#14 UCF Football (7-0) @ SMU

Post #741 » by **UCFJayBird** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 1:25 pm

This Tacko Fall thing with the NCAA really boils my blood, especially with the report coming out yesterday that the high school says the NCAA sent them a letter saying their core classes would be accepted (which is what they are not counting). Tacko isn't traveling with the team because of it and will be out in the season opener Saturday.

For those not really following:

Tacko Fall is a 7'6 freshman center for UCF. He's from Senegal and was in the states the last few years. He moved around quite a bit initially before settling into Liberty Christian Prep. He had a 3.6 GPA his last two years while learning his 4th language (English), did well (from all indications) on the SATs, and was accepted into UCF's Engineering program (which if you're unfamiliar isn't something you can just declare as a freshman, you have to apply). He's already doing well in his UCF coursework, including from what I've heard, calculus and chemistry. A reporter asked Tacko "would you rather be Michael Jordan or Steve Jobs?" to which Tacko responded, "Steve Jobs. Your athleticism will fail you one day, but your knowledge will not. You can also have a larger impact on people's lives for a long time." (paraphrasing).

Clearly, Tacko is exceedingly bright. Every reporter who has spoken to him will reiterate that. So what's the issue? The NCAA is not counting 8.5 core course credits from Liberty Christian Prep. They have put Liberty Christian Prep under enhanced scrutiny for the next two academic cycles. Why? Because Liberty Christian Prep has never had a Division 1 athlete come from their school before. They've been in existence for 25 years, and are accredited, but because they've never been through the process they're under tougher scrutiny to make sure they're not just letting Tacko through easily like so many other programs do for academically-struggling athletes. To make matters worse, apparently the school received a letter from the NCAA earlier this year stating they would accept the core credit classes.

Which begs the question, WTF is the NCAA doing? #FreeTacko

Post #742 » by **UCF** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 2:34 pm

Tacko got cleared... NCAA must have realized just how stupid this whole case made them look with all of the coverage.

drsd · Post #743 » by **drsd** » Fri Nov 13, 2015 5:55 pm

UCF wrote:Tacko got cleared... NCAA must have realized just how stupid this whole case made them look with all of the coverage.

From ESPN:

Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 freshman at Central Florida, has been granted an academic waiver by the NCAA and has been cleared to play in the Knights' opener, coach Donnie Jones told ESPN on Friday.

"I'm so happy for Tacko. He handled this with such humility, and we're so thankful the NCAA understands his story," Jones told ESPN.

AdamTheGreek · Post #744 » by **AdamTheGreek** » Sat Nov 14, 2015 3:52 pm

Glad the NCAA got this right.

Post #745 » by **craig01** » Sun Nov 15, 2015 5:01 pm

Thankfully for Fall's sake, the ncaa finally did something.

The clearinghouse is absolutely a joke.

Of course ...... The NCAA is mostly a joke too.

Isn't it just a coincidence that the NCAA clears the kid only after the local and national media were asking "wtf" is going on?

Dancing Raddish · Post #746 » by **Dancing Raddish** » Wed Nov 18, 2015 3:52 am

Who is going to the UCF vs USF football game on Thanksgiving. I'll be there....Go Bulls....

AdamTheGreek · Post #747 » by **AdamTheGreek** » Wed Nov 18, 2015 5:32 am

On paper, I like our new AD hiring.

Post #748 » by **UCF** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 12:12 am

Can't be any worse than GOL as AD. I like that I hear he is willing to think outside the box.

Post #749 » by **UCF** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 2:24 am

Donnie Jones being Donnie Jones and losing a lot. On the bright side, Tacko looked fairly good.

EasternMagic · Post #750 » by **EasternMagic** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 3:15 am

UCF wrote:Donnie Jones being Donnie Jones and losing a lot. On the bright side, Tacko looked fairly good.

Seriously, Donnie has to be on a short leash right??

Post #751 » by **UCFJayBird** » Thu Nov 19, 2015 1:35 pm

Tacko holding the ball out away from shorter players was hilarious, but what was even funner was when he did it to a 7'2 guy. Gotta break him of that habbit though, he got away with it but he'll have a lot of turnovers doing that.

He took a pretty bad fall in the 1st half. A player basically just swiped the ball out of his hands up high and Tacko fell down like a tree, his head snapping back and possibly hitting the floor.

