NCAA closes case on Bledsoe

The NCAA announced on Tuesday that it is officially closing its review of former Kentucky player Eric Bledsoe’s academic records.

“On Monday, we reached out to Birmingham school district officials to officially confirm they do not plan to take any further action regarding Eric Bledsoe,” NCAA spokesman Chuck Wynne wrote in an e-mail. “They have just now confirmed that is the case.  Based upon this response, the NCAA plans no further action. The original initial-eligibility decision stands.”

A story in The New York Times earlier this year raised questions about Bledsoe’s high school transcript and his recruitment. The player’s grades rose dramatically when he transferred from Hayes High School to another school in his native Birmingham, Ala., Parker High, according to reports in The Times and The Birmingham News.

The Birmingham City Schools commissioned an independent review of Bledsoe’s transcript. That review, which was made public on Friday in the form of a four-page report, found instances of grade changes in classes Bledsoe took. But, in part because of missing documents, no judgment could be made on the validity of the player’s transcript.

Superintendent Craig Witherspoon ruled that there was not enough evidence to invalidate Bledsoe’s transcript.

Alan Milstein, a New Jersey-based attorney representing Bledsoe, welcomed the news while deriding the notion that the NCAA should “drop” the case.

“I didn’t know they picked it up,” he said. “I don’t think anybody’s algebra grade has ever been reviewed as Eric’s has been.

“He’s come a long way from Birmingham, Ala., to Los Angeles, Calif., and it’s only up from here.”