John Wall’s Eligibility: Consider the Source

I don’t generally like writing about what other writers wrote, but in this case, I feel like it bears mentioning that the report on Wall’s “ineligibility” came from ESPN columnist Pat Forde, a longtime critic of John Calipari, and one of the more vocal critics of his hiring at Kentucky. In other words, he may have a tad bit invested in the failure of Calipari and his super-recruit, John Wall.

Here’s a sampling of what Forde wrote back in May, when news broke that Memphis was being investigated by the NCAA:

It poured here Thursday afternoon. Torrential, briefly biblical stuff.

Then, in roughly the time it would take a (cough) student-athlete (cough) to answer 20 SAT questions, the deluge was done, and the sky was blue.

Kentucky fans are hoping that’s a hardwood harbinger.

They’re hoping the sudden storm cloud that blew in Wednesday night in the form of NCAA allegations of major violations at Memphis under John Calipari’s watch turns out to be a temporary tempest. They’re hoping the conversation quickly turns back to John Wall and Patrick Patterson and sunny visions of an NIT-to-national title vault in year one under Calipari.

[…]

The fact is, the questions that have always clung to Calipari — about his ability to keep a program out of trouble, about his interest in recruiting actual college students, about his commitment to discipline — only intensify now.

But most Wildcats fans don’t want to hear any of that at the moment. The sun is shining brighter than it has in a long while on their old Kentucky home. They want their winner and they want him now, and they’re not worried about what happened at his previous place of employment.

Which is probably exactly how Memphis fans felt when John Calipari came to them 10 years ago.

Ask them how they feel today.

Not saying that Forde fabricated anything or cut any journalistic corners with his report, but it’s worth mentioning, since this is absolutely NOT a major violation, and Wall’s longterm eligibility does NOT seem to be in question. So while the headlines that circulate as a result may read “John Wall Facing Ineligibilty Questions,” don’t forget from whom this all originated.