Otherwise he did look good though, especially defensively. Would like to see Donnie post him up more, get him the ball and have him just turn and shoot over his opponents (he did it once in the 2nd half and it was great). No one is going to get up there to block it. Ton of potential. Moves REALLY well for a 7'6 guy, definitely has to adjust to the college game though.

We need BJ Taylor back badly.

EasternMagic wrote:
UCF wrote:Donnie Jones being Donnie Jones and losing a lot. On the bright side, Tacko looked fairly good.

Seriously, Donnie has to be on a short leash right??

I would think so with White coming in. This team has some decent talent, they need to start producing. But spending 15 seconds of every shot clock passing around the perimeter while the defense just slides back and forth is not going to get anything done. It's ridiculous.

Post #752 » by **UCF** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 5:01 am

UCF is paying our new AD $525k annually with an additional 50k annually deferred compensation if he stays five years. Plus a car and club membership lol. They at least negociated a hefty buyout during the first three years.

Post #753 » by **craig01** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 4:34 pm

The ECU game last night just added further embarrassment when I didn't think that was possible.

Pathetic effort in every phase of the game.

At this point, Ucf should place an ad for walk-ons and let them play against USF.

At least they would try to play well.

The effort from many players on this roster is inexcusable and unforgivable.

Anyway, the tailgate was great until the rain. Still unbeaten on that note.

Post #754 » by **craig01** » Fri Nov 20, 2015 4:39 pm

UCFJayBird wrote:Tacko holding the ball out away from shorter players was hilarious, but what was even funner was when he did it to a 7'2 guy. Gotta break him of that habbit though, he got away with it but he'll have a lot of turnovers doing that.

He took a pretty bad fall in the 1st half. A player basically just swiped the ball out of his hands up high and Tacko fell down like a tree, his head snapping back and possibly hitting the floor.

Otherwise he did look good though, especially defensively. Would like to see Donnie post him up more, get him the ball and have him just turn and shoot over his opponents (he did it once in the 2nd half and it was great). No one is going to get up there to block it. Ton of potential. Moves REALLY well for a 7'6 guy, definitely has to adjust to the college game though.

We need BJ Taylor back badly.

EasternMagic wrote:
UCF wrote:Donnie Jones being Donnie Jones and losing a lot. On the bright side, Tacko looked fairly good.

Seriously, Donnie has to be on a short leash right??

I would think so with White coming in. This team has some decent talent, they need to start producing. But spending 15 seconds of every shot clock passing around the perimeter while the defense just slides back and forth is not going to get anything done. It's ridiculous.

Yeah, DJ has to be on the clock.

Fundamentally his teams are not up to standard, the semi- motionless offense is a joke. Watching Book-TV on Cspan is often more entertaining.

There is talent and some decent depth for the first time in a long time .... So yeah, the team needs to take a big step forward this season.

12-16 just won't cut it.

Post #755 » by **UCF** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 2:19 am

The team to the west is killing Cincy tonight. Tailgate on thanksgiving for our group will be epic but not even sure I want to go into the game knowing what's likely coming.

Post #756 » by **craig01** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 4:40 am

Cincy can lay some of the blame on Ucf for being so terrible.

Cats might have got some inflated egos by scoring at will and effortlessly against the baby Knights.

Anti Chalmers · Post #757 » by **Anti Chalmers** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 5:37 am

Good luck against USF.

Post #758 » by **UCF** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 2:45 pm

So even though we suck .... Are we blacking out (maybe for some literally) the game Thursday? Only sounds appropriate since this game will likely be one I will forget ASAP.

Post #759 » by **craig01** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 5:08 pm

We will be tailgating, getting there around 11.

I will go inside the stadium, but doubt I will stay there very long.

I expect USF will put up as many points as they want to. As horrible as this team is a 100 points should be the USF goal.

It is attainable given how pathetic this teams talent and effort are.

Prediction- USF 99, Ucf 6.

Lol.

Post #760 » by **UCF** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 8:25 pm

They should upgrade season ticket holders with better parking. Last Thursday just before the game in our garage they stopped collecting passes.

This tailgate at least for our group will be fantastic but I doubt we stay more than a quarter of the game.