Memphis Is Not That Picky About SAT Scores

Memphis spoke up yesterday, saying there's no proof that they or their former players cheated and that kind of honesty should put everything to rest. Until a report today that says a different Memphis player had a shady SAT experience.

CBS Sports is reporting that Robert Dozier—who graduated from Memphis as the winningest player in college basketball history—originally tried to enroll at Georgia, but the school would not take him because his SAT score was "fishy." He took the SAT a second time, but the school was still not convinced his score was legitimate. So instead he went to Memphis and joined the most successful class in NCAA hoops history.

The problem with this accusation—and the similar accusation against Derrick Rose—is that it's nearly impossible to prove unless they were caught in the act, which they weren't. It's just a suspicion that something was amiss and as Memphis rightly pointed out in the Rose instance, he was cleared to play by the NCAA. So the sports cops can't exactly come back a year later and blame the school. Plus, if the cheating happened in high school is that Memphis' fault? Or are they ultimately to blame for admitting a kid who cheated on his SAT, even if they were duped too?

Conspiracy hounds would say that of course Memphis knew what was up, because these kids can't have a sandwich without a recruiter knowing about it. Even if they didn't know, does that fact they would ignore the warning signs when another school was so suspicious saying something about the Tigers ethics? But without proof (and with Rose and Dozier long gone) it won't make much difference one way or the other. Memphis (and John Calipari) won't be punished and those who think they're both dirty will never be convinced otherwise. And that's why we all love college sports!

Dozier went to Memphis, not Georgia, because of SAT flap [CBS Sports]
Memphis: We didn't cheat [AP]
Memphis Responds… and Guess What, Everything Was a Big Misunderstanding! [Rush The Court]
[Photo via Memphis Commerical-Appeal]

Send an email to Dashiell Bennett, the author of this post, at dashiell@deadspin.com.

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