Robert Dozier, a Memphis senior forward who recently graduated, joined the Tigers in 2005 despite a tainted academic history that led Georgia to deny him admission. Dozier initially committed to former Memphis coach John Calipari and the Tigers but changed his mind and signed with Georgia in March 2004. Georgia officials reviewed Dozier’s application for admissions and found suspicious activity, according ESPN.com writer Mark Schlabach.
Dozier “signed a national letter of intent with Georgia in March 2004. But Georgia admissions officials immediately were alarmed by Dozier’s high SAT score, which they said didn’t correlate with his below-average academic performance at Lithonia (Ga.) High School or his score on the PSAT, a preparatory exam for the SAT.
In its report to UGA president Michael Adams, the school’s faculty admissions review committee, which evaluates the admission applications of prospective student-athletes, recommended a ‘strong deny’ in Dozier’s case.”
“Of greatest concern is the gross inconsistency in his testing record,” the committee wrote in its report. “His [SAT verbal score of 590] would place him in the 76th percentile nationally, while his [SAT math score of 670] places him in the 89th percentile. This raises a serious red flag, since his PSAT from October 2000 places him in the 4th percentile nationally in both areas. Such a remarkable improvement in testing abilities in the span of nine months is highly improbable, particularly for a student with a C-minus record in average college prep courses in high school.”
In addition to the unlikely improvement in test scores, a potential whistle-blower turned up in spring 2004. The NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse received an anonymous letter that questioned whether Dozier took the SAT with the 1,260 score, according to ESPN.com
In the letter, the author wrote: “This score is completely out of line with anything Robert has done academically at our school. My suspicions were confirmed when a faculty member mentioned that he was told someone else took the test for Robert. Allegedly, a graduate of our school took the test for Robert at the North Atlanta High School test center.
“Understand that these are allegations only. It is not my job to investigate any of this. As an educator, I felt compelled to report this information to your office. Desperate times sometimes lead to desperate measures. Academic integrity is very important to me. If this case is investigated and Robert is cleared of any wrongdoing, I would be the first to apologize for my suspicions. However, if any of this is true, then Robert and whoever was involved should be held accountable.”
The recent discovery about Dozier’s questionable records adds fuel to the fire that Memphis did not closely monitor its program in recent years. Calipari, who is now Kentucky’s coach, and Memphis officials will participate in a hearing June 6 with the NCAA’s Infractions Committee because of violations related to a former player, suspected to be Derrick Rose. According to a redacted investigation report, the organization that scores SATs invalidated the test score of the player in question because someone else might have taken the test. In addition, someone in the Chicago Public Schools system changed Rose’s grades.
In addition to the academic questions, the NCAA charged the Memphis program with providing improper payments to an associate of the same player. Given those rules violations and the new reports related to Dozier, ESPN.com writer Andy Katz sought to gauge the mind-set of Memphis officials.
Asked Friday morning about the Dozier case, Memphis athletic director R.C. Johnson told ESPN.com’s Andy Katz: “We still feel comfortable about what we’ve done and that we’ve done all the do-rights, and time will tell. You don’t want any of that stuff happening, but I’m pretty comfortable we’ve done all the things we’re supposed to do.”
Johnson added, “I thought we dotted all the I’s and crossed all the T’s on that situation. I know nothing different today than I did then.”
