Gaston Diedhiou Update

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Winnipegopher said:
The University is a huge school and should be taking a few academic risks, especially with people from diverse backgrounds or with special skills. Gaston fits on both accounts.
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With the main special skill being tall? I finally took the time to go to the TOEFL site. It looks like a very comprehensive, methodical, and fair way of evaluating foreign students. There is all sorts of help and practice if they want to prepare for the test. There is an appeal process for the subjective parts of the test like speaking and writing. Test scores are returned quickly. You can retake the test very quickly if you indicate your intent to do so within 30 days.

Yes, each school has its own standards. Do people really seriously think the U has a sliding scale where someone in admissions went, "Hey, this guy is a basketball player. Let's flag him unfairly so we can put Richard in his place."? The six language stuff is anecdotal unless you actually have had a conversation with Gaston, in English. He didn't pass. Again, they knew that is often a possibility with a foreign player. To be cynical, it's not that big a deal. If they decide he's a player, he'll be on the team.

What's funny is that several in the, "But, it's not fair," crowd will be bitching about spring signings and speculating on getting rid of Gaston if he disappoints them as a basketball player. Then the ability to be a student and get an education won't matter one damn bit. They've already proven that with Oto over the last few years.
 

The U denying admission to Gaston was not permanent. They want to ensure he will be successful when he enrolls.

I think that this is in his best interest, as well as the Universities.


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So he's going to pick up enough English in 3 months to be deemed ready for success by the Admissions office? It must be an aggressive program.
 





gopherlaney said:
The U denying admission to Gaston was not permanent. They want to ensure he will be successful when he enrolls.

I think that this is in his best interest, as well as the Universities.


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BS; you're talking your book. U Admissions pretending they are an elite university is laughable. Solid University; nothing wrong with that but let's not pretend it is something else.
 

jamalo said:
BS; you're talking your book. U Admissions pretending they are an elite university is laughable. Solid University; nothing wrong with that but let's not pretend it is something else.
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Not an alum?
 

I think most people are saying that this is a basketball player that is NCAA eligible and (according to the views of someone on close to the coaching staff) would be admitted at 95% of other schools. I don't believe anyone truly thinks admissions didn't let Diedhiou in to send some sort of message to Richard Pitino. It's more that the "U" has to decide who/what it wants to be. If it thinks it's Northwestern, that's fine...but tell the fan base that and we can decide whether we want to support what will likely be Northwestern type results. It's especially noticeable when the "U" is making a big push for donations to fund badly needed facilities upgrades. If I had big cash to donate, a situation like not letting Diedhiou in to school would give me great pause in deciding whether or not to donate to the facilities fund. Is the "U" trying to be a major player or just mediocre? I would have no interest in funding continuing mediocrity and it's tough to see a school winning big if it won't admit a kid that Florida, Louisville, or Michigan State would.

As for this decision being in the best interest of the "U" and Gaton as GopherLaney suggests, how is this situation best for Gaston? He's spent more than a year at basketball academy and is already 20 years old. It's clear that basketball is an enormous priority in his life and it's a good bet that he envisions himself playing professionally (on some level) someday. He's already been to Minnesota, went home, and is now allegedly going to come back and pay for English courses while trying to get eligible for a second semester scholarship. If he does get eligible he's behind (both mentally and physically) the rest of his teammates and faces an uphill battle to make up that ground. If he doesn't make up that ground, he will likely transfer (either on his own or with some assistance) and never graduate from the University of Minnesota. There are no reports of Gaston being a behavioral risk, so the biggest risk to the University is...Gaston flunking out of school? That happens to thousands of kids around the country every year.

None of this is to say the University didn't make the right call here. Few (if any) of us have all the information available to us to know if this was the "U" putting it's head in the sand in regards to what type of academic risks they need to take to be competitive or simply a sound decision that would have been made by the majority of our competitors.
 



There are a thousand ways to get around this and make it work for this kid, there is no way taking an English class this fall should or would make him worthy of admission come January, if that ends up being the case then it is clearly someone in the admissions office trying to assert their authority in a completely half hazard way that in no way benefits the university or this kid, just another bureaucrat making/applying rules for the sake of rules.
 

jovs said:
There are a thousand ways to get around this and make it work for this kid, there is no way taking an English class this fall should or would make him worthy of admission come January, if that ends up being the case then it is clearly someone in the admissions office trying to assert their authority in a completely half hazard way that in no way benefits the university or this kid, just another bureaucrat making/applying rules for the sake of rules.
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????

If it truly is based on a test score, how can you make that claim? Have you ever taken a foreign language before? Your ability to read/write/understand the language during a given semester increases exponentially with each course. Throw in the fact he would be in an English speaking culture (study abroad) and his ability to understand after 6 months will be significantly further along than it is today. Throw in the fact that Gaston already speaks (someone said 3) multiple other languages, my guess is he can learn the language rather quickly.
 

jovs said:
There are a thousand ways to get around this and make it work for this kid, there is no way taking an English class this fall should or would make him worthy of admission come January, if that ends up being the case then it is clearly someone in the admissions office trying to assert their authority in a completely half hazard way that in no way benefits the university or this kid, just another bureaucrat making/applying rules for the sake of rules.
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Maybe you should enroll too?
 

Winasota Gopher said:
????

