't everything, and took the steps he needed to get himself right academically (though I would've thought he would have some of the papers or tests the NCAA was asking for, because if you're smart you hold on to that stuff until the semester is over and grades are in, so you have proof if there are any discrepancies).
As to the comment that the NCAA should be paying these kids, that is just ignorant. A lot of kids are already earning scholarships, and many schools will cut you a check for other expenses if you have left-over money after tuition, fees, and books, that you can put toward rent and groceries if you're living off campus. That also is ignoring the free tutoring help, travel, training, development, and food the athletes get (at Minnesota they also have mopeds specifically for the athletes to use, so they don't have to catch the bus or walk like the rest of us mere mortals). You may say they deserve it because of the money they bring in, well most of that money stays in the athletic department, and then the regular students are still hit up for the major projects (like the new football stadium at Minnesota). I don't really have a problem with the benefits athletes receive, since I consider being an athlete their part-time job, but I'm sick of hearing about how the athletes don't get anything, and the universities are just exploiting them, because it is simply not true.
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MphsTiger 3 months ago
We sure do like Roburt Sallie in Memphis. Thank you Nebraska, and thank you commissioners!
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