Regarding Eric Bledsoe’s high school grades: case closed.
The Birmingham school board decided last week to let the former Kentucky freshman keep a grade that helped him gain eligibility to play the 2009-10 season. And that - as expected - was enough for the NCAA.
“In talking with Birmingham school officials, we confirmed they plan to take no further action in the Eric Bledsoe case,” Chuck Wynne, the NCAA’s director of communication strategy, said in an email to ESPN.com Tuesday. “With that in mind, the NCAA considers the matter closed. The original decision on Bledsoe’s initial eligibility stands.”
Bledsoe, who was cleared by the NCAA’s Eligibility Center after his initial transcript was received, had his transcript reviewed by a Birmingham law firm. Lead investigator U.W. Clemon called the review “one of the more challenging things I’ve done” because some grade books from the two schools Bledsoe attended were missing.
In the end, the review found that the was no documentation to justify an improvement from a “C” to an “A,” but there was nothing to show it was improper, either.
The school board’s moving on. So’s the NCAA. Let’s all do the same.
Mike Miller’s also on Twitter @BeyndArcMMiller, usually talkin’ hoops. Click here for more.