Mike Glover Falls Through the Cracks

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Al McGuire, the deceased legendary coach of Marquette University, once said that he was “A ‘crack’ in the middle of the pavement.” “Cracks in the pavement” are symbolic of living and growing up in a distressed economic environment where the “weed-like mentality” of legitimate opportunity is choked away.

The Depression was the setting for Al’s formative years, where liquor and gambling formed the power base of organized crime. While Al was poor, he was white, and this advantage gave him the opportunity for basketball to fill in the “cracks” of hustler distraction and youthful mischief. He also had a legitimate, lifetime of opportunity as a professional player, a coach, and as an announcer.

This wasn’t the case for the African-American player during his era. African-Americans were extremely vulnerable to organized mischief because of racism. Jim Crow laws made them invisible economically, socially, athletically and politically. Because of this social inequality, there were many gifted players who were mentally frustrated and painfully aware that they were not getting a fair share of the opportunity. 

The problem stemmed from not knowing what was real and what wasn’t. Players like CCNY’s Ed Warner and Floyd Lane were victims of this frustration. They were ultimately ensnared in  the 1951 NCAA and NIT point-shaving scandal, right before they were about to become professional athletes.

While their error was seemingly obvious, the American environment that fostered organized baiting and oppression of young African-American minds helped lure these players into the gambling pit.  Mr. Warner and Mr. Lane were told this was the “American Way”, something that many white players did to make money for their families.

Thirty-two men, the majority of them white, were implicated in this scandal. I remember talking to Mr. Lane who personally told me that he never spent a dime of the money.

“I was too scared to spend the money,” Lane said. “I kept in under a flower pot for a rainy day.”  

His depression era roots were talking to me that day, his Jim Crow experiences haunting him into bad decisions. And now as we enter into a troubling economic time, what’s next? 

Enter the strangely curious case of Mike Glover vs the NCAA and the Big East Conference. It is the precursor to some things that have caught my attention.

The modern era of basketball has progressed into a business on all levels, with the mob-related mentality extending to the high school educational system. Enter the “Diploma Mill”- organized schools that act on behalf of specious influences to capture kids that have obvious pro potential.

A “Diploma Mill” school promises less education in return for more athletics. They then seek the big money ESPN high school national game money that high school phenomenon LeBron James made in vogue in 2003.

After graduation, the star then gets the big sneaker brand money with the pro deal. And as a thank you for the easy academic look, he kicks back the dough to the coaches, administrators, and folks that made it easy for the player to concentrate solely on ball.

In “mob-speak,” these schools are acting as “fences,” a place to steal time by emphasizing ball instead of academics. They open and close quickly like Wall Street boiler room operations. The NCAA is seeking to eliminate these “schools.”

Now another New York City “crack” - a Bronx native named Mike Glover - is in danger of falling. Mike is a 6′6″ talent who won a scholarship to Seton Hall University after attending three high schools in four years. However, the NCAA did not clear him to play because of a questionable senior year class schedule.

The NCAA put their collective foot down on him by ruling in court on October 14, 2008 that his senior year credits at American Christian Academy were unacceptable. The implication was that the school was a “diploma mill”. The judge dismissed the case in favor of the NCAA and, according to on-line reports, gave no explanation as to why his credits weren’t accepted while other players’ were.

According to a June 3, Philadelphia Inquirer article by Keith Pompey, this “diploma mill” accusation was made by former basketball coach Ray Carroll. Carroll publicly criticized American Christian’s academic standards for many of his former players, including All-American Tyreke Evans, after he was fired in June 2006.  

Evans now is a projected “one and done” freshman at the University of Memphis while Mike is on the outside of the NCAA world without a D-1 scholarship.

I happen to know Mike and I know a lot of coaches that have been around him. Many of them admire him for his workman like ability on the court. They’ve also acknowledged his academic shortcomings. One NCAA assistant coach told me straight up that “Mike doesn’t like school.” 

However, Mike proved himself off the court at Seton Hall by paying for his freshman classes and successfully passing them to show his commitment. Unfortunately, there is more to this picture than the NCAA is admitting and, because of the quick courtroom dismissal and lack of info, you wonder what the real deal is.

Mike has the junior college option and the hope is he becomes a D-1 player. But this a cautionary tale because he is the kid that gamblers and other surly types will look to recruit because of the way the case played out.

The NCAA should be clearer about why Mike is being singled out and what made his academics wrong, while others at the same institution were granted scholarships. With millions of dollars being wagered annually on college basketball, let’s not be naïve.

Kids like Mike become susceptible because of the mental frustration of not being fully informed. They trust slick voices that speak in fragments. Disclosing information on this case could go a long way to help others avoid being ensnared in negative activities that could cause the NCAA long-term embarrassment in the future.

This story is filed under: 45 Degrees of Blackness