General

Mizzou’s Top Recruit Doesn’t Seem Worried About This Whole “Eligibility” Issue

Jun 3, 2010, 3:40 PM UTC

Missouri basketball has a particularly loaded class for next season. Scout.com rates the six-man class as the No. 6 group in the nation for next season. The crown jewel of that class is Dallas small forward Tony Mitchell. Check his credentials in the video below and you’ll see the promise for a player rated as the No. 2 SF in the nation by Scout and the No. 12 player overall by Rivals.â†µ
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â†µThat No. 6 class is very much in limbo after news on Wednesday that Mitchell’s college admission is not assured. He will not be graduating with his classmates this weekend. More details via WFAA:â†µâ†µâ‡¥Sources tell News 8 that 14 of the high school credits Mitchell brought with him from [Center of Life Academy] were not transferable at Pinkston High School. But last November, Principal Norma Villegas let Mitchell quickly make up the credits.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Sources said he took the equivalent of nine course make-up exams in two days — five of them over a two-hour period.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Mitchell passed every test, and — in just a matter of hours — went from being a freshman at Pinkston to qualifying as a senior.â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µThe aforementioned Center of Life Academy (Miami, FL) isn’t recognized by the Dallas Independent School District and the school’s website doesn’t lend much credence to its academic credentials. Check out these two screen shots. First, some info on their athletic programs:â†µ

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â†µThat thing reads something like Charlie on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia giving a speech. And just for good measure, the word "educational" is misspelled. â†µ

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â†µâ†µThe whole thing doesn’t paint a particularly optimistic picture for Mitchell’s future eligibility, although you wouldn’t know that from what Mitchell told the Kansas City Star:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥“LOL (laughing out loud),” Mitchell replied when asked whether the report meant he could not attend MU. “Naw. I will definitely be at Mizzou. Later on though.”â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Later on, Mitchell elaborated: “Later On in The summer.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µMissouri has top 15 buzz -- the Tigers are No. 12 in our preseason top 25 -- thanks to a returning core of Kim English, Marcus Denmon and Laurence Bowers. If the team did lose Mitchell, the season wouldn’t fall apart, but in a conference that features two teams as strong as Kansas and Kansas State at the top, the Tigers could use all the firepower they can get. (Plus, if Mitchell doesn’t make his way to Missouri, we won’t be able to keep showing this incredible video of Tiger-on-Tiger violence.)â†µ
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