DAHILL
Well-Known Member
I really hope things work out for George West.... We went to high school together at J.O. Johnson.. but it seems like he was messed over.
Academic issues arise at ASU
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
7-13-03
According to his records from the university, former Alabama State basketball player Lamar Clark was ineligible to compete for at least part of the spring semester last season.
NCAA rules state that a player must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours to remain eligible. Clark was not.
"Looking at my grade slip, I only had 11 hours," Clark said. "I thought I had 13 or 14, but according to my grade slip here I've only got 11 for the spring."
ASU head basketball coach Rob Spivery said the university was checking on Clark's status for the spring semester. Clark, who started for part of the season, played in all of ASU's 29 games and averaged 28 minutes a game.
The basketball team could be forced to forfeit wins by the NCAA if it played an ineligible athlete.
"We were never notified about Lamar dropping below 12 hours," Spivery said. "We have a system here that should have caught that. We have turned everything over to (compliance officer Robert) Whitfield to see what happened. We're not sure if he dropped below during the season or after."
The university had no official response to Clark's situation on Friday. Clark said the only time he dropped a class was at the beginning of the semester.
"I had to drop and add classes because I was in classes that didn't have anything to do with my major," said Clark. "I did that right after we got back from the first road trip."
ASU traveled to play Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 11 and remained on the road to play Mississippi Valley State on Jan. 13.
Had Clark dropped a class after Jan. 15, it would have showed up on his grade report with a "W" as a class he withdrew from. However, Clark said none of his original classes are shown on his grade report, indicating that he dropped during the "drop and add" period.
Clark said he was forced to drop and add because he originally was registered in classes outside of his major.
"Mr. Whitfield signed me and one of my teammates up for random classes at the start of the semester," Clark said. "It was right at the start of the semester and (the basketball team) was getting ready to go on a road trip. Mr. Whitfield just put us in any available classes to make us eligible to ride the bus. That's what he said. He said we just needed something on the computer."
The teammate mentioned by Clark is former ASU forward George West.
Both West and Clark said Whitfield told them to come see him when the team returned to get their classes straightened out.
"When we got back, (Whitfield) was on vacation," West said. "I didn't know what to do. He was supposed to be handling this for me."
Since Jan. 15 was the last day for students to add a class, Clark said he took matters into his own hands.
"I went and got a 'drop and add' form and got my own classes," he said.
That could have been where Clark's problems occurred.
"I don't know what happened," he said. "I thought for sure that I had 13 or 14 hours. I didn't drop any classes later -- just that one time to get my right classes."
West, meanwhile, waited on Whitfield to return.
"When he (Whitfield) got back, I went to see him the first day," West said. "He tried to get me in the right classes but it was after the 'add' date. So, (Whitfield) told me to go around and talk to the teachers of the classes I was supposed to be in to see if they would let me in. But none of them would. They all said I had missed too many days."
West said he then went back and told Whitfield the problem.
"He said I should go talk to coach Spivery," West said. "He didn't know what else to do."
Whitfield had little comment when asked earlier this week about West's academic situation.
"You need to talk to George West about George West. I'm busy right now, my brother," he said.
ASU athletic director Richard Cosby also was unable to shed any light on the situation.
"Who is George West?" Cosby asked, when told of West's story. "I don't know anything about a George West."
On Whitfield's suggestion, West said he went to Spivery and told him about the problems. He said Spivery sent assistant coach Courtney Stephens with him to talk to his professors.
"Coach Courtney went around with me but it didn't help," West said. "All of the teachers said I had missed too many days and they wouldn't let me in."
Spivery acknowledged that West came to see him and that he sent Stephens with him to try and help get West in class. After that approach failed, West said he attempted to try to attend the original classes Whitfield had signed him up for.
"When I went to those classes none of the teachers would let me stay because of the days I had missed," he said. "I couldn't do anything. But it wouldn't have made any difference if I stayed in those classes or not. I still would have been ineligible at some point because I wasn't working towards my degree. Those classes had nothing to do with my major."
West's story also leaves his eligibility in question. According to the ASU attendance policy in the university's undergraduate handbook, teachers are required to drop a student that doesn't attend the first week of classes.
The handbook states: "If a student does not attend class during the first week (first five instructional days) of the semester and does not give prior notification to the instructor of reasons for absence and intent to attend class, the student will be dropped from the course."
With classes beginning on Jan. 9, West should have been dropped from all of his classes on Jan. 13 since he never attended.
However, West participated in games until Feb. 10 when Spivery said the university first notified him that West was ineligible.
