Therence Mayimba
- Thread starter Pablo
- Start date
My sources are telling me his real name is Merence Thayimba.
OP
Pablo
Hall of Famer
- Thread Starter
- #224
https://www.fanragsports.com/cbb/schools-complain-about-ncaa-rulings-involving-african-players/:
"Therence Mayimba, a native of Gabon, was once a George Mason signee who spent the 2015-’16 season at Northwest Florida State junior college and has been ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA despite graduating from high school in Maryland as an honor roll student with passing test scores.
'It’s not a perceived problem or an imagined problem,' said former George Mason coach Paul Hewitt. 'It’s absolutely an issue of going after African students.'
Many people who worked to try to get Mayimba eligible said it was more than simple logistics that kept him off the court at George Mason, some wondering aloud if bias was involved.
'I’ve consistently complained about this issue since 2005 or 2006,' Don Jackson, an attorney who has represented athletes such as Diallo, said. 'These intensive academic reviews and amateurism investigations over the past 10 or 11 years have almost exclusively focused on African American and international athletes.'
In Mayimba’s case, George Mason didn’t initially hire a lawyer to represent him even though Hewitt said schools in the Virginia state system have money in the budget set aside to hire attorneys for NCAA issues. Hewitt, who recruited Mayimba, was eventually fired by George Mason and Mayimba wound up at Northwest Florida after being ruled ineligible for NCAA Division I competition.
But according to multiple sources involved with Mayimba’s case, that should have never happened. Despite the fact Mayimba had excellent grades in three years at both Montrose Christian and St. James schools in Maryland — information backed up by documents obtained by FanRag Sports — the NCAA opened an investigation into his academic eligibility.
Former George Mason Patriots head coach Paul Hewitt had a lot to say about the NCAA Eligibility Center. — Tim Zechar/Icon Sportswire
'I was shocked,' Mayimba said. 'Because I knew I was a good student. It all seemed like it was based on things that didn’t have anything to do with basketball or with school.'
The issue centered on obtaining documents from Gabon, where the nation was undergoing civil unrest and transition from handwritten to electronic records. Members of the GMU staff worked with the Gabonese embassy in Washington D.C. to verify his academic standing in that country, but were then accused of academic fraud involving the handling of those documents. After GMU was cleared of that, the investigation continued.
'What they do is they cherry pick, they keep moving the target,' Hewitt said. 'Then they tried to make it into an amateurism case and when that didn’t go anywhere they turned it into his age.'
In the minds of Mayimba and his supporters, the NCAA continually moved the goalposts for eligibility. Once the academic issues were resolved, the eligibility center began investigating his amateur status due to involvement with club teams in Africa.
According to former Mason employees, once the school was able to establish amateurism, the NCAA moved on to an issue with Mayimba’s age. His official documents, including his birth certificate and passport, indicated he was 18 years old and therefore eligible to play at George Mason. However, Hewitt and Mayimba said the player signed up for an online dating site when Mayimba was 16. To be accepted for the service, Mayimba stated he was 18 at the time, which the NCAA accepted as proof Mayimba was actually 20 when he intended to enroll at George Mason.
'Literally the smoking gun, if you will, was the dating website,' Hewitt said. 'Therence had logged into that and said he was 18 years old when he was actually 16 years old. All his official documentation was verified by all the necessary agencies, yet the NCAA rejects it.'
10 January 2016 – UCF Knights center Tacko Fall (#24) posts up on SMU Mustangs forward Jordan Tolbert (#23) during the NCAA college basketball game between the SMU Mustangs and the UCF Knights at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire)
Though most people associated with athletic departments at both the college and high school level hesitate to publicly criticize the NCAA for fear of retribution in the form of suspensions and further investigations, many coaches and administrators have privately expressed their frustration with the NCAA Eligibility Center.
The center, formerly known as the NCAA Clearinghouse, is the branch of the NCAA charged with determining the initial eligibility of prospective student athletes. Many have suggested there may be problems with the overarching attitude toward certain demographic groups.
One coach, who requested anonymity, said an NCAA staffer had been told by his bosses, 'You can’t trust anything coming out of Africa.' Multiple sources expressed dismay at social media posts by NCAA staffers who investigate international student athletes. One particular Twitter post appeared to make light of the Ebola crises in Africa. Phone messages and emails to Elizabeth Sellers, who heads that department and handled the Mayimba and Okorie cases, went unreturned."
"Therence Mayimba, a native of Gabon, was once a George Mason signee who spent the 2015-’16 season at Northwest Florida State junior college and has been ruled permanently ineligible by the NCAA despite graduating from high school in Maryland as an honor roll student with passing test scores.
'It’s not a perceived problem or an imagined problem,' said former George Mason coach Paul Hewitt. 'It’s absolutely an issue of going after African students.'
Many people who worked to try to get Mayimba eligible said it was more than simple logistics that kept him off the court at George Mason, some wondering aloud if bias was involved.
'I’ve consistently complained about this issue since 2005 or 2006,' Don Jackson, an attorney who has represented athletes such as Diallo, said. 'These intensive academic reviews and amateurism investigations over the past 10 or 11 years have almost exclusively focused on African American and international athletes.'
In Mayimba’s case, George Mason didn’t initially hire a lawyer to represent him even though Hewitt said schools in the Virginia state system have money in the budget set aside to hire attorneys for NCAA issues. Hewitt, who recruited Mayimba, was eventually fired by George Mason and Mayimba wound up at Northwest Florida after being ruled ineligible for NCAA Division I competition.
