NCAA rules prevent UGA’s Mark Richt from attending Troup High graduation
AJC All-State offensive lineman Chris Burnette will be speaking at Troup High School's graduation ceremony on May 23
It looks like Georgia coach Mark Richt won’t be attending Troup High School’s graduation after all.
Georgia officials had unofficially contacted the NCAA to ask for permission for Richt to attend the graduation if Troup offensive lineman Chris Burnette would be speaking. But Burnette, who has already signed with Georgia, narrowly missed out on being class valedictorian.
When Richt asked to attend the May 23 graduation anyway, NCAA officials said that request was unlikely to approved.
“Mark still wanted to attend the graduation to support Chris,” UGA compliance director Eric Baumgartner said. “However, after speaking with the NCAA, they were comfortable with [Burnette] being valedictorian, but the NCAA couldn’t get there for [Richt] to attend the ceremony without Chris being the valedictorian.”
Richt didn’t know that NCAA rules prohibited him from attending such ceremonies until after he had promised to try to attend Burnette’s graduation if the lineman earned the school’s No. 1 academic honor.
Violating the rule likely would result in a secondary NCAA violation. Georgia athletic spokesperson Claude Felton said, at least for now, Richt will not be present at Burnette’s speech.
“If, for some reason, circumstances change, then I’m sure we’ll reconsider our position,” Felton said.
NCAA spokesperson Stacey Osburn said Tuesday that the sport’s governing body has not denied a waiver for Richt to attend Burnette’s graduation because an official request was never submitted.
“Ultimately, the university decided not to file a waiver,” Osburn said. “If a waiver request was filed, it would have been considered like any other waiver request from a member institution.”
Will Georgia file a request? “No, because we have received verbal indication from the NCAA that if Chris is not valedictorian, then there would probably be no extraordinary circumstances that would be grounds for a waiver,” Felton said.
Burnette said Richt delivered the bad news on Monday. “He was disappointed. [But] I’m still thankful that Coach Richt even tried as hard as he did to attend. The NCAA has rules, and sometimes there’s just no way around them.”
The 6-foot-3, 286-pound Burnette has a 5.12 GPA on a 4.0 scale and has made nothing but straight A’s since kindergarten.
Burnette had initially planned to graduate after his first semester at Troup so he could enroll early at Georgia to get a jumpstart on his college football career. However, Burnette changed his mind and decided to stay in high school this spring to compete for valedictorian honors, with the full support of Georgia’s coaches. Richt said he had never recruited a valedictorian before.
The NCAA’s David Pickle helped bring the story into the spotlight of the college football world when he blogged specifically about Burnette on the NCAA’s official website last week before it was revealed that Burnette barely missed being valedictorian. [Note: Click here to go to the NCAA blog]
“Surely we can stipulate that the appropriate outcome here is for Mark Richt to be able to attend the graduation ceremony if he wants to do so,” Pickle wrote. “One of the hallmarks of Myles Brand’s administration as NCAA president has been to provide flexibility to schools when the circumstances of a situation appear to fall outside of the intended scope of a rule. This case seems to fit exactly with that philosophy …”
“Rules are not always perfect, but neither are they always rigid. The key to fairness often is found in the flexibility of application, and on that count, the NCAA often deserves more credit than it receives.”
Coming up next: The ball is in UGA’s court. They have to decide whether or not to file an official waiver request to get an official response from the NCAA. Will the NCAA approve the waiver? Will they deny it? Burnette’s graduation is May 23, leaving plenty of time for everything to play out in the best interests of all parties involved.
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145 comments Add your comment
jdawg
April 28th, 2009
6:14 pm
Did you really expect anything different….one of these days…the schools may band together…yes, way outside the line…but it could happen…typical, NCAA….getting letter ready for tomorrow…jdawg
GTA
April 28th, 2009
6:16 pm
How do you get a 5.12 on a 4.0 GPA scale? I understand AP courses account for a 5.0 and a 4.5 for honors…but 5.12?
BS Patrol
April 28th, 2009
6:20 pm
Otto couldn’t cut it at Tech. Bank it.
Moses
April 28th, 2009
6:25 pm
If this kid is really smart, then he makes poor choices, like going to an academic desert – UGA. Most football players at UGA can barely read and are put into Jock Majors to keep them eligible for Football (the real reason UGA exists at all). Maybe he can get a Masters in Recreation and Leisure. The NCAA just kept CMR from being a hypocrite.
