Gnonkonde gone

[andrew]

Hiveredtech,
Why do you think that Gnonkonde's coach is telling a completely different version of events from the facts as you present them? The quotes from him in the AJC piece by Carvell completely contradict what you have said. If the facts are as you state them, I can't figure out why he would say what he has said in an interview. Seems it would damage his future relationship with GT football.

From the quotes I'm reading it sounds like Gnonkonde's coach's version is very similar to what hivered said, albeit negatively slanted of course:

I’ve always given all of Junior’s academic information to Georgia Tech’s people as soon as I got it. For the last four months, they said, ‘Coach, I think we’re going to be OK, I think we’re going to be OK.’ And then Georgia Tech’s admission office came back a couple of weeks ago and said let’s take the test one more time. So we went ahead and signed up for the SAT couple of weeks ago.

The next thing I know, Georgia Tech is withdrawing the offer. I’m trying to figure it out because this kid has never made a C in high school. I’ve got the NCAA Clearinghouse’s sliding scale right front of me, and Junior has met the requirements to play Div. I football. Now are Georgia Tech’s standards a little higher? I don’t know. I just know he’s qualified to play Div. I football.”

http://blogs.ajc.com/recruiting/201...rship-offer-revoked/?cxntfid=blogs_recruiting

It sounds to me like the kid's scores were way too low to get in. My only question on this would be how long it took us to let him know the scores may be a problem.

I would like to know when we received his scores. If we didn't get his scores until a week before asking him to take it again, then got these new scores shortly before pulling the offer, I'm not sure what we could have done differently. I doubt we will ever find out though.

 

[andrew]

By the way, an interesting (though very small) look at this from an external perspective that I found while googling on the subject. From a Florida Gators board:

lol no offense to this coach, but being qualified to play D-1 and being qualified to play at GT are 2 totally different things.. he apparently doesn't know that? geez.

No kidding. And in his infinite wisdom he may have cost this kid a great education. A free one at that.

Schools with the highest admissions standards, such as Georgia Tech, the University of Virginia, the University of California-Berkeley, UCLA, and the University of North Carolina, had the biggest gaps between the SAT averages for athletes and the overall student body.

...

Georgia Tech had the nation’s best average SAT score for football players, 1028 of a possible 1600, and best average high school GPA, 3.39 of a possible 4.0. But because its student body is apparently very smart, Tech’s football players still scored 315 SAT points lower than their classmates.

http://forum.gatorsports.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17880&start=0

 

[hiveredtech]

Hiveredtech,
Why do you think that Gnonkonde's coach is telling a completely different version of events from the facts as you present them? The quotes from him in the AJC piece by Carvell completely contradict what you have said. If the facts are as you state them, I can't figure out why he would say what he has said in an interview. Seems it would damage his future relationship with GT football.

Remember that his coaches can talk about it....our coaches are not allowed to publicly because they are not allowed to talk about recruits per NCAA rules.

If you read between the lines my account is not any different...there's is a bit more Lanier High friendly as they do not want to look stupid.

 

[Jerry the Jacket]

This thread confirms my view of mankind. The majority of the posters here pitch a fit like a 3 year old he did not get his chocolate pudding. There is no conspiracy against the kid. Do you think Tech put in the effort to recruit him and gain his commitment and did not make it clear to him the requirements to gain entrance into Tech? Most act like this kid is the next Lawrence Taylor and now our recruiting class is doomed because some kid from Liberty County freakin Georgia is now not coming. Give me a break. This just saves having to tell him so long after he finds out he can't make the grades later. The entrance requirements are there for a reason. Tech is not for everybody, some find that out early some later and some when they try to gain acceptance.

I would hope a Tech fan would be a bit more knowledgeable about the process and the reason for requiring certain standards be met to gain admittance. I would also hope a Tech fan would be less critical of Tech and the Coaching staff when it comes to matters like this. Sometimes I wonder why some of you even bother to call yourselves Tech fans. Grow UP!

Go Jackets!

 

[TheTaxJacket]

After taking a step back, I gotta agree with HIVERED. It sounds like his coach didn't know the rules well enough to make an informed desicion. Sure it sucks to have 11 months commited, but that 11 months to get a test grade up that couldn't happen.

I have been screwed by tests like that but you have to adapt and find an alternate solution. I did. He can do it too.

