There has been a little more information this morning in regards to the Bledsoe investigation, all of which gives a slightly different version of the issue.
The
Birmingham News is reporting that the NCAA did ask Hayes and Parker Schools questions concerning Bledsoe but has had no contact with them since February. The NYT article seemed to suggest these events transpired recently. According to a Bledsoe "
tweet" earlier today he said,
"high school coming back? wrong, already worked my way through that."
ESPN also released their
own story which had this to say:
"ESPN.com reviewed copies of Bledsoe's transcript after his sophomore and junior year, as well as his senior year at Parker High School. Though coaches projected Bledsoe as a non-qualifier entering his final year, he performed markedly better in the classroom as a senior with a college basketball scholarship on the line, taking a heavier workload that included a night school class and an online course to improve an earlier grade.
His grade-point average improved significantly after scoring an A in an online biology course, which replaced a D from his sophomore year. And, after failing to achieve an A in his first three years, Bledsoe scored two others in his senior year at Parker -- Algebra 2 and Algebra 3, the latter taken in night classes.
Steve Ward, who coached Bledsoe at Hayes High, acknowledges his former star guard had plenty of academic work to accomplish when the school closed after his junior year.
"When he was at Hayes he was borderline," Ward told ESPN.com. "When he left me I don't know what happened."
Asked if he was surprised that Bledsoe qualified, Ward said: "Not really. I knew if he applied himself he would have been able to. So I wasn't totally surprised."
Seems to me that the NCAA did investigate these issues back in the winter but have not done anything on the case in months, including contacting the University of Kentucky or Coach Calipari. It also seems very interesting the timing of the report as it's the same day that the NCAA dropped the gauntlet on the UCONN program. The Bledsoe story broke at the New York Times in the heart of the Big East and just moments from the Connecticut border. Maybe it's nothing, but it sure seems to be a lot of smoke to me.
I still feel this story will amount to nothing, but for the time being it'll give our critics plenty to talk about.
More later...
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