Sanford Drive
April 28th, 2009
6:29 pm
Moses,
UGA started in 1785, which precedes our football program. Secondly, there is no Recreation and Leisure major at UGA. The closest thing to Recreation and Leisure would be anything offered at Tech other than Engineering.
AltamahaDawg
April 28th, 2009
6:37 pm
It seems like a silly rule, but recruiting has come to this: silly rules to cover every last contingency because somebody, somewhere, has already figured out to use every situation or loop hole to thier advantage. Personally, I am glad they don’t let any OTHER coach go to our boys graduations, or the UGA staff go see somebody graduate in (fill in blank) who might just be feeeling a little buyers remorse about now.
Should they grant an exception if Burnette Graduated 3rd in the class. He is obviously a very bright student, but what about a kid that really struggled, from a poor backgroung, who really pulled it together to just graduate. Thats a pretty good story too. Is that an exception?
BS Patrol
April 28th, 2009
6:39 pm
Simply a publicity stunt by Richt to improve GA’s tarnished academic reputation.
M
April 28th, 2009
6:43 pm
isn’t being the valedictorian at Troup like winning 2nd place at the Special Olympics?
GTA
April 28th, 2009
6:50 pm
Sanford Drive,
Anything other than engineering at Tech, while it may be Rec and Leisure to you, still beats anything offered at UGA.
David
April 28th, 2009
6:54 pm
Mr. Richt – go to this young man’s graduation. Put the student back in student-athlete. A secondary violation is well worth it.
Sincerely,
Georgia Tech – CE’09
OLD NEWS
April 28th, 2009
7:00 pm
5.12 GPA but yet only an 1180 on his SAT. That wouldn’t even get him ADMITTED to GT. What a joke.
Don - Tech Fan
April 28th, 2009
7:03 pm
Again – I reiterate, AFTER a player is signed, this should strictly be a coaches decision if they want to attend the brightest kids graduation or the guy with the lowest GPA. It shouldn’t matter if the kid is to give speaches or just wants to show up for the paper. What should matter is the support we (the school) shows these kids whether for school or church or extra curricular activities or just show up to say “howdy – hows it hangin”. Somewhere along the line the NCAA needs to understand they don’t have a lock on feelings of accomplishment and pride in workmanship. They don’t get to dictate how we show appreciation and admiration for student athletes who have yet to set foot on campus as a full time student and are still under the care and watchful eyes of parents and high school coaches. This story is more than the University of Georgia, Coach Mark Richt or Chris Burnette. It is now about the inflexability of rules – of folks not willing to change in the face of comon sense and reality and about not being able to cope effectively under pressure to do the right thing. Signed and not attending the university yet – NCAA – hands off. Exactly how will allowing Coach Richt attend this graduation bring unfair advantage to this institution – assuming that’s what this rule is about. If the NCAA can’t answer this question honestly without smoke and mirrors they need to admit their mistake and change the policy.
dgroy
April 28th, 2009
7:04 pm
I am not a UGA nor a Marc Richt fan; however, I would tell the NCAA to stick it where the sun don’t shine.
The Big Bug
April 28th, 2009
7:27 pm
Publicity stunt.
AltamahaDawg
April 28th, 2009
7:31 pm
Should Richt be able to attend a graduation and talk for hours with any tech commitment till he is attending college?
The Big Bug
April 28th, 2009
7:39 pm
Tech only gets ga’s rejects anyway. Remember?
Big Dawg
April 28th, 2009
7:42 pm
Its funny to me that no other SEC school has this problem
AltamahaDawg
April 28th, 2009
7:42 pm
I would be willing to bet that this is not a rule that the coaches disagree with. They can’t attend 25 graduation ceremonies all over the country every year.
KennesawDawg
April 28th, 2009
7:55 pm
The violation would be well worth it! GO ANYWAY! GO ANYWAY! GO ANYWAY! GO ANYWAY! GO ANYWAY! GO ANYWAY! Screw the NCAA!!
The Big Bug
April 28th, 2009
7:58 pm
Probably the first time in GA football history that the issue has ever come up. Milk it for all it’s worth. Any opportunity to polish ga’s tarnished academic image should be taken advantage of.
heeldawg
April 28th, 2009
7:58 pm
To e, GaPnt, Ted, Moses gtforever and all of you other ill-informed, bitter, vindictive troglodytes who miss the entire point here:
Get over it.
We all understand that losing to your archrival 70% of the time over the last four decades will cause angst. We understand the average Tech fan’s obsessive need to validate his bruised and battered ego by using the old, tired “academics” argument repetitively. But you miss the entire point of this.
