Tar Heels' oversight creates a dreamy dilemma for UK

Sporting News, The, Sept 11, 2000 by Mike DeCourcy

So now Kentucky has to deal with the matter of constructing a lineup that properly employs the talents of sophomore Marvin Stone and freshman Jason Parker, both big men whose most obvious attributes include catching the ball in the post and powering toward the goal.

This is a good problem to have. This is the kind of problem Rick Pitino faced in his last couple of seasons as Wildcats coach, when he was so deep in wings he redshirted shooting guard Jeff Sheppard. As he sat through the '96-97 season, Sheppard was only a year away from being named the Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four. This is how it used to be.

Coach Tubby Smith has enjoyed a national championship and two SEC tournament titles since replacing Pitino, but until now he hasn't been forced to manage his way through such a wealth of talent. And it appeared he would not be so burdened this season, until Parker fell from the sky.

Parker is 6-8, 255 pounds and last year averaged 20 points and 10 rebounds at Fork Union Military Academy in Virginia. Nearly every recruiting analyst ranks him among the top 15 players in the incoming freshman class. He signed with North Carolina, but the university denied him admission early last month because an SAT score he received in the spring was invalidated. UNC suspected his score on the ACT, which showed a dramatic improvement similar to the spring SAT score, also would be set aside.

Oops.

This has not been the grandest year for Carolina basketball. The Tar Heels lost 14 games in 1999-2000, Roy Williams spumed their offer to become head coach, and now they've committed a turnover Ed Cota could not have conjured in his wildest 40 minutes.

Kentucky athletic director Larry Ivy attempted to mitigate the damage for North Carolina by calling Parker's situation "one of the most complex cases our compliance office has ever handled." Perhaps, but Kentucky solved this mystery quicker than you can say "Mrs. Fletcher."

Kentucky explains Parker is clear to play because some core courses submitted for establishment of his initial eligibility were not properly credited as "advanced gifted classes." Thus, his grade-point average was higher than originally calculated, and the SAT score he posted last winter was enough to lift him past the NCAA standards.

North Carolina had his transcript for more than a year and did not discover this discrepancy. Apparently, Kentucky found it in about a week. Although he pays the greatest price, new coach Matt Doherty bears no responsibility. He has been on the job a couple months. But someone in Chapel Hill cost the Tar Heels a potential freshman All-American and just the sort of gifted, competitive inside player lacking since Antawn Jamison kissed the court goodbye in San Antonio nearly two and a half years ago.

Parker spent a year at Fork Union attempting to prove his worthiness to attend North Carolina. Along with the other cadets, he rose before dawn, kept his quarters neat, attended class and adhered to a military code of discipline. He lost 20 pounds off his too-rich high school playing weight. He made extensive sacrifices to become an NCAA athlete.

This is not someone who justly would be perceived as damaged goods, but some in Kentucky reacted that way to his arrival. One of his test scores was invalidated, and they judged Parker on that fact alone.

That likely will be forgotten as Parker muscles into Kentucky's rotation. During the offseason Smith did not have to think much about his lineup and combinations. There was a dear division between the starters and reserves.

Point guard Saul Smith, shooting guard Keith Bogans and small forward Tayshaun Prince will play as long as they last. But with inconsistent power forward Jules Camara's future now in jeopardy after his arrest Sunday on charges of drunken driving, Tubby Smith must figure out how best to deal with the duplication of skills between Stone and Parker and the inevitable crowding along the baseline.

Arizona began last year with the same sort of conflict between center Loren Woods and power forward Michael Wright. Those Wildcats ended with a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed. These Wildcats could find themselves in that very neighborhood.

inside dish

DePaul was left with a gaping hole at shooting guard after Quentin Richardson and Paul McPherson left for the NBA. The Blue Demons' plan is to fill that gap with freshman PG Imari Sawyer. They hope to use him the way Connecticut used Khalid El-Amin in his first two years, providing a deep shooting threat, attacking from the wing and creating offensive opportunities in late-clock situations.... Florida SG Teddy Dupay showed no effects from offseason shoulder surgery when the Gators made an August trip to Europe. He led the team in scoring with 21.6 points per game.... Among projected candidates to replace coach Kevin O'Neill at Northwestern after last Friday's awkwardly timed (but not unexpected) departure to the NBA: Pepperdine coach Jan van Breda Kolff, Northwestern radio color analyst/former DePaul coach Joey Meyer, Princeton coach Bill Carmody and Michigan State assistant/former NU lead recruiter Brian Gregory.... USC got a boost to its depth when 6-8 PF Jarvis Turner was granted an extra year of eligibility after missing all but seven games last season with injuries. However, the Trojans are dealing with investigations by the Pac-10 and NCAA over allegations from a junior college coach that USC assistant Dave Miller offered a payment to deliver a recruit.... Temple G Quincy Wadley earned a fourth year of eligibility by completing work on his degree. Wadley handled the point when starter Pepe Sanchez was injured last season and, though he struggled, may be forced into that spot again. Wadley averaged 12.8 points and made 75 3-pointers.... After averaging 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds as a junior at Virginia Tech, 6-6 PF Rolan Roberts has transferred to Southern Illinois.... Auburn's and Florida's recruiting success continues. The Tigers have landed on-the-rise PF Marco Killingsworth, and the Gators collected their third top-20 prospect of the 2001 class in PF David Lee.