If it truly is based on a test score, how can you make that claim? Have you ever taken a foreign language before? Your ability to read/write/understand the language during a given semester increases exponentially with each course. Throw in the fact he would be in an English speaking culture (study abroad) and his ability to understand after 6 months will be significantly further along than it is today. Throw in the fact that Gaston already speaks (someone said 3) multiple other languages, my guess is he can learn the language rather quickly.
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You couldn't create a schedule that includes submersion in the English language with a couple of classes that do not require strong writing skills, while admitting him, practicing with the team, etc.. Instead you flat out reject admission, absolutely ludicrous.

This is a kid that as far as the NCAA is concerned qualified without any issues, you work with the athletic department to make it work.
 



There are about 3000 colleges in the country so about 2850 would accept him according to Pitino. The U is not Northwestern. Most of the kids that go there are in the top 1%, significantly more selective. TOEFL tests are used for all non-native speakers at colleges. If you can't speak the language, even if you are a genius you can't do the work and are wasting your time academically. Language immersion programs work very quickly. I agree with the folks who said that if he studies here he should be up to snuff. TOEFL has nothing to do with smarts and if this is why he was rejected, I am optimistic that, if he is motivated, he can pass the TOEFL sometime in the fall/early winter. It is in his best interest to learn in college. For those who think it is only about playing and hoping for a professional career, look at the statistics....the likelihood that this young man can be successful enough in his basketball career to set himself up for life is about zero. It is unfortunate for the team this year but count me as one who wouldn't support a team that graduates students who took bogus classes, didn't learn a thing and aren't prepared to be assets to their communities. We are going to be a better team this year, so it isn't that big of a deal. My guess is that if Pitino doesn't see him coming, he'll recruit a replacement who will be ready to play next year. Pitino has a knack for solving problems and getting the most out of the hand he is dealt...
 

jovs said:
You couldn't create a schedule that includes submersion in the English language with a couple of classes that do not require strong writing skills, while admitting him, practicing with the team, etc.. Instead you flat out reject admission, absolutely ludicrous.

This is a kid that as far as the NCAA is concerned qualified without any issues, you work with the athletic department to make it work.
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To that I agree, but to suggest that his skills with utilizing the English language cannot improve enough over the course of a semester is foolish.
 

jamalo said:
BS; you're talking your book. U Admissions pretending they are an elite university is laughable. Solid University; nothing wrong with that but let's not pretend it is something else.
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You must have gone when I did 25 years ago. A lot different now.
 

Right or wrong, this is definitely the type of thing that can sour a Head Coach in a hurry, especially one that will be in demand and no practice facility. Just saying...
 


I'm assuming he will redshirt if he gets in second semester? I wish we had more info about when or if he would play as a gopher.
 


The Beginning of the End of the Pitino Era

Mark down the moment that Gaston Diedhiou was declined admittance as the beginning of the end of the Richard Pitino Era at the University of Minnesota.
When a bureaucrat without any objective reasoning or standards can affect a coach's ability to get a NCAA qualified player enrolled into the school demonstrates a school that is not committed to winning. The arrogance of the admissions department to "flex" their muscle against what everyone says is a real good kid hurting the basketball program and the individual is unconscionable. Coaches, like Pitino trying to build something special at the U already have a difficult time getting kids to come to this "God Forsaken" climate and to be interested in a BB program with a checkered past. Now he has to wonder if some bureaucrat can single handedly dictate who can play on his team or not? He does not need the drama and FUD created by this process. By the way, there seems to be no appeals process regarding this decision? The hypocrisy of calling this a multicultural, international, open minded, etc,etc,etc. University makes me gag.

Mark this as the first event we can cite as a reason Richard moves on to a school committed to winning and creating a top tier basketball program. The University of Minnesota should be ashamed of the events surrounding the denial of Gaston Diedhiou to this "Great" University. The reputation of this University being anti-athletics is still in tact.
 

The continuance of the mentally challenged m2s posts.
 

so stocker, you say it was a good decision? helps the basketball program, helps the kid, and improves the Universities reputation? You are probably one of the guys who think Joe Maturi should also be in the AD hall of fame....you enjoy the status quo which is a culture of mediocrity. With voices like yours, this University will always be an average athletic school at best.....
 

Pitino himself just last week said he expects him to be enrolled by the second semester. So, unless there's been something new with that, let's save the drama. He'll probably redshirt anyways.
 

Or he could just sign people from the United States
 

Oh the pearl clutching in this post is hilarious. We don't know what went on behind the scenes, we don't know how Pitino feels about it and as mentioned above he expects him to be enrolled in the second semester.
 

GG07 said:
Or he could just sign people from the United States
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Why would he want to limit his recruiting area? While I don't believe this is the beginning of the end at all, I would imagine Pitino is frustrated with this situation.
 

How can failing to pass a test that is universally required for foreign language speakers be a "lack of objective standards"? I guess it can be when you're a complete moron.
 

When is the last time this happened?

Millions' post got me to thinking. How many basketball recruits in the last 10 years (random number) that committed to the U via a NLI ended up not getting into school? I've tried to come up with others, but Diedhiou is the only one I come up with. Am I missing anyone? Seems to me this is the first time it's happened in I don't know how long?
 

Gopherboner said:
Pitino himself just last week said he expects him to be enrolled by the second semester. So, unless there's been something new with that, let's save the drama. He'll probably redshirt anyways.
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As a general rule, I'd be wary of what coaches say.

dpodoll68 said:
How can failing to pass a test that is universally required for foreign language speakers be a "lack of objective standards"? I guess it can be when you're a complete moron.
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lol, yeah... "minimum required score for admission" is confusing for many folks. Amazing.

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