UGA’s Mark Richt should break the rules in the name of academics
The feel-good story of UGA’s 2009 recruiting class is Chris Burnette.
Richt should consider taking one NCAA secondary violation in the name of academics (AJC)
Not only is he one of the nation’s top-rated offensive linemen, he is also a valedictorian candidate at Troup High School. UGA coach Mark Richt told Burnette he was the first valedictorian he had ever recruited. He also said that if Burnette got to speak at graduation, that he would do his best to be there in person to hear it.
Richt’s vow earned Georgia, and college football in general, a wave of good publicity. Then the big and bad NCAA got in the way.
As it turned out, it would be against the rules for Richt to attend the celebration of his recruit’s academic achievements. Richt, being the nice guy he is, felt bad about not being permitted to go but said he would still listen to the speech via a videotaped copy.
That’s where things stand right now. And now is where I think Richt should consider taking a stand … in the name of academics. If Lane Kiffin is throwing around secondary violations like mulligans in golf (for example, talking about Bryce Brown on a radio show, and then still being able to sign BB), then Richt should consider taking one. And this one would be for all the right reasons.
The national headlines would read “SEC football coach gets in trouble for showing up at valedictorian ceremony for blue-chip recruit.” Wouldn’t that be nice for a change, rather than all the negative things happening in sports. As we know, much too often, the word “student” is rarely mentioned in student-athletes. If Mark Richt was ever going to intentionally take a secondary violation (nothing more than a slap on the wrist), then this would be the most perfect one.
You might even have other prospects dare to invite their future college coach to come to their graduations, too. The coach can tell the prospect, “Hey if you make the grades and earn valedictorian honors, then it’s a done deal. I’ll be there.” What a wonderful trend it would be to start. Maybe even the NCAA would come to its senses and write up a special exemption for this type of situation. You know, to encourage academic success among the high school athletes of all sports.
Chris Burnette
Would Richt consider breaking the rules? Highly unlikely. But maybe he’ll surprise us. Actually, Richt could attend Burnette’s graduation without breaking any rules. According to an expert on the NCAA rules, all Richt would need to do is request a special waiver, which would likely be granted.
Now an update on Burnette: The offensive lineman who has made nothing but A’s since kindergarten is down to his final five weeks of classes. He has a 5.12 GPA and is in the running with two others for the school’s No. 1 academic honor. Graduation is scheduled for May 23 at Troup.
“It’s still looking good,” Burnette told the AJC. “[School officials] told me either way, that I should be speaking at graduation. We’ll have the final results of everything sometime soon.”
“That would be really cool if Coach Richt could make it. But I know he has a lot going on. However, it meant the world to me and my family that he even considered coming that day. There were a lot of people around school getting excited about it.”
People should get excited about academic achievements. And anybody, whether they are a football coach, fireman or doctor, should be able to join in the excitement.
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212 comments Add your comment
BILLY JACK
April 17th, 2009
4:37 pm
Dawg Girl 32-Ramble On will be the one with the bag over her head.Yes she is a girl.
RAMBLE ON!!!
April 17th, 2009
4:33 pm
dawggirl32, this breaks my heart.
I was thinking maybe we could tailgate together and have a few PBR’s?
heeldawg
April 17th, 2009
4:31 pm
Congratulations to Mr. Burnette on an outstanding achievement. School loyalties aside, he should be lauded for his pursuit of excellence. He’ll do well in life no matter what happens to him on the football field.
Moses, your biased commentary is rooted in the partisan ignorance that so typifies this blog. Georgia’s an outstanding school. No amount of unsubstantiated blather on your part can refute that reality. The state is fortunate to have the University of Georgia in its academic tent.
Curious George’s comment is rhetorical. I have a similar question: if any academically-qualified student wants to play football, and if academic credentials are the sole criterion for making the decision on where to play, why aren’t the Ivy League schools contending for national titles? Why isn’t Stanford the preseason #1? Why does Duke struggle to field a competitive team every year? All of these schools are stronger academically than either Georgia or Georgia Tech. Another question: why would any kid not going into Engineering or Management go to Georgia Tech for academics? I’ll grant that there is strength at Tech in those programs, but even when compared to the University of Georgia, virtually any other field of academic endeavor is either not represented at Tech (education, journalism, forestry, etc.) or are inferior academically to their cohort at U.Ga. (life sciences, language, English, history, political science, etc.).
For GT EE Class of ‘93: I guarantee you that students at the University of Georgia don’t walk around with their heads down bemoaning their academic credentials. By contrast, they are proud of their school, and with good reason: they are your teachers, your doctors and lawyers and veterinarians, your businessmen and college professors. The University of Georgia turns out more professionals than Tech does each and every year. The fact is that the academic credentials of the entering freshman classes at U.Ga. and Tech are very similar–only U.Ga.’s class is MUCH larger. Georgia therefore has a much larger constituency of outstanding students in terms of absolute numbers. So you can dispense with the whole self-esteem argument. There’s none of that.
And Socrates, check out the latest APR (academic progress report) numbers. FYI, in case you can’t locate the data, Georgia’s at the very top of the SEC in those standings. That’s right, #1–not at the bottom. Check your facts before you make unsubstantiated statements. Otherwise, you look even more stupid than usual when someone like me calls your bluff.
BILLY JACK
April 17th, 2009
4:30 pm
Coach Richt should go to this kids graduation.The NCAA is too busy writing up violations on Tennesee to probably notice.
TMoney
April 17th, 2009
4:26 pm
I’m not a Georgia fan, but I do agree. Richt should just say “To hell with the rules” and show up. I can’t really blame him if he didn’t, but I think it’d be a great, gentlemanly, classy thing to do.
Rhett
April 17th, 2009
4:26 pm
Break the Rules!!! Break a few eggs to make an omelete!
law dawg
April 17th, 2009
4:24 pm
nice, gdawginkalamazoo. but remember, they didn’t get rings for beating uga, they got them for the bowl game. the rings just happened to have the tech-uga score on them, which was requested by the players and approved by the coaches. that still cracks me up. but i digress……
i think at the very least CMR should try the waiver route. i mean, to be this smart and such a gifted athlete at the same time is a very very rare thing. on that note, i think fsu should have given that rhodes scholar receiver of theirs a freakin’ parade – you gotta give real praise to the kids that are doing it right if you expect the younger ones to really look up to them.
ATL BUZZ
April 17th, 2009
4:19 pm
MUTT MAN STAY HOME! THWG
Long-time Atl Resident
April 17th, 2009
4:06 pm
First, here we go again, someone calling out thugs again. That’s so jacked up. But anyway back to story, being a former student-athlete, don’t do it Richt, it would make it seem like you would be desperate to find good players, not worth getting sanctioned by NCAA, especially when they frequently do campus visits for compliance.
gatorman770
April 17th, 2009
4:04 pm
If the recruit was going to USC….Pete could go and the NCAA wouldn’t say a word, since they’re exempt from prosecution, but being in the SEC, Richt should go the waiver route and go see and hear this special kid.