"As soon as we found out, we pulled him," Spivery said. "As soon as there was any indication that there was a problem, we pulled him out."
Still, West played in a total of 17 games, including nine after the spring semester started.
"That day Coach Courtney walked around with me, they knew I didn't have any classes," he said. "That was the week after the first Alabama AM game. They kept telling me that everything would get worked out."
That didn't happen.
"The first thing I got was a notice saying they were taking my financial aid," West said. "Two days later, I got a notice that I was being kicked out of the dorms. I had no idea that things were going to happen like this. I tried to go and talk to Coach Spivery about what was happening but I couldn't ever catch up with him. Finally, after two days of trying, I started packing up to leave."
West said he has tried to contact Spivery several times over the past few months but hasn't been able to reach him.
"Me and my mom have called probably a hundred times," West said. "We never have talked to him. He called us back twice and left messages but we haven't talked to him."
Former center Alvin Pettway, who missed most of the year due to injury, said he believed most of the team knew of West's problems.
"The only thing (the coaches) said to us was that he had some academic problems," Pettway said. "But most of us knew what was going on. There's been several guys screwed up over there because of the way their class scheduling was handled."
For that reason, Pettway said he never went through Whitfield to register for classes.
"I always went to the academic advisors for my major and then went back and let Mr. Whitfield sign off on it," Pettway said. "Everybody knows not to go through Whitfield. That's not really a knock on him. He's just got too many players to handle."
While West was heading home, Clark was continuing to play for ASU. He played in all 16 Southwestern Athletic Conference games after the spring semester started and also participated in the Hornets' first-round conference tournament game.
In the days following season, however, Clark said Spivery called him in his office and dropped him from the team.
"He just said that he wasn't going to be able to renew my scholarship," said Clark. "I knew me and coach Spivery didn't always see eye to eye, but I didn't expect that. We had an argument after practice one day but I thought that was behind us."
Pettway said the "argument" was a bit more severe than Clark made it out to be.
"It was pretty bad," Pettway said. "(Clark) pretty much just went off on coach Spivery. He apologized for it later, but it was pretty bad."
Both West and Clark are back at their parents' homes now -- West in Huntsville and Clark in Prichard -- looking for opportunities. However, West said it hasn't been easy.
"This has really screwed me up," he said. "My high school coach here is trying to find some things for me but I don't know how it's going to work out. My grades are really screwed up because of all of this."
Academic issues arise at ASU
By Josh Moon
Montgomery Advertiser
7-13-03
According to his records from the university, former Alabama State basketball player Lamar Clark was ineligible to compete for at least part of the spring semester last season.
NCAA rules state that a player must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 credit hours to remain eligible. Clark was not.
"Looking at my grade slip, I only had 11 hours," Clark said. "I thought I had 13 or 14, but according to my grade slip here I've only got 11 for the spring."
ASU head basketball coach Rob Spivery said the university was checking on Clark's status for the spring semester. Clark, who started for part of the season, played in all of ASU's 29 games and averaged 28 minutes a game.
The basketball team could be forced to forfeit wins by the NCAA if it played an ineligible athlete.
"We were never notified about Lamar dropping below 12 hours," Spivery said. "We have a system here that should have caught that. We have turned everything over to (compliance officer Robert) Whitfield to see what happened. We're not sure if he dropped below during the season or after."
The university had no official response to Clark's situation on Friday. Clark said the only time he dropped a class was at the beginning of the semester.
"I had to drop and add classes because I was in classes that didn't have anything to do with my major," said Clark. "I did that right after we got back from the first road trip."
ASU traveled to play Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Jan. 11 and remained on the road to play Mississippi Valley State on Jan. 13.
Had Clark dropped a class after Jan. 15, it would have showed up on his grade report with a "W" as a class he withdrew from. However, Clark said none of his original classes are shown on his grade report, indicating that he dropped during the "drop and add" period.
Clark said he was forced to drop and add because he originally was registered in classes outside of his major.
"Mr. Whitfield signed me and one of my teammates up for random classes at the start of the semester," Clark said. "It was right at the start of the semester and (the basketball team) was getting ready to go on a road trip. Mr. Whitfield just put us in any available classes to make us eligible to ride the bus. That's what he said. He said we just needed something on the computer."
The teammate mentioned by Clark is former ASU forward George West.
Both West and Clark said Whitfield told them to come see him when the team returned to get their classes straightened out.
"When we got back, (Whitfield) was on vacation," West said. "I didn't know what to do. He was supposed to be handling this for me."
Since Jan. 15 was the last day for students to add a class, Clark said he took matters into his own hands.
"I went and got a 'drop and add' form and got my own classes," he said.
