Tennessee Softball 2025

#10,676
#10,676
Majors said:
2.16 ERA isn’t in the category of Abbott, Canady, Bahl or Pickens. She’s a strong pitcher that complemented a complete team. She’s not good enough to lead a team alone IMO like those mentioned.
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Fair enough. I agree she isn't in their category.
 
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#10,677
#10,677
jp1 said:
Average hitters turn into great hitters against average pitching.

I can't recall a team in recent history that won a national title, or really came that close to one with average pitching.

I think most of us would agree, you better have both if you want to win in today's game.
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I agree on both. But that wasn’t the question.

And I’ll point out that the LVs have had the pitching to win at least one WCWS. We never seem to have the clutch hitters.
 
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#10,679
#10,679
Majors said:
2.16 ERA isn’t in the category of Abbott, Canady, Bahl or Pickens. She’s a strong pitcher that complemented a complete team. She’s not good enough to lead a team alone IMO like those mentioned.
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Agree, I think TX showed last season that with good hitting, could do long and small ball when needed, a good D and above avg pitching you can win it all.
Now you still need a few breaks go your way but they had the right combination.
 
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#10,681
#10,681
OrangeBeachVol said:
Agree, I think TX showed last season that with good hitting, could do long and small ball when needed, a good D and above avg pitching you can win it all.
Now you still need a few breaks go your way but they had the right combination.
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You have to give Kavan a little more credit than that. Her ERA was 0 in the CWS.
 
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#10,689
#10,689
jp1 said:
Isn't her other daughter going to UCLA?
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Yes, that’ll be interesting to see how it works with what they lost. Early playing time or limited action. If the latter she could be back home too. Does she stay MI or get a look at OF.
 
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#10,690
#10,690
Majors said:
Yes, that’ll be interesting to see how it works with what they lost. Early playing time or limited action. If the latter she could be back home too. Does she stay MI or get a look at OF.
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In the limited games that Ive seen her play, I would guess OF. I would say she will be back at Duke at some point too.
 
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#10,691
#10,691
Yes this is off-topic integrating softballl and men's basketball at another school but it is related to illegal activities plus not enough income for softball players to enrolling an athlete who lacks the ability to do the basic college work. does the softball team need to be put on probation for two years, while the money-making basketball team does not?

The NCAA placed Memphis softball on probation for two years after an investigation discovered two student-athletes committed academic integrity violations.

Ally Callahan and Aaliyah Dixon were reportedly paid by former academic advisor Leslie Brooks to do coursework for men's basketball player Malcolm Dandridge, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

The NCAA found that Brooks paid the softball players $150 for an assignment for Dandridge’s Intro to Theatre course. It also found that the former advisor paid them $400 to take three tests for Dandridge as part of a Health/Sport Terminology course.

Brooks was fired on Feb. 23, 2024, and has received a 10-year show-cause penalty.

"I would like to thank our staff who worked swiftly and collaboratively with the NCAA to take appropriate action and implement corrective measures," Memphis president Bill Hardgrave said in a prepared statement. "The University of Memphis is committed to a culture of compliance with all NCAA rules and will move our program forward accordingly."

The school's athletic department was also fined $30,000, and the NCAA took away 1 percent of the budget for both programs.

As a result of the major infraction, the softball program has to vacate records for all contests in which the two players played during the 2024 season while ineligible. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the Tigers didn't win any games during that span.

Callahan appeared in four games before the athletic department began investigating. She had two seasons eligibility remaining and didn't appear in another game for the Tigers.
The catcher from Hernando, Miss,, was in the middle of her first season with the Tigers are transferring from Central Arkansas. She hit .250 for Memphis with one hit in four at-bats.

However, Dixon appeared in nine of the Tigers’ first 10 games. The day after Brooks was fired, she missed 29 games and returned to the lineup on April 19, appearing in the team's last 11 games of the season.
Dixon finished the year batting .265 across 19 games. She recorded 13 hits with two doubles, a triple and a run batted in,
The infractions occurred during the final season of Stephanie VanBrakle Prothro tenure at the helm of the Tigers program. Prothro resigned on June 17, 2024, after two underwhelming seasons in Memphis.
 
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#10,693
#10,693
appreciate the documentation

if then writers were on scholarship, or cheerleaders getting food-support, or males on the practice team what would have been the penalty?
The distinction of the players being on the softball team? Many college athletes arrested for stealing, selling drugs or physically harming someone. Their team is not penalized. not consistent, but not surprised
 
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#10,694
#10,694
stllvf said:
appreciate the documentation

if then writers were on scholarship, or cheerleaders getting food-support, or males on the practice team what would have been the penalty?
The distinction of the players being on the softball team? Many college athletes arrested for stealing, selling drugs or physically harming someone. Their team is not penalized. not consistent, but not surprised
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The NCAA has a relevance problem.

It appears they have taken an issue where they had clear evidence to act and a fully cooperative administration.

They take what they can get.
 
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#10,695
#10,695
stllvf said:
appreciate the documentation

if then writers were on scholarship, or cheerleaders getting food-support, or males on the practice team what would have been the penalty?
The distinction of the players being on the softball team? Many college athletes arrested for stealing, selling drugs or physically harming someone. Their team is not penalized. not consistent, but not surprised
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It was actually a pretty big distinction. When you accept a scholarship as a student athlete, you agree to follow all NCAA rules, and you and your team can be penalized if you break those rules. Academic integrity is one of the few rules that they still have the power to actually enforce. Which means, as they agreed to in their financial aid papers, they broke NCAA rules, were ineligible for a period of time for breaking those rules, and their team had to forfeit the games in which ineligible players played.

Cheerleading is not an NCAA sport, so they don’t fall under those rules. Being arrested for any crime other than gambling is not an NCAA violation, and never has been. Many players that are arrested are suspended or removed from their teams. The team is not penalized for their actions directly because they didn’t break NCAA eligibility rules.

Let’s say for a second that the NCAA put in a personal conduct policy like the NFL or the NBA has and you could be ruled in eligible for being arrested. That still wouldn’t cause a team to be penalized, because the player would be ineligible after the arrest, which everyone would know about. The team was affected here because they became ineligible when they broke the rule, but it was not discovered they had broken the rules until later, after they had participated in the games.
 
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#10,696
#10,696
I do understand that when contracts state consequences they should be enforced.

My response focuses on the damage done to a young woman, (my hypothesis – no facts) possibly of color, first member of family to have college degree(s), hired to tutor and support athletes who generally needed assistance in passing college courses. The $4Million annually paid Coach knew the limited educational skills of his star player and frequently interacted with counselor – pressure to ensure he passed. Other attendees to the tutoring center were two young women who were in need of assistance as they formerly were from community colleges. They had no family financial support. Counselor identified them as the papers they might write would not raise suspicion.

Memphis officials learned of the issue, self identified, and cooperated. Key no impact on the player, nor the $4M coach.

The counselor, like many others primarily women in schools across the nation, was the villain; fired and disgraced. And if asked the basic question, why did she risk her job to hire the two young women? The only answer: extreme pressure from above and the importance of winning.
 
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