Let’s see if we have this straight: John Calipari has twice taken teams to the Final Four, only to have both achievements officially “vacated” (ahem) because he is a scumbag if the highest order had players later declared to be ineligible. Yet, in the end, the NCAA said nothing when Kentucky came calling with a $31.65 million contract for him. But La Salle forward Vernon Goodridge (pictured) cannot play his senior season for the Explorers this winter because he appeared in one all-star game at the age of 21 back in 2005, according to this story in today’s Inquirer.

You’re probably wondering why Goodridge, who transferred to 20th and Olney from Mississippi State last year, had the balls to play in that all-star game back when he was 21, a brazen violation of NCAA rules if there ever was one. And clearly, it’s because Goodridge is an amoral renegade who has no scruples at all.

Get a load of this, according to The Inquirer:

[La Salle coach John] Giannini said a fire at the player’s home during his teenage years left Goodridge homeless. While his mother moved to the South, Goodridge “lived with other people in New York, and no one made him go to school for about a year and a half,” the coach said. He graduated from Lutheran Christian Academy in 2005 after turning 21.

Like, really. If you ask us, the NCAA is letting La Salle off easy on this one. The university clearly failed to vet Goodridge to make sure he was of sound, upstanding character. Thank goodness for the NCAA. If it weren’t for them, there would be no one around to maintain the integrity of college athletics by making the best interests of student-athletes a top priority.

What a f***ing joke.

Links: Calipari and a lot of money … perfect together [Huffington Post/Associated Press]
Goodridge ineligible [The Inquirer]
Photo credit: [La Salle University]