Syracuse Really Tried To Keep Fab Melo Eligible in 2012
By Ty Duffy
The NCAA released its 94-page report on violations at Syracuse. Part of the report details the tremendous effort the Orange athletic department went through to keep Fab Melo eligible in 2012.
Melo was ruled ineligible in January of that year for “failing to make enough progress toward his degree” in the fall semester. Thriving on the basketball court, his “personal and medical issues” waiver claim was denied.
Syracuse’s AD met with “at least seven” other department officials to figure out how to get Melo eligible. That group got one of Melo’s instructors to change his grade in exchange for a paper. That paper, submitted a day later, was written by the Director of Basketball Operations Stan Kissel and a receptionist.
"Starting at 11:19 a.m. the paper, which was based heavily on Melo’s personal statement to the NCAA that had been saved on Kissel’s computer, was revised seven times in 27 hours. Each of the revisions was made by either Kissel or Debora Belanger, a basketball receptionist."
The paper had to be rewritten to include citations. Then four adults visited the registrar’s office to ensure the grade change process happened in a timely fashion. When Melo was not immediately cleared, the school’s director of compliance sent an email pressuring the school to clear him.
"Melo was not cleared by the next game and, over the weekend, Wagner, the university official in charge of enforcing rules, emailed the executive vice president/chief financial (Lou Marcocia). She noted that vice chancellor Eric Spina would be “very disappointed” if the request were not approved."
Syracuse and the NCAA investigated. The impropriety was discovered when there was an attempt to delete the paper from Kissel’s computer.
My gosh, when you read things like this, it’s almost as if Syracuse is operating a multi-million dollar basketball industry instead of student extracurriculars.
Few would posit this as appropriate behavior for a school. However, the NCAA deciding to switch emphasis toward academics on a whim, while embroiled in lawsuits, and leaping in ex post facto to zing Syracuse hardly helps that organization’s credibility.
Practically, there will be some form of compromise to keep the status quo. Rationally, it’s not clear why higher education should have any affiliation with what have become multi-billion dollar professional sports.