 

[33jacket]

I'm sure Peterson could make something happen, but people don't realize how little power people actually have.

I know there have been 6 & 7 figure donors, active on advisory boards, whose kids couldn't get in to Tech even with various Deans arguing for their admission. The Hill has a lot of power and they don't give in to just about anyone.

Dude. a big donor is not the president. The Deans work for the president. If your boss says hire someone, you are doing it. Don't act like our president is a political figure head. He isn't. If he wants someone in, they are in

Big money donors have no clout other than what the president and school chooses to give them. It is not the same situation.

 

[33jacket]

After taking a step back, I gotta agree with HIVERED. It sounds like his coach didn't know the rules well enough to make an informed desicion. Sure it sucks to have 11 months commited, but that 11 months to get a test grade up that couldn't happen.

I have been screwed by tests like that but you have to adapt and find an alternate solution. I did. He can do it too.

my point is why offer then? Tech is the one who looks bad. Or if you offer know that this is the risk. If his SAT was THAT off, no reason to offer. Wait. Most of our conditional offers are borderlines not significant gaps. I am ok with conditional offers, but we should avoid stretch situations or tell the kids not to go public with commits.

FYI if he had a 3.2 GPA his SAT at a min had to be around 520 according the NCAA requirements. NCAA req are a joke. See page two. Now he got above the minimum, but the min is a total joke.

LOL; i swear its all about money. Look at the D2 requirement. 820

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect...ERES&CACHEID=af238a804e0b869285bcf51ad6fc8b25

 

[mmbt0ne]

Dude. a big donor is not the president. The Deans work for the president. If your boss says hire someone, you are doing it. Don't act like our president is a political figure head. He isn't. If he wants someone in, they are in

Big money donors have no clout other than what the president and school chooses to give them. It is not the same situation.

As I said, the President has that power. Literally no one else does. I was just hoping that could inform people complaining about why person X,Y,Z can't get anything done.

 

[TheTaxJacket]

my point is why offer then? Tech is the one who looks bad. Or if you offer know that this is the risk. If his SAT was THAT off, no reason to offer. Wait. Most of our conditional offers are borderlines not significant gaps. I am ok with conditional offers, but we should avoid stretch situations or tell the kids not to go public with commits.

FYI if he had a 3.2 GPA his SAT at a min had to be around 520 according the NCAA requirements. NCAA req are a joke. See page two. Now he got above the minimum, but the min is a total joke.

LOL; i swear its all about money. Look at the D2 requirement. 820

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect...ERES&CACHEID=af238a804e0b869285bcf51ad6fc8b25

They offered because his "3.4" Lanier County high school GPA seemed to project that the SAT would not be an issue.

I don't see how this makes GT look bad. If anything, it makes Lanier county high school look bad because obviously their GPA's are inflated relative to other school systems whose students with 3.4 GPA's haven't had this bad of an issue with a standarized exam.

That's all.

 

[hdtvfan]

They offered because his "3.4" Lanier County high school GPA seemed to project that the SAT would not be an issue.

I don't see how this makes GT look bad. If anything, it makes Lanier county high school look bad because obviously their GPA's are inflated relative to other school systems whose students with 3.4 GPA's haven't had this bad of an issue with a standarized exam.

That's all.

I don't know the full story, but I would guess that perhaps he had not taken the SAT or ACT at the time that we offered but based on his GPA and the amount of time before signing day that we would presume that he had plenty of time to qualify.

But I do hate the way that this makes us look by the reporting of the AJC and the quotes from his coach.

And it probably is more of an indictment on the school system but that doesn't really matter for the bad PR that we are getting around this.

 

[gt2690b]

This thread confirms my view of mankind. The majority of the posters here pitch a fit like a 3 year old he did not get his chocolate pudding. There is no conspiracy against the kid. Do you think Tech put in the effort to recruit him and gain his commitment and did not make it clear to him the requirements to gain entrance into Tech? Most act like this kid is the next Lawrence Taylor and now our recruiting class is doomed because some kid from Liberty County freakin Georgia is now not coming. Give me a break. This just saves having to tell him so long after he finds out he can't make the grades later. The entrance requirements are there for a reason. Tech is not for everybody, some find that out early some later and some when they try to gain acceptance.

