Marcus Hatten

[monte]

Hatten has the record for Points per game average in Big East games only.

I think when Moose said "two year player" he meant two years of eligibility, not played two years and left.

Since Berry and Artest both left with eligibility remaining, who's number 1?

Not sure who Moose's #1 is, but certainly Boo, Bootsy and Hardy(for senior year alone) have to be right up there. I'm probably forgetting some older guys. Was The Whooper a 2 year guy?

I didn't realize Berry had a 3rd year left. Was pretty much saying JUCO and putting him behind Berry

Berry's case was an unusual one. If I remember correctly, he attended St. John's right out of high school, but had to sit out his first year for academic reasons, expecting to be eligible as a soph. However, at the end of that year, there was a complicated ruling by the NCAA that he was still ineligible, but he could be eligible for Division 1 play if he went the JUCO route for one year ... which is what he did. What I do remember -- this time very clearly -- was being in a friend's office at CBS Sports following the 1985-86 season, when Bill Raftery, knowing my friend was a St. John's fan, came rushing into the room and excitedly said, "Did you hear? Walter Berry's going pro!" It was like a kick to the stomach.

Don't recall him being here for a year before JC, but memory about that a bit foggy. So they gave him back that first year? Because when he arrived here he had 3 years of eligibility remaining. He played 2 then left as we know.

 

[redken]

Hatten has the record for Points per game average in Big East games only.

I think when Moose said "two year player" he meant two years of eligibility, not played two years and left.

Since Berry and Artest both left with eligibility remaining, who's number 1?

Not sure who Moose's #1 is, but certainly Boo, Bootsy and Hardy(for senior year alone) have to be right up there. I'm probably forgetting some older guys. Was The Whooper a 2 year guy?

I didn't realize Berry had a 3rd year left. Was pretty much saying JUCO and putting him behind Berry

Berry's case was an unusual one. If I remember correctly, he attended St. John's right out of high school, but had to sit out his first year for academic reasons, expecting to be eligible as a soph. However, at the end of that year, there was a complicated ruling by the NCAA that he was still ineligible, but he could be eligible for Division 1 play if he went the JUCO route for one year ... which is what he did. What I do remember -- this time very clearly -- was being in a friend's office at CBS Sports following the 1985-86 season, when Bill Raftery, knowing my friend was a St. John's fan, came rushing into the room and excitedly said, "Did you hear? Walter Berry's going pro!" It was like a kick to the stomach.

Don't recall him being here for a year before JC, but memory about that a bit foggy. So they gave him back that first year? Because when he arrived here he had 3 years of eligibility remaining. He played 2 then left as we know.

It was an unusual case, but I believe it explains why he could transfer to St. John's after only one year of junior college: he was given credit for some of his coursework at St. John's during his "sit out" year. Note that this was a few years prior to Proposition 48 being instituted, so things were handled differently at the time. (Hey, if my memory is playing tricks on me, maybe someone can set things straight.)

 

[MainMan]

(Hey, if my memory is playing tricks on me, maybe someone can set things straight.)

A summary of WB's eligibility saga:

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/13/sports/berry-now-student-at-a-junior-college.html

 

[monte]

(Hey, if my memory is playing tricks on me, maybe someone can set things straight.)

A summary of WB's eligibility saga:

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/13/sports/berry-now-student-at-a-junior-college.html

What I find most intriguing about the whole saga was that was Walter was able to enroll at St. John's without graduating High School or getting his GED diploma. Wow.

 

[McGarry2]

There was a special program allowing students from poverty areas admission which was not NCAA sponsored. St. John's admitted WB under this programas I recall the NCAA reneged claiming if gave SJU an advavtage over school like Nebraska which has no poverty areas in there localtion

 

[redken]

(Hey, if my memory is playing tricks on me, maybe someone can set things straight.)

A summary of WB's eligibility saga:

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/13/sports/berry-now-student-at-a-junior-college.html

Thanks MainMan. I guess my memory isn't so bad after all. (Something that always stuck with me was when a local TV sportscaster interviewed Walter on campus. Walter was wearing a security guard's uniform -- to stress that he was working his way through college and was not being paid under the table, I suppose -- and he talked about how frustrating it was to have to sit out the year.)

Guess it also shows that the current coaching staff isn't the only one we've had that's misjudged how the NCAA might view the eligibility of recruits with questionable credentials.