W.Ky cancels player's scholarship for attending mom's funeral

[Cobra Mgr]

Victory Vaka's mom died unexpectedly. The DT flew home w/W.Ky's blessing. Thru various communications, the Hilltoppers' staff seemingly gave him until June to return. Instead, when the beginning of summer workouts started & he hadn't shown up, WKy removed his scholarship for not reporting. And because that was the reason given , for some reason the NCAA will not allow him to transfer.

Put mildly, this is a terrible look for the NCAA, this school, football program, & coaching staff. I'm not sure how they could spin this to put themselves into a positive light. Hope they lose by 50 each game.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Victory Vaka's mom died unexpectedly. The DT flew home w/W.Ky's blessing. Thru various communications, the Hilltoppers' staff seemingly gave him until June to return. Instead, when the beginning of summer workouts started & he hadn't shown up, WKy removed his scholarship for not reporting. And because that was the reason given , for some reason the NCAA will not allow him to transfer.

Put mildly, this is a terrible look for the NCAA, this school, football program, & coaching staff. I'm not sure how they could spin this to put themselves into a positive light. Hope they lose by 50 each game.

You missed about 95% of the story. He had MANY weeks to return, and chose not to. Then he started missing practices, and STILL didn't return.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by dsvitak

You missed about 95% of the story. He had MANY weeks to return, and chose not to. Then he started missing practices, and STILL didn't return.

Did you read his timeline? He was told by his strength coach they weren't expecting him til June. And not one football coach ever touched base with him. And this is the death of a parent in the off season. And we talkin' about practice??!? Practice??!?! Not the mother he loved. Not a game. We not talking about a game. We talkin' about practice.

That's why I leave links when possible. People can read for themselves.

If they are so uncaring & sociopaths about football that is for them to answer for. But don't keep the kid from moving elsewhere. He thought it was more important to be with his family than off season workouts (imagine that?). He shouldn't lose his scholarship over that.

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Did you read his timeline? He was told by his strength coach they weren't expecting him til June. And not one football coach ever touched base with him. And this is the death of a parent in the off season. And we talkin' about practice??!? Practice??!?! Not the mother he loved. Not a game. We not talking about a game. We talkin' about practice.

That's why I leave links when possible. People can read for themselves.

If they are so uncaring & sociopaths about football that is for them to answer for. But don't keep the kid from moving elsewhere. He thought it was more important to be with his family than off season workouts (imagine that?). He shouldn't lose his scholarship over that.

His scholarship was at stake. If the university wanted him there for off season workouts, and he refused, then it was HIS actions that caused the scholly to go away. Doesn't matter if you think that was fair or not. FAFO.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by dsvitak

His scholarship was at stake. If the university wanted him there for off season workouts, and he refused, then it was HIS actions that caused the scholly to go away. Doesn't matter if you think that was fair or not. FAFO.

If the coaching staff wanted him there, they should have told him that. If his scholarship was at stake, they should have told him that. According to him, not one coach from the football team, communicated anything to him in 30-45 days time. And they still shouldn't be preventing him from going to another school to finish his career/education.

I would hope the other approx. 125 Div 1 schools will show their roster a little more compassion under such tragic circumstances. They could have lowered him on the depth chart, but they chose the nuclear option. They chose questionably valuable, arguably valueless off season practices over a kid's mental health during one of the most tragic, traumatic episodes a human being can go thru. Screw them. Hope in their 12 game schedule they go 0-15.