I would hope a Tech fan would be a bit more knowledgeable about the process and the reason for requiring certain standards be met to gain admittance. I would also hope a Tech fan would be less critical of Tech and the Coaching staff when it comes to matters like this. Sometimes I wonder why some of you even bother to call yourselves Tech fans. Grow UP!

Go Jackets!

Another quality post from Jerry... Thanks for pudding my thoughts into words

 

[BarrelORum]

I don't accept your bullshit spin job.

Fail.

Agreed.

 

[BarrelORum]

Peterson has control of the infamous "Hill".

I'm done with Peterson. He is the enemy now.

Stop talking out of your ass and being a moron. Peterson is probably the most football friendly President we've had. Infinitely better than Clough.

 

[goodbyte]

This thread confirms my view of mankind. The majority of the posters here pitch a fit like a 3 year old he did not get his chocolate pudding. There is no conspiracy against the kid. Do you think Tech put in the effort to recruit him and gain his commitment and did not make it clear to him the requirements to gain entrance into Tech? Most act like this kid is the next Lawrence Taylor and now our recruiting class is doomed because some kid from Liberty County freakin Georgia is now not coming. Give me a break. This just saves having to tell him so long after he finds out he can't make the grades later. The entrance requirements are there for a reason. Tech is not for everybody, some find that out early some later and some when they try to gain acceptance.

I would hope a Tech fan would be a bit more knowledgeable about the process and the reason for requiring certain standards be met to gain admittance. I would also hope a Tech fan would be less critical of Tech and the Coaching staff when it comes to matters like this. Sometimes I wonder why some of you even bother to call yourselves Tech fans. Grow UP!

Go Jackets!

It's not just about the GT football team. Gnonkonde could have gotten into a good ACC/SEC school - SC, GA, Auburn maybe FSU. He and his guardian did not try to solicit interest from other programs because they thought he was secure here. Come off your high horse for a bit and see it from the kid's perspective.

 

[H-town]

I don't know all of the details here, but this whole thing reeks of GT administrative incompetence. The same people that got us a major violation because they couldn't figure which courses the players needed to take or how to round GPAs properly.

This. They sound utterly incompetent and naive.

 

[sandlapperjacket]

His score was in the 600's. Meets NCAA requirements for the sliding scale. Doesn't meet GT standards. Sucks it took this long to figure out he wouldn't make the score, but if he wasn't even taking the test again then we should have moved on long ago.

If this information is accurate, I don't think he could survive Tech’s academics. I graduated in 1974 and I never met a student with less than an 800 SAT. I hear Tech is much harder today. Maybe we did, but someone should have told that young man immediately after his SAT was known that he didn’t a chance in hell of getting accepted.

 

[sandlapperjacket]

This will turn into a GT nightmare....apparently, UGAy is in talks with Junior now....great.

Maybe I am the only one, but I hope they give him an offer, he takes it, graduates, and gets a good job.

 

[GTSurgery]

I don't think people have as much of a problem with pulling the scholarship as the timing. We preach to these kids the meaning of commitment, then pull his offer less than two weeks before signing day?!? It's obvious from your posts, hiveredtech, that his score was nowhere close to where it needed to be for him to get in so why didn't we cut him loose 5-6 months ago. This kid has been committed since 2/18!!! No one is saying that this kid is going to be an All-American or that losing him is detrimental to this class. But for a program that has tried to always tried to do it the "right way", this screams of hypocrisy. That is why so many of us are pissed. We didn't do right by the kid, that's what sucks.

 

[GT_JohnnyBodkin]

I don't think people have as much of a problem with pulling the scholarship as the timing. We preach to these kids the meaning of commitment, then pull his offer less than two weeks before signing day?!? It's obvious from your posts, hiveredtech, that his score was nowhere close to where it needed to be for him to get in so why didn't we cut him loose 5-6 months ago. This kid has been committed since 2/18!!! No one is saying that this kid is going to be an All-American or that losing him is detrimental to this class. But for a program that has tried to always tried to do it the "right way", this screams of hypocrisy. That is why so many of us are pissed. We didn't do right by the kid, that's what sucks.

Couldn't have said it better myself

 

[H-town]

Maybe I am the only one, but I hope they give him an offer, he takes it, graduates, and gets a good job.

He can't get a good job unless he goes to Tech. Haven't you been reading the earlier posts?