Several outlets are reporting that the 2008 University of Memphis Tigers basketball team will be forced by the NCAA to forfeit their 2008 Final Four appearance and record 38 victories. The infractions center around former Tiger, and current Chicago Bulls star, Derrick Rose.

Memphis received a notice of allegations from the NCAA in January alleging major violations during the 2007-08 season under former coach John Calipari. The most serious allegation was that former Tiger point guard Derrick Rose had a stand-in take the SAT for him, thus making him retroactively ineligible. Memphis also was cited for failure to monitor its charter airplane, as investigators found $2,260 in unpaid travel expenses by Rose’s brother, Reggie Rose.

The head coach of the Tigers at that time was John Calipari, who has since packed his carpets and moved to the Kentucky Wildcats.

The vacated Final Four appearance will be the second of Calipari’s coaching career. His UMass team was applied the same penalty by the NCAA for its 1996 Final Four.  He is the only college coach in basketball history to have two Final Four’s removed from the record books.

It will also be the second time a Final Four appearance has been vacated by the Memphis basketball program.  The 1985 team, under Dana Kirk, had to also vacate their appearance for payments that were made to two players on the team.

Now can StubHub reimburse the money I spent on those NCAA Championship tickets? I mean the game never happened right?

Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose has had a really bad last few weeks.  Now comes a photo of Rose flashing gang signs while he was still in college at Memphis.  Unlike his earlier troubles last month, Rose was quick to issue a statement distancing himself from his gesture and claiming it was a joke gone wrong.

Derrick Rose’s Statement Regarding Flashing Gang Signs in Photo

Recently, a photo has been circulating on the Internet which appears to depict me flashing a gang sign.

This photo of me was taken at a party I attended in Memphis while I was in school there, and was meant as a joke…a bad one, I now admit. I want to emphatically state, now and forever, that Derrick Rose is anti-gang, anti-drug, and anti-violence.

I am not, nor have I ever been, affiliated with any gang and I can’t speak loudly enough against gang violence, and the things that gangs represent.

In posing for this picture, I am guilty of being young, naive and of using extremely poor judgment.

I sincerely apologize to all my fans for my mistake. I pride myself on being a good citizen, and role model, that young people can look up to and I want to urge all my young fans to stay away from gangs and gang-related activities.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the sign Rose flashed is for The Gangster Disciples gang that is heavily rooted in Rose’s Englewood hood in Chicago.

The Gangster Disciples, a large criminal organization with tens of thousands of members, are deeply involved in Chicago’s violent narcotics trade. Gangster Disciples long have been the predominant gang in the Englewood neighborhood.

Former Memphis teammate and potential 2009 NBA Draft pick Antonio Anderson can clearly be seen behind Rose flashing up gang signs as well.

Earlier this month, it was released that Rose was the reason his college team, the University of Memphis, currently finds itself in hot water with the NCAA, over Rose’s alleged cheating on the SAT admission test.

go on reading »

Memphis Tigers freshman sensation Derrick Rose is declaring for the 2008 NBA Draft according to sources close to Rose and the situation.

Rose is projected to be the #1 or #2 overall player selected in the June draft.  After a stellar NCAA tournament run Rose rose to #1 in several mock draft projections.

During his one season in college basketball Rose averaged 14.9 points – 4.5 rebounds – 4.7 assists.  He averaged 20.8 points in the NCAA tourney and took the Tigers to within seconds of winning the National Championship before losing to the Kansas Jayhawks in overtime.

source: Commercial Appeal