[Buckskin86]

Sunday special: Koufos is making the grade
His GPA is dean's list quality, as is his talent
Sunday, May 11, 2008
BY Todd Porter

Did GlenOak High School graduate Kosta Koufos do anything wrong when he chose to leave Ohio State last month for the NBA draft? Koufos withdrew from OSU in the middle of spring quarter, something men's basketball Head Coach Thad Matta told reporters he hoped wouldn't happen.

Koufos' departure prompted Ohio State athletics faculty representative John Bruno to tell reporters he wished Koufos would have taken care of responsibilities in the classroom. That comment can be a bit misleading, and it rubbed Kathy Koufos, Kosta's mother, the wrong way.

When Koufos left Ohio State to focus on predraft workouts and camps, he left the university with an accumulative grade-point average above 3.3.

"He was on the dean's list," Kathy Koufos said. "I'm not sure what the implication is if he was not academically successful in the classroom or what. That is not the case at all. ... He was not leaving academically ineligible."

Matta told reporters last week he asked his players to withdraw before spring quarter ? if they were leaving. Kathy Koufos said that was a conversation Kosta never had or doesn't recall having with Matta.

"If he had known it would have helped the university to not sign up for courses in the spring, that's something we would have addressed," Kathy Koufos said. "We're Ohio State fans and sensitive to the fact we don't want to do anything hurtful to the university. But I support my son, and I want to state for the record he was academically eligible and was on the dean's list."

The Koufoses struggled most with how the departure for the NBA would impact OSU's APR standing with the NCAA. They estimated, at most, Ohio State's basketball program will take a two-point hit because of Koufos' departure.

Kathy Koufos is a guidance counselor at GlenOak High School. The decision to leave college early was not easy.

"We had a lot of angst about this because education is very important to Kosta and to myself," Kathy said. "However, this was the direction he was heading and has been heading for. Last year, he chose to honor his commitment to Ohio State and gave up a great financial opportunity because he wanted to go to school and be a part of the program. When that opportunity keeps coming up, you can't keep giving it up.

"He will complete his education eventually."

Koufos has hired Cleveland-based agent Mark Termini. Based on the interest that has been expressed in Koufos, playing professionally in Greece is looking like an option that is becoming more remote. Koufos measures in his socks a shade over 7-foot.

If he performs well in camps and in the NBA, don't be surprised to see endorsement deals in the offering from Greece, where he is popular

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