How often is it that a FBS college-level athlete simultaneously achieves this level of academic excellence?
How often is it that any kid at the high school level drives himself to excel in this fashion in two such disparate arenas?
To denigrate the kid’s accomplishments on the basis of the school he attends is mean-spirited and unfair. He took the cards he was dealt and played them quite well,thank you. Shame on you, M.
To pretend you know what Tech would do with his admissions data is the height of hubris, Old News. You think the Jackets wouldn’t admit a kid of his caliber–a stellar high school athlete with an 1180 SAT who has a 5.12 GPA? And they admitted such noted scholars as Reggie Ball? Uh, yeah. I’m sure you’re right.
The fact is, Tech’s freshman class and Georgia’s freshman class aren’t that far apart statistically. Tech’s SAT average is slightly higher; Georgia’s GPA is slightly higher. And Georgia’s class is over twice the size of Tech’s. You engineers do the math on that one: Georgia enrolls more outstanding students, on the basis of sheer numbers, than Tech does EVERY YEAR. The Georgia Honors Program–one of the largest in the country–has average SATs of over 1400 and GPAs of over 4.00. And U.Ga. produces most of the state’s lawyers, businessmen, doctors, journalists, teachers and pharmacists. The School of Forestry is one of he best in the world. And the Institute of Ecology is a cutting-edge collection of scholars like no other in the U.S.
Georgia’s had plenty of outstanding student-athletes during the Richt era. Look at Richard Samuel, with a 1420 SAT and a 4.2 GPA, who finished high school a year early and enrolled at Georgia as a 16-year-old. Or Aaron Murray, with a 1400 SAT and a 4.55 GPA. These are two high school All-Americans who you’ll see a good bit of in the coming years. And they are outstanding–both on the field and in the classroom.
Tech fans have earned bragging rights for their well-deserved win last fall. But that’s bragging rights for football. It has nothing to do with denigrating a young man’s fine academic performance–or with the fabrication of false “data” about the academic programs at our state’s leading educational institution.
Kendall
April 28th, 2009
8:08 pm
Leave it to the social retards from tech. Hey Nerds, get back to your cubicle and work on some algorithms before I fire your geeky arse.
Troupcounty
April 28th, 2009
8:22 pm
Chris may in fact have the highest GPA and in most schools would be valedictorian but in Troup County it is the student who graduates Magna Cum Laude with the highest SAT. Perhaps the school can announce whether he has the highest GPA and the NCAA would then allow Coach MR to attend. I’ve seen it at the LaGrange High (Troup County) graduation where the Valedictorian was announced and the student with the highest GPA was announced when he received his diploma. Both spoke at the graduation. The NCAA should lighten up.
I’m a Jackets fan but Coach Richt is trying to do the right thing. Isn’t this what Myle Brands and the NCAA wants, recognizing its students-athletes.
Chiefbaldeagle
April 28th, 2009
8:27 pm
I’m sure there are D-2 and D-3 coaches who attend ceremonies of their next year players, but if you are big time the eyes are on you. A coach in Willocoochie Ga. Jr college would not have this problem because who would even care
M
April 28th, 2009
8:34 pm
your a DGD, heeldawg
gtforever
April 28th, 2009
8:49 pm
heeldawg, you almost brought a tear to my eye….
AltamahaDawg
April 28th, 2009
9:01 pm
Chief, I read that the HC of S.W. Willocoochie Technical Institute did turn them in for that. But those cross town rivalries can get pretty bitter.
Ellen
April 28th, 2009
9:04 pm
Hello all – I’ve read through the comments, and here’s what I think: if we’re all concerned about what the federal government is doing to limits our rights (and take our money), perhaps we should also look to the NCAA in concern. To tell a coach that he cannot attend a graduation ceremony for a player he has already signed is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve seen. The NCAA rules need some serious revision (gee, sounds like the US tax code to me). It’s an outrage. The colleges shouldn’t put up with it; the players and their families shouldn’t accept it; the college population, including the supporters shouldn’t put up with it – when is someone going to tell the NCAA that the emperor has no clothes?? Enough already! Cheers!
