Don Nelson Finally Will Graduate From College This Weekend

You know what they say. All these dumb NBA players go to college to play basketball, not to learn; it's a farce. No one gets a degree. Things used to be much better in the 1960s before John Calipari and all his fancy sneakers came to town.

Yeah, people who say that are silly:

Nelson, the NBA's winningest coach, will graduate from the University of Iowa and receive his diploma from UI President Sally Mason 50 years after leaving the school. It was a lifelong goal for Nelson to graduate, and Saturday he achieves it. [...] Nelson, 71, left Iowa in 1962 just 10 credits shy of his degree in physical education. He needed eight hours of a foreign language and took six hours of correspondence work. He then completed four more hours while he was in Spain. But there was one problem.

"I called them, ‘I've got my language now what do I need?' Nelson said. "And they said, ‘Well, you need practice teaching.' ‘I'm working full-time, I'm not going to have time to go to school and practice teach,' So I forgot about it."

Nelson didn't wind up doing any practice teaching, but the university gave him credit for his coaching. Good for Nellie. Now he can do what every other college graduate will do in the next week: move back in with his parents and seethe at episodes of Girls.

NBA legend Don Nelson's 50-year quest for Iowa diploma ends Saturday [The Gazette]