Friday, October 26th, 2007 by Matt Felser
News Break: Darnell Dodson is a Moron
Whats with Pitt teams losing players just before the season starts?
Freshman guard Darnell Dodson has been ruled ineligible and plans to transfer to Miami Dade College. Though this loss is not as harmful to the basketball squad as Derek Kinder’s was for the football team, Dodson had a very high ceiling and was supposed to start after redshirting this season.
If I remember correctly, Dodson, a 6-6 shooter, initially committed to the Panthers two years ago but had to spend some time in prep school because of his grades. It seems as though he never really got them straightened out. While disappointing for the team, I personally can’t stand any athlete who is unable to maintain the relatively low academic standards of the NCAA. Eligibility works on a sliding scale, where a student with a higher GPA requires lower test scores. Dodson couldn’t manage a 2.0 GPA with a 1000 on the SAT or a 3.0 with a 620. He should be embarrassed and has no right to play at the Division I level. He may be good, but he’s not a guy who’s going to make it to the pros. He won’t be getting big money for his basketball skills, and such poor grades won’t cut it in the business world. He is ruining his own future by giving up an education from a good school. I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Pitt still has an excellent freshman class, headlined by the massive DeJuan Blair and Bradley Wannamaker. Though Blair is just a year older than me, he is nine inches taller, weighs twice as much (rumored to be above 300) and is at least three times as thick. I’m not kidding. He’s huge. Sophomores Redshirt freshmen Gilbert Brown, who throws down some incredible dunks in warmups, and Austin Wallace should be major contributors as well this season.
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