Dedrick Mills

iceeater1969

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A. He isn't failing out. I'm not sure where you got that.

B. Tech has dynamite support system for our athletes and the coaches are careful to recruit players who can stick once they get to Tech (and The Hill won't let in anybody else). Because the academics are hard.
And we put our young guys w older roomates to help keep straight.
 

orientalnc

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A part of his GPA issues may go all the way back to GT. I do not remember exactly when he left and if it was after mid-semester. If he left Tech with a bunch of Fs because he did not finish the semester, that would be hard to overcome. Was he taking Summer classes when he left?
 

slugboy

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11,725
You're right, technically he didn't fail out so I'm sorry for any confusion I caused. But right now his low GPA doesn't allow him admission to the academic powerhouse that is Nebraska yet we allowed him in and he never failed out after being in school for 1+ year. My only point is that academics shouldn't be used as an excuse as much as it has been.

At Garden Community College, Mills probably lacks the tutoring, support structure, network of teammates pushing him to go to class and succeed, and other aspects of the academic support structure. He’s probably having a harder time getting motivated for obvious reasons.

I’ve seen academically bright students fail out of Tech and go to a community college and make it back. Most didn’t. Having multiple things to motivate you and keep you in good habits is hard to find.

Someone struggling at a community college who could have made it at Tech doesn’t imply that anyone can make it at Tech. The situations are different.

So, when you’re hearing that someone doesn’t have the academic background to hack it here, it’s because the admission officers don’t think they can handle Tech with all the support available, and they have numbers to back it up.


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dressedcheeseside

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At Garden Community College, Mills probably lacks the tutoring, support structure, network of teammates pushing him to go to class and succeed, and other aspects of the academic support structure. He’s probably having a harder time getting motivated for obvious reasons.

I’ve seen academically bright students fail out of Tech and go to a community college and make it back. Most didn’t. Having multiple things to motivate you and keep you in good habits is hard to find.

Someone struggling at a community college who could have made it at Tech doesn’t imply that anyone can make it at Tech. The situations are different.

So, when you’re hearing that someone doesn’t have the academic background to hack it here, it’s because the admission officers don’t think they can handle Tech with all the support available, and they have numbers to back it up.


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And some guys just can't get it together despite several wake up calls. Just take the 3 strike rule with failed drug tests. So many here think that was draconian, not me. One failed drug test and then a warning that you risk dismissal should be enough for most people to make the necessary life choice. Not so for Dedrick, nor was two failed drug tests.

The ironic thing is that most of the guys crying foul on GT for not giving more support to Dedrick are the same guys that say pot is no big deal and not a problem drug or not addictive or whatever. The Dude f'd up twice and not only screwed himself over big time, he screwed over his teammates who were depending on him.

Sometimes, you just can't save people from themselves. They have to hit rock bottom before they can make changes. I hope DM can do it, but he's gonna need someone holding his hand the whole way.
 

H-Wade

Ramblin' Wreck
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582
At Garden Community College, Mills probably lacks the tutoring, support structure, network of teammates pushing him to go to class and succeed, and other aspects of the academic support structure. He’s probably having a harder time getting motivated for obvious reasons.

I’ve seen academically bright students fail out of Tech and go to a community college and make it back. Most didn’t. Having multiple things to motivate you and keep you in good habits is hard to find.

Someone struggling at a community college who could have made it at Tech doesn’t imply that anyone can make it at Tech. The situations are different.

So, when you’re hearing that someone doesn’t have the academic background to hack it here, it’s because the admission officers don’t think they can handle Tech with all the support available, and they have numbers to back it up.


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I agree our academic support structure is great and can help guys that wouldn't be able to survive without it. That's why it's funny to me when I see posts saying we are a different beast than any other school like Stanford or ND like we are the only school in P5 that makes our kids go to class or something.
 

gt02

Ramblin' Wreck
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634
The ironic thing is that most of the guys crying foul on GT for not giving more support to Dedrick are the same guys that say pot is no big deal and not a problem drug or not addictive or whatever. The Dude f'd up twice and not only screwed himself over big time, he screwed over his teammates who were depending on him.

