Dismissals should be impetus for change

Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence and thrice is a trend, so the saying goes.

With the dismissal of redshirt freshman Chris Baez from the UCF Men's Basketball team, the Knights face an alarming coincidence.

Baez is the second player in almost four months to be kicked off the UCF team, joining forward Tony Davis, who was declared ineligible in February.

Both dismissals appear to be the result of academic issues, and that makes me wonder what is going on with head coach Kirk Speraw's team.

When Davis was declared ineligible, Speraw said that Davis had made a mistake and would have to face the consequences.

But Speraw has not said anything about Baez.

That doesn't mean anything, in and of itself, but we deserve some explanation.

I'm not talking about violating the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. I don't care about Baez's or Davis' academic performance.

What I do care about is why one of the most beloved and respected coaches on campus can't keep his team in order.

It makes me wonder if the university administration is going to take any action. Will there be an internal audit? Will UCF bring in an independent third party, a la football, to make sure that the program is run appropriately?

All too often you hear UCF boasting about the academic performance of its student-athletes, and with good reason.

Many of the programs have student-athletes performing at a high level.

Football players recorded a 2.776 GPA for the spring semester, and baseball players posted a combined 3.2 GPA for the fall semester, the program's highest GPA in school history.

Nine of the 14 players on the women's basketball team had GPAs of 3.0 of higher.

But with the good comes the bad.

If the athletics department is going to boast about the high GPAs, then it should also be prepared when its students fall short.

UCF should be proud of the success its student-athletes have in the classroom, but the school and its athletic programs should own up when players are dismissed, declared ineligible or otherwise run into academic trouble.

What's happening?

Were the students not given enough help? Was there not enough structure?

And, most importantly, how are things going to change?

How will Speraw individually, and the department at large, make sure that when they recruit players, they are giving the best opportunity to succeed on and off the court?

Maybe Davis and Baez were not cut out for college, or maybe they squandered the opportunities given to them by UCF.

But isn't that why there is a recruiting process?

Coaches have plenty of time to evaluate talent and determine if they are bringing in the right kind of player.

So the onus falls on them, the coaches, to take responsibility when things go awry.

So how will things be fixed?

Maybe the one good thing to come from losing two friendly and talent young men will be that it is the impetus for change.

Because if things stay the same, then UCF may very well be looking at a trend.