voodoochylde

Brendan Morgan identified as academically ineligible player at Queen's By CLAUDE SCILLEY The football player declared to be academically ineligible by Queen's University Wednesday is described by his coach as "a model citizen, ever since his arrival at Queen's." Brendan Morgan is a pleasure to work with and a fine young man, Pat Sheahan said. "He just happens to find himself in an unfortunate situation." Morgan was identified Thursday as the player Queen's disclosed to Ontario University Athletics and Canadian Interuniversity Sport who should not have played in the Golden Gaels' first two games of the season because he was academically ineligible to do so. As a result, both games were ordered forfeit, and that meant Queen's Labour Day victory at Windsor was stricken from the books. Forfeiture was moot for the Gaels' other game, which they lost to Ottawa. A defensive back from Pickering, Ont., Morgan transferred to Queen's from the University of Virginia. He arrived last fall as a running back but early on he was moved to defence, where his play earned him a spot in the East-West Bowl, a spring showcase for players entering their professional draft year. Morgan was named the OUA's defensive player of the week this week, for his 10-tackle performance in the losing cause Saturday against Ottawa. In a routine check of transcripts Wednesday, it was revealed that Morgan had not completed the requisite 18 credit hours between playing seasons, in violation of CIS rule 40.10.3.3.1 At a news conference Thursday, Sheahan read a statement from Morgan: "I accept the fact that ultimately the responsibility for ensuring I meet the eligibility requirements is mine. I apologize to the athletics department and my teammates for the problems this has caused and the setback this creates for the team's standing this season. I am devastated by the situation. I wish it had not happened and I wish the team the best for the rest of the season." Previous checks of his eligibility did not reveal the deficiency, athletics director Leslie Dal Cin said in an interview Wednesday. "We do a series of reports and the report came up clean for a couple of weeks," she said. "All of a sudden the athlete was flagged in a report. "Our eligibility system has a number of checks and balances in it - we believe it was a situation of system and human error, in combination (that led to his being allowed to play)." Without elaborating, Sheahan described it as "a very unfortunate set of circumstances." "This seems to be he's the victim of a perfect storm." The academic requirement to remain eligible, Sheahan added, "is something that every athlete knows, or should know." "In this case, it was misunderstood." At Thursday's news conference Sheahan said there was no reason to suspect anything was wrong, with respect to Morgan's status. "There was no imminent catastrophe there," he said. "We had a few situations that needed to be dealt with (in training camp)," he said. "There was a little scrambling with some other athletes - but there was no mention of him. That's part of the reason I believe it slipped through the cracks. He wasn't on any academic probation list, he was in good standing, the credit deficiency didn't pop up." Team members learned the news in the dressing room late Wednesday afternoon from Janean Sergeant, manager of the interuniversity sport program, as they were preparing to take the field for practice. "There was a little bit of shock," Sheahan said. "Rarely is there complete silence in that area, but there was complete silence. "There was undoubtedly some disappointment, on many levels. We're a very tight team, and Brendan is a very popular member of the team. There was definitely sadness for both him and the team that we would no longer have him participating. The whole idea of forfeiting the victory at Windsor was a body blow, no question about that. That one hurt. That was a hard-earned victory; to give it back is very difficult." Nonetheless, Sheahan said, the team then proceeded to have a good practice. "They responded the way Queen's student-athletes and the way young men are supposed to: You look adversity in the face," he said. "We don't have much time to deal with it because there's another challenge coming down the road in about 48 hours, so we're on to the next thing. "The kids, I would say, handled the news appropriately." As the Gaels prepare for their game Saturday against the defending Yates Cup champion Western Mustangs, Sheahan was asked if the situation surrounding Morgan would be a distraction or a rallying point. "Probably both," he said. "I think you can forgive the kids for dealing with a little bit of shock last night but - this is the same thing as if a very good player got injured. It wouldn't be welcome news but it is something you very quickly have to deal with and you have to get past. After the initial shock of it all our guys got back to the preparation for Western and I thought it was a pretty spirited practice, to be honest with you. "We continue to lament Brendan's loss from active duty but by the same token we understand that come Saturday it's not going to matter much once the two teams take the field. We've got to move on, because we have to, and I think the players are in the process of doing that now." Morgan is eligible this year for the Canadian Football League draft, and Sheahan said he would be welcome to continue practising with the team. "He's a member of our team," Sheahan said. "Our coaching staff is going to do all we can to let everybody at the professional level know he is a superior athlete. He performed well in the East-West game last spring, so he's on the radar as a (prospect) for this year's draft. "Provided that he has a good academic year, and I see no reason why he won't, should he require another year of CIS participation he's more than welcome to come back to Queen's next year."

