What about next year?? - Lavonte Dority added

[vu72]

Today's Times article says that if he finishes his degree at Triton then he would be eligible immeadiately!

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/valparaiso-adds-big-east-transfer-in-dority/article_b518c3b5-1ba7-56ba-9a90-42c449a976cd.html

[vu72]

Here's a very complete writeup on Dority.  My guess is Scott helped Bryce find this kid as Baylor, via Mark Morefield, were very active in recruiting him.  Sounds like a good kid in addition to being a stud on the court.

http://illinoishsbasketball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=797&Itemid=1

[zvillehaze]

Today's Times article says that if he finishes his degree at Triton then he would be eligible immeadiately!

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/basketball/college/valparaiso-adds-big-east-transfer-in-dority/article_b518c3b5-1ba7-56ba-9a90-42c449a976cd.html

I saw that too ... wonder where Oren got his information on this.  If anyone would care to read what the NCAA says, flip to page 21 of this document.  http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/TGONLINE2010.pdf

The sticking point with Dority is that one-calendar year has not elapsed since he left his previous four year school.  By the letter of the NCAA rules, Dority won't be eligible until he completes one full year of academic residence at his new four-year school.  (Whether that means he needs a full year at Valpo or just a full year to pass since he left SFU isn't clear to me).

By comparison, Brandon Wood was eligible immediately when he came from Junior College because he had received his two-year degree and a full year had past since he left SIU (his previous four-year school).

My caveat is the same one I always throw out ... no matter what the NCAA rules say, they will choose to follow them or ignore them on a case by case basis!   

[zvillehaze]

Paul Oren on Twitter announcing another Jr. College transfer.  Jordan Coleman?

[vu72]

Word is out that the ONLY reason Dority chose Valpo was the facilities.  The arena was impressive but more so was the Hilltop practice facility.  The clincher was the lockeroom.

[covufan]

Word is out that the ONLY reason Dority chose Valpo was the facilities.  The arena was impressive but more so was the Hilltop practice facility.  The clincher was the lockeroom.

[covufan]

Paul Oren on Twitter announcing another Jr. College transfer.  Jordan Coleman?

I don't have twitter, but here is a link to his NWI Twitter account:

http://twitter.com/#!/NWIOren

He mentions that Valpo, after Dority in fold, will add another transfer (Jordon Coleman), and look for someone to not be back next year (Kurth???). 

[agibson]

I saw that too ... wonder where Oren got his information on this.

Oren's updated his position, via twitter:

"Coleman should be immediately eligible, but up in the air on how many years at the moment. Dority may not be able to play till semester."

and

"Lots of moving parts at the moment and trying to understand NCAA rule book is giving me a headache."

Funny to watch all of this in the twitter age:

Will Bogan ‏ @willbogan
S/o to @Doritykid my soon-to-be teammate with the verbal commit to us #crusadernation

Lavonte Dority ‏ @Doritykid
@willbogan @Doritykid thanks big homie...

[agibson]

ESPN/Scout rated him [Dority] at 90.

And three stars.  40th ranked point guard in the class of 2010.  But all of that out of high school.  He might rate lower than that as a transfer?

ESPN/Scout had Coleman rated 80 as a two star small forward, out of high school, at 6'4" 170.  At Hawaii they list him a 6'4" 175 lbs guard.

Oren says, "Coleman (6'5 guard) averaged 10.2 ppg with 1.7 steals at SWIC."

[FWalum]

If you have been at a four-year school and now attend a two-year school...
If you started at a four-year school, then transferred to a two-year school and now want to transfer to a four-year school, we refer
to you as a 4-2-4 transfer. Generally, here are the rules that apply to you.
4-2-4 and you want to go to Division I
If you are a qualifier...
Did you:
1.  Complete an average of 12-semester or 12-quarter credit hours for each term of full-time attendance that can
be transferred toward your degree at the four-year school?**
2.  Earn a GPA of 2.000 in those transferable credit hours?
3.  Graduate from the two-year school AND have one-calendar year elapse since you left your previous four-year school?
If Yes to all:
You can practice.
You can receive athletically related financial aid.
You can play right away during the first year after you transfer.*+

* Additional progress-toward-degree rules from the NCAA, the conference or the school may affect whether you can play.
** In men's basketball, not more than two credit hours of physical education activity courses may be used to fulfill the transferable degree credit and
grade-point average requirements, unless the student-athlete is enrolling in a physical education degree program or a degree program in education
that requires physical education activity courses.
+ Baseball and basketball - mid-year enrollee: In Division I, a transfer student-athlete in the sports of baseball and basketball who initially enrolls at the
certifying institution as a full-time student for the spring term shall not be eligible to compete until the next academic year (i.e., fall term).