Diggity Dawg
April 28th, 2009
9:07 pm
The NCAA is freakin’ awesome. Of course, by “freakin’ awesome,” I mean that if it was in charge of the economy, the unemployment rate would be 117 percent. And Carvell, I’m glad you got to write this blog since PR Weasel Boy went out of his way to try to make you look bad. Seriously, they could have let Richt go just to spite you, but they made you look like a prophet. (OK, I’ll back off. Predicting the NCAA will do the dumbest possible thing is more like predicting that Thursday will follow Wednesday than any true measure of prophecy.) I was a newspaper reporter a long time ago in another life, and I never ceased to be amazed at the human body’s ability to speak out of multiple orafices at the same time. I’m glad the NCAA is carrying on that fine tradition.
gatorman770
April 28th, 2009
9:09 pm
If Richt was Pete Carroll at USC the request would be blessed since USC are the “UNtouchables”!
Pish on the NCAA!
Dawgtime
April 28th, 2009
9:19 pm
What exactly is the purpose of the NCAA’s? They create a multitude of rules that make little to no sense. They punish people for trying to help teenagers. They deny people supporting academics. I’m not sure why they exist other than to create constant chaos. I again question why GT fans are posting on UGA sites. Why are you reading UGA blogs that have nothing to do with GT. Get a clue. Your inferiority complex is so obvious.
2N4YEARS
April 28th, 2009
9:19 pm
NCAA is a joke. Power hungry losers in a powerful position– just proves the point why big government is a bad idea.
Get Real
April 28th, 2009
9:23 pm
If it was for Charlie Weis at Notre Dame, they would have paid for his travel while kissing his ass. The NCAA is a joke.
Get Real
April 28th, 2009
9:26 pm
He GTA what was Reggie (go no)Balls degree in? Oh that’s right he became ineligible after the season was over!
kitten
April 28th, 2009
9:42 pm
If it had happened at UF or any other SEC rival, you dawgs would be taking a different opinion….so what else is new.
Tokyo jacket
April 28th, 2009
9:44 pm
Old News, you’re retarded. It most certainly would get him admitted to Tech, even without football. Nowadays, Tech looks for well roundedness and places that on par with academics. Had he been a one-star with not chance of playing football, he would have been admitted.
What kind of pricks knock on a kid who’s got a 5.+ GPA?
Now, onto the real subject, I’m one of the few Tech fans that respects Richt. But, I will lose some of that respect if he doesn’t stand up for what he believes is right, for academics, and for HIS player (already signed LOI). If he doesn’t go, as a mother/father of potential recruits, I wouldn’t want to hear about how he raises boys to be young men and his faith. Faith and belief are meaningless without conviction. Good luck CMR, please make the right decision and take the opportunity to put the NCAA back in their box a little bit.
Sam
April 28th, 2009
9:54 pm
I suppose anarchy would be slightly worse, but to my mind, the old men who get paid to control young peoples’ amateur athletics are pretty high on the doosh-(sic)-bag scale. That includes the world-class d-bs in the Olympics.
When I was at Tech, I was told by an administrator that half the counties in Georgia had never had a public high school graduate in turn, graduate from GT.
Shannon
April 28th, 2009
10:14 pm
NCAA ……….. you got this one wrong!!!!
The Big Bug
April 28th, 2009
10:19 pm
Here you go heeldawg,
Let’s start at the top.
1) No Yellowjacket has a bruised ego. Ask anyone.
2) ga has won 60% overall. Serious angst.
3) what’s a 5.12 GPA?
4)Tech’s SAT requirements are about 100 pts higher. But more importantly, there is no basket weaving at Tech.
There are some fine schools at UGA & no doubt some student athletes. But GA can accept some athletes that Tech cannot. Maybe I should say they can accept them but they’ll be gone soon much like the BB one-and-dones.
historydawg
April 28th, 2009
10:21 pm
The NCAA is the most significant totalitarian state since Stalinism. For you academically-challenged Techies, let me share with you what totalitarianism is… Totalitarianism is a term (unquantified reality) used by historians to describe the methods of dictators in the twentieth century. Communism and fascism were ideologies (misguided by an inflated sense of self–much like your own academic astuteness) that used totalitarian methods. Totalitarians controlled public and private life, manipulating how people think and act in the parliament, streets, and their own living rooms. They and the cults of personality they constructed were far more powerful than previous emperors, kings, and dictators, and they set up bureaucracies of nonsense where blame was distributed across the avenues of litigation and red tape.