I suspect once Hardy went off the board at 10 they didn't feel they could take that chance. You're probably right... I wonder if they de-valued Durant so much that they wouldn't take the chance that one of those two guys would be available at 15... Had they gone Waud / Durant (or even Richards).. I would have been much more satisfied today than I am. I "get" the character concerns and that Durant's interviews weren't the best .. on sheer talent, he's the guy I would have preferred .. and you can never be too deep on either line when it comes to NI talent.

Went 'Other' .. results last night left me feeling unsatisfied. .. Like TBURG love the first pick .. not a fan of the 2nd (screams nothing more than an "Aaron Hargreaves type" to me but I hope I'm wrong) .. didn't feel there was value with the 3rd (had to reach a bit due to no third round pick) and don't like our 4th .. that's just my initial reaction.

Outside of the Chung pick, I'm not too thrilled with the draft results. I would have been happier with one of Waud (at 11) or Durant (character concerns aside at 15). They did address needs with Richards and Morgan .. but they either weren't players they were targeting (in the case of Richards, yes .. I know Marcel is "high" on Richards but Demski is who the team had primary interest in) or had to reach to get a guy that would likely have been available a round later if they had a pick. I'll say it right away, I'm not displeased by Morgan pick, just don't think it's a value pick and with respect to Richards .. my gut says, "Aaron Hargreaves". As for taking a NI RB (not named Varga or SML), why? Special teams or FB type role .. yeah .. I know .. but I *HATE* drafting skill players (RBs) when we've never demonstrated an ability to utilize those players effectively. For all the talent in this draft, our results left me .. unsatisfied.

If the Habs manage to force a game 7 .. I'm not sure how lucid I will be either .. At any rate .. hoping to be on tonight to chat draft!

Good for Sears and I'm happy to see him getting a shot to make an impact with another club. Best of luck to him.

Fixed it for you. Sustaining a roster has always been his downfall .. it's EASY to build a winner when you have a blank cheque .. it's something entirely different when you have to manage a roster, build depth and sustainability ..

And that building depth along the line is not a bad thing .. having multiple Canadians who can step in and play quality downs doesn't demonstrate a "lack of faith" ..

He also punts / placekicks the ball after snapping it to himself .. it's a sight to behold.

I'm thinking I like the Edmonton side of this trade a bit more ..

Two picks in the top 10 and possibly securing TWO assets that could step in and make an immediate impact would be fantastic.

Graig Newman?

So you're saying that if someone here plays video games (for example), their hand eye coordination or reaction time will never get better the more they play? I better tell my kids to stop learning to do anything new because if it doesn't come naturally then there's no point in doing it cause they'll never get better. Wait wait wait... You procreated? Welp, there goes the neighbourhood. Yes Spuds. I...am your father!

The fact that they are testing positive indicates that they can't. That is really unfair and we ought to be able to appeal that through NAFTA. Human Rights Commission. Clearly this is discrimination.

Greg Peach is vastly under-rated by the majority of posters on this board.

It's like night and day compared to their receiving corps from last year. Hank isn't going to have any excuses. Maybe they don't have to worry about the cap long term, if / when they get out from under the contract Hank signed .. it's going to allow them *SOME* flexibility .. that might happen in the near future (year or two).

This team has showed grit, has battled through ups and downs, fought through the injury bug and has really matured. We've gotten good play from both goaltenders when they needed it as a result, we've managed to claw our way into the playoffs. Had we ridden one, or the other, for most of the year .. I'm not sure we'd be here now. Pavelec, for as well as he's playing now, has never demonstrated that he can sustain a high level of play that effort over the long haul .. it's that consistency that's been missing from his game. Hoping he stays hot through the playoffs .. and maybe he's found that confidence and consistency he's been lacking .. either way, this is a huge milestone for this franchise and it's something to be celebrated. Now I'm hoping for a Blues / Winnipeg first round series ..

Only way we really control our fate is to continue to rack up wins; the team needs to take care of their business and not leave it in the hands of others.

Ridiculous and arbitrary application of the rules. Hopefully things work out for Hank.

He's a WR ...

May 12th can't come soon enough.

I also think that there are teams across the league who also lack (or have lacked) talent on the offensive line but have done a better job schematically of masking those problems.

You're welcome. ;-)

Guys .. I hate having to step into a discussion but I believe the original topic and thread has run its course. You are more than welcome to continue this conversation in the General forum

@DarrinBauming: Appears the #Bombers have added 6'4" 215lb receiver Derrick Hector (@Heck_Dawg), nephew of former NFL WR Lawyer Tillman. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qvs-PxzjHHk http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3l0FerGuz-0 http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UBAxIfNNMnc