But according to multiple sources involved with Mayimba’s case, that should have never happened. Despite the fact Mayimba had excellent grades in three years at both Montrose Christian and St. James schools in Maryland — information backed up by documents obtained by FanRag Sports — the NCAA opened an investigation into his academic eligibility.
Former George Mason Patriots head coach Paul Hewitt had a lot to say about the NCAA Eligibility Center. — Tim Zechar/Icon Sportswire
'I was shocked,' Mayimba said. 'Because I knew I was a good student. It all seemed like it was based on things that didn’t have anything to do with basketball or with school.'
The issue centered on obtaining documents from Gabon, where the nation was undergoing civil unrest and transition from handwritten to electronic records. Members of the GMU staff worked with the Gabonese embassy in Washington D.C. to verify his academic standing in that country, but were then accused of academic fraud involving the handling of those documents. After GMU was cleared of that, the investigation continued.
'What they do is they cherry pick, they keep moving the target,' Hewitt said. 'Then they tried to make it into an amateurism case and when that didn’t go anywhere they turned it into his age.'
In the minds of Mayimba and his supporters, the NCAA continually moved the goalposts for eligibility. Once the academic issues were resolved, the eligibility center began investigating his amateur status due to involvement with club teams in Africa.
According to former Mason employees, once the school was able to establish amateurism, the NCAA moved on to an issue with Mayimba’s age. His official documents, including his birth certificate and passport, indicated he was 18 years old and therefore eligible to play at George Mason. However, Hewitt and Mayimba said the player signed up for an online dating site when Mayimba was 16. To be accepted for the service, Mayimba stated he was 18 at the time, which the NCAA accepted as proof Mayimba was actually 20 when he intended to enroll at George Mason.
'Literally the smoking gun, if you will, was the dating website,' Hewitt said. 'Therence had logged into that and said he was 18 years old when he was actually 16 years old. All his official documentation was verified by all the necessary agencies, yet the NCAA rejects it.'
10 January 2016 – UCF Knights center Tacko Fall (#24) posts up on SMU Mustangs forward Jordan Tolbert (#23) during the NCAA college basketball game between the SMU Mustangs and the UCF Knights at Moody Coliseum in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire)
Though most people associated with athletic departments at both the college and high school level hesitate to publicly criticize the NCAA for fear of retribution in the form of suspensions and further investigations, many coaches and administrators have privately expressed their frustration with the NCAA Eligibility Center.
The center, formerly known as the NCAA Clearinghouse, is the branch of the NCAA charged with determining the initial eligibility of prospective student athletes. Many have suggested there may be problems with the overarching attitude toward certain demographic groups.
One coach, who requested anonymity, said an NCAA staffer had been told by his bosses, 'You can’t trust anything coming out of Africa.' Multiple sources expressed dismay at social media posts by NCAA staffers who investigate international student athletes. One particular Twitter post appeared to make light of the Ebola crises in Africa. Phone messages and emails to Elizabeth Sellers, who heads that department and handled the Mayimba and Okorie cases, went unreturned."
Last edited:
When I was teaching in Miami, I had five student-athletes from the soccer team in one class, all of whom were from Europe, all of whom had played for a youth development sides for professional clubs, one of whom was actually called up to play for the senior squad and was a used as a substitute in a professional game, and none of them had problems getting clearance to play as amateurs.
Poor kid.
In some ways, I wonder if Mason did everything they could. And when I say "everything", I mean get the word out that the NCAA is dicking around with this kid's eligibility. Maybe they did but this is the first time I've read about the dating site being the "smoking gun". This is the most info i've read on him and he's been gone for 3 years.
And yet when there is real academic fraud, nothing will happen to those schools.
In some ways, I wonder if Mason did everything they could. And when I say "everything", I mean get the word out that the NCAA is dicking around with this kid's eligibility. Maybe they did but this is the first time I've read about the dating site being the "smoking gun". This is the most info i've read on him and he's been gone for 3 years.
And yet when there is real academic fraud, nothing will happen to those schools.
You mean, systemic academic fraud like at Georgia and UNC?
C
Cedric Dempsey
Spectator
These kids were fine. http://www.okayafrica.com/sports/african-players-ncaas-march-madness-tournament/
If interested in this issue - check out the documentary "Men in the Arena", about soccer in Somalia, available on iTunes, demand, amazon, etc. One of the two players who is the focus of the documentary scored the game winning goal for St. Louis against George Mason this past season, and both of them are amazing and outstanding young men (my friend made the documentary).
Trailer: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...04073599EEC95953932104073599EEC9595&FORM=VIRE
Trailer: http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...04073599EEC95953932104073599EEC9595&FORM=VIRE
Washingtonian
Hall of Famer
Well, there is more to the story?
http://gmuhoops.co/2017/04/24/the-s...t-george-mason/#sthash.KheBSzA3.Su1iWR83.dpbs
http://gmuhoops.co/2017/04/24/the-s...t-george-mason/#sthash.KheBSzA3.Su1iWR83.dpbs
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GiantKiller.co
ByGeorge
Expat Hoops
Fourth Estate
Doc Nix and the Green Machine
Bill Bride - DMV Sports Shots
Patriot Brew Blog/Newsletter