Former NBA player, current Washington Wizards assistant, and dance craze inventor Sam Cassell is going through what a lot of parents have gone through before: their child not getting into the school he or she wants to get into.
In Cassell's case, as he told CBSSports.com, his son, Sam Jr., was ruled ineligible to play basketball at the University of Maryland because six classes that he took his senior year at Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass. had been invalidated by the NCAA.
"He had his heart set on [playing at Maryland]," Cassell said. "He's really hurt."
But that wasn't all Cassell had to say.
"The NCAA just wants kids to fail," he added. "It's not these kids' fault. The NCAA can't penalize Notre Dame Prep, so they are squashing the kids dreams."
Cassell's bitterness is understandable. He had to play two seasons of junior college ball before finding a measure of college stardom at Florida State. Now, his son might have to follow a similar path.
"But what the NCAA has done isn't right," he added. "What they do to kids isn't right."