That could have been where Clark's problems occurred.
"I don't know what happened," he said. "I thought for sure that I had 13 or 14 hours. I didn't drop any classes later -- just that one time to get my right classes."
West, meanwhile, waited on Whitfield to return.
"When he (Whitfield) got back, I went to see him the first day," West said. "He tried to get me in the right classes but it was after the 'add' date. So, (Whitfield) told me to go around and talk to the teachers of the classes I was supposed to be in to see if they would let me in. But none of them would. They all said I had missed too many days."
West said he then went back and told Whitfield the problem.
"He said I should go talk to coach Spivery," West said. "He didn't know what else to do."
Whitfield had little comment when asked earlier this week about West's academic situation.
"You need to talk to George West about George West. I'm busy right now, my brother," he said.
ASU athletic director Richard Cosby also was unable to shed any light on the situation.
"Who is George West?" Cosby asked, when told of West's story. "I don't know anything about a George West."
On Whitfield's suggestion, West said he went to Spivery and told him about the problems. He said Spivery sent assistant coach Courtney Stephens with him to talk to his professors.
"Coach Courtney went around with me but it didn't help," West said. "All of the teachers said I had missed too many days and they wouldn't let me in."
Spivery acknowledged that West came to see him and that he sent Stephens with him to try and help get West in class. After that approach failed, West said he attempted to try to attend the original classes Whitfield had signed him up for.
"When I went to those classes none of the teachers would let me stay because of the days I had missed," he said. "I couldn't do anything. But it wouldn't have made any difference if I stayed in those classes or not. I still would have been ineligible at some point because I wasn't working towards my degree. Those classes had nothing to do with my major."
West's story also leaves his eligibility in question. According to the ASU attendance policy in the university's undergraduate handbook, teachers are required to drop a student that doesn't attend the first week of classes.
The handbook states: "If a student does not attend class during the first week (first five instructional days) of the semester and does not give prior notification to the instructor of reasons for absence and intent to attend class, the student will be dropped from the course."
With classes beginning on Jan. 9, West should have been dropped from all of his classes on Jan. 13 since he never attended.
However, West participated in games until Feb. 10 when Spivery said the university first notified him that West was ineligible.
"As soon as we found out, we pulled him," Spivery said. "As soon as there was any indication that there was a problem, we pulled him out."
Still, West played in a total of 17 games, including nine after the spring semester started.
"That day Coach Courtney walked around with me, they knew I didn't have any classes," he said. "That was the week after the first Alabama AM game. They kept telling me that everything would get worked out."
That didn't happen.
"The first thing I got was a notice saying they were taking my financial aid," West said. "Two days later, I got a notice that I was being kicked out of the dorms. I had no idea that things were going to happen like this. I tried to go and talk to Coach Spivery about what was happening but I couldn't ever catch up with him. Finally, after two days of trying, I started packing up to leave."
West said he has tried to contact Spivery several times over the past few months but hasn't been able to reach him.
"Me and my mom have called probably a hundred times," West said. "We never have talked to him. He called us back twice and left messages but we haven't talked to him."
Former center Alvin Pettway, who missed most of the year due to injury, said he believed most of the team knew of West's problems.
"The only thing (the coaches) said to us was that he had some academic problems," Pettway said. "But most of us knew what was going on. There's been several guys screwed up over there because of the way their class scheduling was handled."
For that reason, Pettway said he never went through Whitfield to register for classes.
"I always went to the academic advisors for my major and then went back and let Mr. Whitfield sign off on it," Pettway said. "Everybody knows not to go through Whitfield. That's not really a knock on him. He's just got too many players to handle."
While West was heading home, Clark was continuing to play for ASU. He played in all 16 Southwestern Athletic Conference games after the spring semester started and also participated in the Hornets' first-round conference tournament game.
In the days following season, however, Clark said Spivery called him in his office and dropped him from the team.
"He just said that he wasn't going to be able to renew my scholarship," said Clark. "I knew me and coach Spivery didn't always see eye to eye, but I didn't expect that. We had an argument after practice one day but I thought that was behind us."
Pettway said the "argument" was a bit more severe than Clark made it out to be.
"It was pretty bad," Pettway said. "(Clark) pretty much just went off on coach Spivery. He apologized for it later, but it was pretty bad."
Both West and Clark are back at their parents' homes now -- West in Huntsville and Clark in Prichard -- looking for opportunities. However, West said it hasn't been easy.
"This has really screwed me up," he said. "My high school coach here is trying to find some things for me but I don't know how it's going to work out. My grades are really screwed up because of all of this."
