I just read Eric Bledsoe’s Wikipedia article. What I found interesting was that apparently there was controversy regarding his high school transcript; his grades had been altered to make him NCAA eligible.
Which illustrates the folly of the concept of a “student-athlete”. Why should Bledsoe be forced to get good grades in order to further his career as a basketball player? He was born with the natural gifts to play basketball, and has the work ethic to improve his game. I don’t want to say he’s unintelligent, but for him academics are basically irrelevant.
The NCAA system needs to be abolished and true developments league put in place for all major sports. Colleges should become institutions of learning only. Sports and academics do not mix. There’s a reason that the scholarship endowed athletes can’t pass their classes without some serious grade fudging. Why continue the charade? I’m not one to say that Europe is always superior to the US, but in this case their system works a hell of a lot better.
Oh yeah, and Bledsoe had a pretty good game tonight for the Suns. 10 of 12 shooting, holy Moses. If he keeps this up he’ll be MIP for sure.