NCAA hater
April 28th, 2009
10:24 pm
Well looka what I found on the Internet ……. dpickle@ncaa.org
Wrecker1
April 28th, 2009
10:51 pm
Whether Richt goes or not doesn’t matter one bit now. He’s getting so much free pub from this that the point he wanted to make was he’s a coach that cares about his players and academics. He probably already knew whether he could attend depending upon visitation rules per NCAA. The point is really moot anyway since his original intention was to attend IF the kid was going to be speaking, which he’s not. AltahamaDawg made a good point – this may seem to be a silly rule but you can just bet this exact situation has already been exploited by somebody. Saying Richt should just go is stupid – if Richt is the up right guy he’s supposed to be that’s not even an option. A rule is a rule and you follow it.
Tift Dog
April 28th, 2009
11:14 pm
GTA, as an alumnus of the University of Georgia, I would encourage you to take note of the Pharmacy school, the Veterinarian school and the Law school as well as the Medical College of Georgia. I feel sure that these schools are filled with students of high achievement and are an integral part of the University of Georgia. None of these degrees can be obtained at any other single institution in Georgia. Your post sounds very juvenile.
DDeWitt30
April 28th, 2009
11:23 pm
If Coach Richt goes, he sends the message that players should violate rules they disagree with. NOT THE MESSAGE TO SEND 18 to 22 year olds. Especially, when you’re trying to button down the hatches.
Stephen
April 29th, 2009
12:26 am
The GT/UGA academics debate is pretty yawn-worthy. I’m not really sure why people feel the need to rehash it every week on the message boards.
@The Big Bug and others:
Re #1 & 2: Your fervor on this makes you seem pretty angsty. You can usually tell the depth of a bruised ego by the anger unleashed when it’s touched… kinda like a sunburn.
And keep in mind that you’re fighting this fight with regards to CMR wanting to reward academics… It’s like if there was an article titled “GT to celebrate first attractive coed to attend in 40 years!!!” and the Dawg fans took up arms. (I kid).
Re #3: Answer- pretty flippin’ good.
Re #4: There may not be basket weaving at GT, but a quick skim through the online Fall 2009 course catalog found this gem:
LCC 3661 – Theatre Production III
Description: “In this ‘hands-on’ course, students will create and execute a publicity campaign and operate the box office for DramaTech Theatre productions. ”
And while it may not involve baskets, GT does offer this nugget:
PTFE 3200 – Yarn & Fabric Formation
Description: “Principles of yarn formation, weaving preparation and weaving.”
The point is: Arguments like “Hrrrmmmm Dawgs are so unintelligent, flavin!” = *yawn*
(For the record, the same goes for “Yarp, yarp, Techies are nerds! Yarp!” but I’m a UGA fan and the GT people ticked me off on this one for some reason. PS Nice post heeldawg.)
Frank Lane
April 29th, 2009
12:31 am
I think hundreds of us bulldawg fans should show up at the graduation as Mark Richt representatives.
If several hundred or more of us attend the graduation for Burdette and cheer him for his academic accomplishments before he steps on the football field, think if the message that will send to all involved.
Frank Lane
Tokyo jacket
April 29th, 2009
1:07 am
Stephen, even though you took some of those classes WAY out of context, I have to give it to you for doing your research!
History, you’re VERY VERY WRONG on one important point. Communism was not guided by an over inflated sense of self worth, but an almost non-existent sense of self worth. It’s the collective 100% of the time over the individual’s need and wants. In fact, prior to Gorbachev, Soviet rulers would go on and on about how lavish and self indulgent the citizens of the US are and say that we could never even be soviets because it would be too hard for us and our egos. Maybe before you preach history, you should take Post-WW1 101. I hope you’re a freshmen history major, rather than history graduate.
ro
April 29th, 2009
1:18 am
This is a terrible rule but sadly it does not surprise me with the control freakish NCAA govering self ritous idiots. They make rules that make no sense especially when eliminating academic support. They may have out done even there idiotic selves. They really can not expect to be respected with the crapola that they come up with. JOKES is more like it.
Meatlake
April 29th, 2009
4:55 am
Hey M, bet you didn’t finish high school with a 5.12 gpa there funny guy. Make straight A’s since kindergarten did you??? What? Didn’t hear you…Like I thought. Does the M stand for Moron? Because it should…goodnight and Go Dawgs.
Inthetrenches
April 29th, 2009
7:30 am
Comment number 100! And there has already been numerous blogs on this. Think if the AJC would put some recruiting notes up every day like Carvell used to. There have been several camps including the Nike camp at UGA and nothing. Most high schools are starting spring football this week or next, and we are getting nothing. College coaches and scouts are swarming the schools. New ofers daily. Can we talk some football?