Kind of hard to understand because of poor wording especially in the mid year enrollee section. I think Dority probably sits next year and then plays 2 years after Buggs graduates.

[agibson]

I'm not sure which is the "certifying institution".  But, if he left USF in the fall and attended Valpo for the spring semester 2012, he'd be eligible to play after finals, December 2012, right?  I'd be surprised if going to a JUCO for that semester or two, instead of straight to Valpo, made him wait _longer_.

[valpopal]

Coleman (#4) highlights from high school:

Jordan Coleman Calabasas H.S. Basketball 09-10 League

[FWalum]

Lavonte Dority

I'm not sure which is the "certifying institution".  But, if he left USF in the fall and attended Valpo for the spring semester 2012, he'd be eligible to play after finals, December 2012, right?  I'd be surprised if going to a JUCO for that semester or two, instead of straight to Valpo, made him wait _longer_.

I think that he is in the same situation as Boggs.  He did play 9 games this past season so that is season of eligibility #2.  It appears that he can not play until after first semester next year so that "2/3" of a season would be year of eligibility #3 and then the following year would be year #4. Exactly like the Boggs situation.

[vufan75]

It seems as if Crandall Head, who left U of Illinois in late-Dec per this ESPN Chicago article and went to a Chicago area juco where he did not play basketball, had a very similar situation as Lavonte Dority, who left USF this past season and transferred to a juco. This article says that Crandall Head will only miss 2 games next season if he gets his associate's degree. I don't know the rules, but, I sure hope Lavonte Dority only misses a couple games next season based on this example. Don't know what the deal is or how the NCAA rules are interpreted.....

http://espn.go.com/chicago/ncb/story/_/id/7484653/former-illinois-fighting-illini-guard-crandall-head-transfer-depaul-blue-demons

Crandall Head bound for DePaul

Updated: January 20, 2012, 5:36 PM ET
By Scott Powers | ESPNChicago.com

Former Illinois guard Crandall Head said Friday he plans to enroll into a Chicago-area junior college for the current semester and transfer to DePaul in the fall.

Head, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound shooting guard, left Illinois in late December after two seasons. He averaged 1.0 points, 0.6 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 9.2 minutes in nine games this season.

"I'm going to try to get into a junior college now," Head said. "I want to be somewhere close to home and get enough credits to get my associate's degree. If I get my associate's degree, I'll miss the first two games next year and play right away."

Head, who said he met with DePaul's coaches on campus Friday, will have two years of eligibility remaining at DePaul.

Head is unsure which Chicago-area junior college he will attend, but he said he will not play basketball for that school.

Head left Illinois because he said coach Bruce Weber's system didn't fit his game. Head believes DePaul's system will work for him.

"It's an up-tempo game," Head said. "They run the floor, get easy points in transition. I like their style of play. I like the coaches. I like the players. I know a couple of the players over there. I like that environment and being close to home."

Head was a highly-touted recruit for the Illini out of Rich South High School in Richton Park, Ill. He was ranked No. 79 in the Class of 2010 by ESPN Recruiting.

Scott Powers covers high school and college sports for ESPNChicago.com and can be reached at spowers@espnchicago.com.
 

[milanmiracle]

Someone on the DePaul message board said he was playing at SF at beginning of season and quit after he lost his starting pos.  He enrolled at Triton Jr College in Jan - just going to school - no BB.

Found the same imformation but from different sources. Looks to me that at worst he might be elligible (like Boggs was) for the second semester.Touted as an excellent playmaker with great scoring potential. If he is also a rock solid defender (of which I read no mention) then he would fill all of my requirements as that extra point guard extra defender that next years team might need to complete the puzzle. But for all we know they may want him to sit the entire season so that he doesn't lose the year of elligibility while playing in just one semester. Part of this decision might depend on how the Kurth issue plays out.

I don't know if there is a Kurth issue. If he just wants a free education he'll stay and not ever play, or he can transfer and actually play basketball. He was clearly the last option on the team this year and he just fell even further down the depth chart. The writing is on the wall...

