Memphis loses final appeal, must vacate 2007-2008 season

A. Isaac Senior Editor

caliparisleaze Memphis loses final appeal, must vacate 2007 2008 season

After losing their final appeal to the NCAA, Memphis has now been forced to vacate their entire 2007-2008 basketball season. A season which included 38 wins and a championship game appearance.

The NCAA announced Monday that its Infractions Appeal Committee ruled against Memphis, which was found to use an ineligible player, believed to be Derrick Rose. The Tigers lost in overtime to Kansas in the national title game that season.

The NCAA originally ordered Memphis to vacate the season and forfeit money on Aug. 20. Memphis had appealed, arguing the penalties were unprecedented and that the school was held to a strict liability when Rose was ruled retroactively ineligible for an SAT score that was invalidated by the Educational Testing Service in May 2008.

This of course brings me to my next point, John Calipari. The sleazeball coach who was the ringleader of that Memphis team and who was also the orchestrator of the mid 90s UMASS scandal. But somehow Calipari seems made of teflon, able to deflect allegations like he’s Ben Roethlisberger on a one-night stand.

And now, Calipari rests comfortably in a Lexington office, seemingly far enough away from the arm of NCAA law. Sure, you can cheer on your Wildcats this weekend and hope they advance to the Final Four Kentucky fans. But know this, sooner or later that banner will come down and you’ll share the same dreaded fate as Calipari’s Tigers.

In the meantime though, feel free to put your worries to the side, and do the John Wall dance. All the cool people are doing it (including Ashley Judd).

NCAA rejects Memphis’ final appeal of vacated wins {AP}

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