I mentioned briefly over the weekend how asinine Spurrier was for casting his annual vote for Duke in the coaches poll. As a follow-up I would also like to point out that he is a whiny little horse's rear:
Saying he was embarrassed by the university's rejection of two of his recruits, South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said he would leave the school if there are no changes made in the admissions process.
Spurrier opened his media-day news conference by attacking the university's decision to deny admission to players who were qualified under minimum NCAA standards.
Let me commend Spurrier on doing exactly what Tar Heel Daughter does when she does not get her way which is pitch a fit. I was under the impression universities hired adults to coach their highly lucrative athletic teams, turns out I was way wrong about that. Spurrier claims it makes him and his staff look deceitful because they promise the kids a spot and despite the fact they cleared the NCAA requirements, the university barred their admission. Let me clue Spurrier in on something. The NCAA requirements are not the most stringent in the world. How the heck do you think Memphis puts a basketball team on the court? And while I am sure you would love to sign every player as long as he can memorize the playbook and feed himself the universities themselves tend to want a higher standard than the one the NCAA has. The UNC system, for example, has very stringent admission standards and last fall made them a little tougher. And the general practice I have observed at UNC is to get these guys into prep school for a year until their grades come up to par, then bring them in.
As of this morning it appears SCAR is telling Spurrier they are willing to work with him but for the most he can go jump off a bridge:
University of South Carolina officials say they're willing to work with football coach Steve Spurrier -- but they won't completely rewrite the school's admissions policies to do so.
School officials defended the university's admissions standards a day after Spurrier harshly criticized the school for denying admission to two would-be football players who met minimum NCAA standards.
"Every student that's NCAA-qualified is not necessarily going to succeed and shouldn't be accepted," Bill Bearden, South Carolina's NCAA faculty athletics representative, told The State newspaper of Columbia.
Kudos to the admission committee in Columbia for maintaining your standards and doing what every good parent should do...calling your child's bluff and standing firm on your decision.
Update: UNC had two recruits from this year not qualify according to the NCAA. Both of those individuals are enrolling in prep schools to get eligible and if all goes well would be on campus next season. I personally have no problem with this. If the kids do the work at prep school and meet the standard then in my mind you have given that player an opportunity that might have been lost otherwise.