Joe Burton Suspended

[NativeCheesehead]

Per Paul Oren, Burton suspended for academic purposes.

What a twelve month run of luck for this program.

[M]

Does anyone think he will be back? I would guess he'd have to sit at least this semester even if he were to stick around Valpo wouldn't he? Luckily it's a rebuilding year and I suppose the silver lining is more experience for the freshmen.

Bet he joins the Bug Baller Basketball League.

[VULB#62]

Not throwing stones, but.....  is this a surprise for the staff if they have been monitoring the team academic progress?

BTW, one of the two threads should either be deleted or combined with the other.

[NativeCheesehead]

Who knows? This is unusual in that Joe had been here for a year and clearly understood the academics involved. We haven't had many cases like this but it's not uncommon for schools with academics like ours to lose freshmen athletes who really didn't know what they were getting into.

[crusader05]

I had heard the transition had been hard acadeically. He had a year to work on it. I wonder if the added pressre of playing was too difficlt

[VULB#62]

Who knows? This is unusual in that Joe had been here for a year and clearly understood the academics involved. We haven't had many cases like this but it's not uncommon for schools with academics like ours to lose freshmen athletes who really didn't know what they were getting into.

No D-I BB program would ever allow a student to be totally independent of academic supervision.

[jsher3141]

Markus Golder just posted to Twitter...

https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/943654495724101633

[VU2014]

Transferring the post from the other thread to this one.

This is a complete failure by the player to meet his obligations to himself and the team. Go to class, do the work, get help if you need it (of which plenty is available to athletes). My strong suspicion is that Burton will never play for Valparaiso again.

This is not good.
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/943648821153816576

Ouch. Really hurts with Tevonn out at least another week minimum. Big opportunity for Mr. Golder I would guess. Our vaunted depth will be surely tested.

Anyone familiar with academic suspensions and how long players typically are out? I assume/hope this is about incomplete assignments that need to be completed to pass a course to regain eligibility. Ugh.

My guess is that he did not meet the grade point minimum for the first semester. The only way to improve that is to get grades for another semester.

[Valpo89]

Does anyone think he will be back?

No

[VU2014]

It sounds like Joe isn't with the team. I hope he's not thinking about leaving Valparaiso University. I know this probably really hurts for him but he has the opportunity to come back strong and get his grades back up and earn his degree.
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/943649180014272512

Markus Golder showing his support.
https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/943654495724101633

That might explain this tweet from a few days earlier. Maybe I'm reading too much into the tweet.
https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/943153631640961024

[M]

Golder's tweet was interesting...

[valpolaw]

Not the news I was expecting checking in here tonight.

With that said, I don't have much sympathy here for Joe if he in fact failed to make the grades.  It's not that hard to stay eligible

[Valpo89]

Not throwing stones, but.....  is this a surprise for the staff if they have been monitoring the team academic progress?

From what I understand, the staff has been all over this for 3 semesters.

[VU2014]

Not throwing stones, but.....  is this a surprise for the staff if they have been monitoring the team academic progress?

From what I understand, the staff has been all over this for 3 semesters.

Yeah Joe had some academic problems over at Oklahoma State. I heard he improved last year in his red-shirt season, but maybe he struggled this Fall semester.

I'm not really sure what to think. I'd like to hear more about this before I judge. If it turns out that he just couldn't keep his grades up last semester then Joe needs to take an honest look in mirror and pay the price and do everything he can off the court to rectify the situation for himself and his brothers on the Team. Rules are rules and upholding high standards is important for all involved even if this hurts right now.

This is a crushing blow for our program especially with Tevonn out with illness.

[FieldGoodie05]

Not throwing stones, but.....  is this a surprise for the staff if they have been monitoring the team academic progress?

From what I understand, the staff has been all over this for 3 semesters.

Ineligible players still use (1) scholarship right?  Basically if Joe isn't able to make a comeback, his scholarship is already lost for the rest of THIS season right?

[NativeCheesehead]

How Valpo Basketball fans have felt for the last 12 months.....

[agibson]

Anyone familiar with academic suspensions and how long players typically are out? I assume/hope this is about incomplete assignments that need to be completed to pass a course to regain eligibility. Ugh.

I'm a little fresher on the rules for students in general, rather than the different/additional rules that apply to NCAA athletes. Someone could check the university athletic handbook for those details.

From the wording of the announcement, it sounds like it's probably a GPA issue. I suppose there's a chance that one of his grades is an Incomplete and that it could be completed quickly, perhaps bringing him above the required minima.

Then,speaking in general about a student-athlete, rather than about Joe specifically:
If as student's GPA misses the requirement based on final course grades, there is an appeals process for university academic suspensions. That committee normally meets in the first week of January. A successful appeal would keep them enrolled at the university, if they would otherwise be suspended. Again, that's the process for any student to retain their ability to take spring (and fall, normally it's a one year suspension) classes. There could be a different/additional process for athletes.

[vu84v2]

It sounds like Joe isn't with the team. I hope he's not thinking about leaving Valparaiso University. I know this probably really hurts for him but he has the opportunity to come back strong and get his grades back up and earn his degree.
https://twitter.com/NWIOren/status/943649180014272512

Markus Golder showing his support.
https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/943654495724101633

That might explain this tweet from a few days earlier. Maybe I'm reading too much into the tweet.
https://twitter.com/TheReal_MG3/status/943153631640961024

I do not like the tone of Golder's tweets. It shows a lot of character to support someone when they are down and offer ways to help. It is quite another to blame the institution. Unless there is something else going on here, it seems like Golder is doing the latter - which does not bode well for this team.

[VU2014]

Ineligible players still use (1) scholarship right?  Basically if Joe isn't able to make a comeback, his scholarship is already lost for the rest of THIS season right?

Correct. It was similar to the John Middleton situation. We lost his scholarship even though he transferred. We misses out on the Australian SMU transfer Tom Wilson because we didn't have a scholarship available for the Spring semester. He ended up transferring to Boise State because they had one available but he ended up going pro instead of completing school.

Fingers crossed Joe will stay at Valpo and works hard to get his academics straightened out. I'm not sure he'll eligible for the rest of this season. Hopefully he can come back next season.

[crusadermoe]

Yes, Golder is kinda blamin' the University... which ain't smart.  I wonder if he was tight with Joe. That always hits hard too.

[valpotx]

If you can't maintain a 1.8 GPA or above, that is completely on you.  No one to blame but yourself.  I believe that was the minimum allowed to play, but may be incorrect.

[VUBBFan]

I wonder if he was tight with Joe. That always hits hard too.

They called themselves the Flight Brothers, so I would guess they were close.

[bigmosmithfan1]

Asking the question, because I genuinely don't know the answer: does VU still require a higher-than-the-NCAA-minimum GPA to participate? (I ask becuase they used to at one time - I know it was a constant frustration back during the Tom Smith era. On several occasions, guys would be suspended for grades only to find out it was VU's GPA requirements, not the NCAA's, that were the issue).

I only ask because Golder's tweet would make more sense in that light. (Either that, or he believes Joe got shafted on a grade).

[valpotx]

I remember it being 1.8 when I was in school.  One of my teammates was ticked that he basically had to redshirt, because he received a 1.6 his first semester, and barely missed it.

[nkvu]

Question.

Back in my day Valpo was on a 3 point scale, meaning 0 for a D, 1 for C, 2 for a B and 3 for an A. Then a 1.8 gpa would have been like a B- average. Have they gone to a standard 4 point scale now?