[vusupporter]

Someone on the DePaul message board said he was playing at SF at beginning of season and quit after he lost his starting pos.  He enrolled at Triton Jr College in Jan - just going to school - no BB.

Found the same imformation but from different sources. Looks to me that at worst he might be elligible (like Boggs was) for the second semester.Touted as an excellent playmaker with great scoring potential. If he is also a rock solid defender (of which I read no mention) then he would fill all of my requirements as that extra point guard extra defender that next years team might need to complete the puzzle. But for all we know they may want him to sit the entire season so that he doesn't lose the year of elligibility while playing in just one semester. Part of this decision might depend on how the Kurth issue plays out.

I don't know if there is a Kurth issue. If he just wants a free education he'll stay and not ever play, or he can transfer and actually play basketball. He was clearly the last option on the team this year and he just fell even further down the depth chart. The writing is on the wall...

That's not really fair to either Tommy or the program - it's been medical issues that've kept him out much of the year - hence the reason he wasn't on a few road trips.   

[mp91]

Interview with Lavonte Dority on his decision to transfer to Valpo

http://www.scoutingthemidmajors.com/

[wh]

Everyone back from a league championship team plus 3 quality transfers that undoubtedly will be competing for serious playing time.  So many good players and only 200 minutes to go around.   It should be interesting...

[FWalum]

As I have mentioned before I think the real question for next year among the current players concerns Jay Harris.  I like Jay and I think in certain match ups he is a great scoring threat for us.  However, I think that the coaching staff needs to challenge Jay to become much stronger physically.  In games where Buggs got in foul trouble we needed to be able to count on Jay running the point and in certain situations he did not have the strength to match up with certain defenders.  Perhaps Dority coming in takes that pressure off of Jay.  I just want to see Jay reach the promised potential and success that I think he can achieve.  A stronger Jay Harris will really help this team next year.

[justducky]

I don't know if there is a Kurth issue. If he just wants a free education he'll stay and not ever play, or he can transfer and actually play basketball. He was clearly the last option on the team this year and he just fell even further down the depth chart. The writing is on the wall...

I would argue that there is a Tommy Kurth issue and and that very shortly we might have some answers. We have a kid here that started much of his rookie season who came back this year looking like he couldn't earn significant minutes anywhere or at any level of college basketball. So most of us would like to at least know why.

I do not believe that you were trying to be anything but blunt and to the point but frankly I believe you could have and should have worded that a bit more artfully. We need to remember that every comment that we make can and often will be read by these players parents. So just for fun lets just pretend that I am old, grouchy,tall and mean (all true) and that my real name isn't ducky but grandpa Kurth (might or might not be true) Have a nice day. 

[valpotx]

Ducky, don't worry about that comment, as I am sure you have noticed that there are a rare few really negative posters on here.  Regardless of whether or not you are a relative, everyone hopes the best for Tommy in whatever happens throughout the rest of his college career, and especially his health.

[valpo04]

I don't know if there is a Kurth issue. If he just wants a free education he'll stay and not ever play, or he can transfer and actually play basketball. He was clearly the last option on the team this year and he just fell even further down the depth chart. The writing is on the wall...

I do not believe that you were trying to be anything but blunt and to the point but frankly I believe you could have and should have worded that a bit more artfully. We need to remember that every comment that we make can and often will be read by these players parents. So just for fun lets just pretend that I am old, grouchy,tall and mean (all true) and that my real name isn't ducky but grandpa Kurth (might or might not be true) Have a nice day. 

I'd argue that just as you can be grouchy and mean (what old and tall have to do with it, I don't know), posters here can be blunt and to the point as long as they aren't derogatory or attacking.  This is a message board where fans don't have to be "artful" with their posts.

I'd also argue that as a relative of a player who reads and posts on a fan message board, you know what you are getting into and if you are mean and grouchy and can't handle your "grandson" being talked about, perhaps this isn't the best place for you.

[mp91]

Definitely...Dority is a quality player, with a winning attitude... he should be able to contribute immediately

[chipper955]

Everyone back from a league championship team plus 3 quality transfers that undoubtedly will be competing for serious playing time.  So many good players and only 200 minutes to go around.   It should be interesting...

Not to mention that Fernandez will be eligible too.

[historyman]

I'd also argue that as a relative of a player who reads and posts on a fan message board, you know what you are getting into and if you are mean and grouchy and can't handle your "grandson" being talked about, perhaps this isn't the best place for you.

Bingo!