When’s the last time someone got really high and committed domestic violence? Or when is the last time someone got high and drove under the influence and hurt someone? Not sure what point you are trying to make here but the fact that Mills failed two drug tests does not somehow make it any more dangerous or problematic than alcohol or cigarettes.
 

iceeater1969

Helluva Engineer
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9,776
Lol. That worked out.
Thats the point - as a team leader was the roomate really charged w keeping his wayard brother close ? What was the roomate accomplishing in the hill? Did he leave way early w degree?
I met both dads by getting to bds w early and having great seats. The dads where thier son's Jersey and love to visit.
U get sooooo much more than whats on tv.
As a manager of many construction managers like ae 87, when their was a construction injury , se looked all around for the actions that contributed group failure.
 

smokey_wasp

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5,486
And some guys just can't get it together despite several wake up calls. Just take the 3 strike rule with failed drug tests. So many here think that was draconian, not me. One failed drug test and then a warning that you risk dismissal should be enough for most people to make the necessary life choice. Not so for Dedrick, nor was two failed drug tests.

The ironic thing is that most of the guys crying foul on GT for not giving more support to Dedrick are the same guys that say pot is no big deal and not a problem drug or not addictive or whatever. The Dude f'd up twice and not only screwed himself over big time, he screwed over his teammates who were depending on him.

Sometimes, you just can't save people from themselves. They have to hit rock bottom before they can make changes. I hope DM can do it, but he's gonna need someone holding his hand the whole way.

Even CPJ thought our old policy was ridiculous, and he doesn't exactly strike me as a hippie. Why do you want to pile on this kid, anyway?
 

vamosjackets

GT Athlete
Featured Member
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When’s the last time someone got really high and committed domestic violence? Or when is the last time someone got high and drove under the influence and hurt someone? Not sure what point you are trying to make here but the fact that Mills failed two drug tests does not somehow make it any more dangerous or problematic than alcohol or cigarettes.
You can drink a beer and remain unaffected. You cannot smoke a joint and remain unaffected.
 

dressedcheeseside

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14,243
When’s the last time someone got really high and committed domestic violence? Or when is the last time someone got high and drove under the influence and hurt someone? Not sure what point you are trying to make here but the fact that Mills failed two drug tests does not somehow make it any more dangerous or problematic than alcohol or cigarettes.
He couldn’t or wouldn’t stop using even though the consequences were life changing. That’s not something to take as lightly as most pro-hempers do. I personally don’t have any problem with it myself, but that’s beside the point. The way it is now, our guys must avoid it if they want to play ball and they know that. That’s where personal responsibility and commitment to team comes in.

I have no idea what support structure was in place, but I gotta believe Coach didn’t want his prize back falling off the wagon for a third time. If I recall correctly, the third strike happened over the summer while he was at home. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong on that recollection.
 

dressedcheeseside

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Talk about snake bit at the position. Your prized back smokes out of school, but that’s OK, you’ve got just as good a running back behind him, but wait, he’s already taken his football and gone home because he wasn’t getting enough snaps. But then you got a pretty good guy behind him... not so fast, he blows out his knee a couple weeks into the season.

Any of those three guys, but especially the first guy, were game changers for the offense. If you have a guaranteed 3 yards up the middle, it opens up the offense tremendously. We would’ve seen a whole heckuva lot less of the forced quarterback keeper. Defenders would have been focused on stopping the dive and not so much the alleys.
 

smokey_wasp

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5,486
Talk about snake bit at the position. Your prized back smokes out of school, but that’s OK, you’ve got just as good a running back behind him, but wait, he’s already taken his football and gone home because he wasn’t getting enough snaps. But then you got a pretty good guy behind him... not so fast, he blows out his knee a couple weeks into the season.

Any of those three guys, but especially the first guy, were game changers for the offense. If you have a guaranteed 3 yards up the middle, it opens up the offense tremendously. We would’ve seen a whole heckuva lot less of the forced quarterback keeper. Defenders would have been focused on stopping the dive and not so much the alleys.

Certainly, we had some terrible luck there. Yet, Mason and Howard as a combo, statistically, at least, were just as good as any of those guys. To me, our offensive problems were all about the QB position. Of course, there is a lot of bad luck/attrition you can point to there, as well.
 

jchens_GT

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Georgia
Talk about snake bit at the position. Your prized back smokes out of school, but that’s OK, you’ve got just as good a running back behind him, but wait, he’s already taken his football and gone home because he wasn’t getting enough snaps. But then you got a pretty good guy behind him... not so fast, he blows out his knee a couple weeks into the season.

Any of those three guys, but especially the first guy, were game changers for the offense. If you have a guaranteed 3 yards up the middle, it opens up the offense tremendously. We would’ve seen a whole heckuva lot less of the forced quarterback keeper. Defenders would have been focused on stopping the dive and not so much the alleys.

That was a maddening string of events. Good grief, had a great year and then couldn’t catch a break.
 
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