Born in Chicago, Illinois, Rose learned the game of basketball from his three older brothers. In high school, he won two state championships and was rated by scouts as the top point guard prospect in the country after graduation. He played collegiately for the University of Memphis Tigers and reached the NCAA national championship game in 2008. Shortly after, Rose declared for the 2008 NBA Draft and was selected first overall by his hometown Chicago Bulls.[1] In his first year of professional basketball, Rose was voted the Rookie of the Year[2] and was selected to the All-Rookie Team[3]. In only his second season, Rose was selected as an All-Star for the first time for the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.[4]
In 2009, an NCAA investigation revealed that Rose's SAT scores had been invalidated, making him retroactively ineligible to play for Memphis. As a result, the NCAA vacated Memphis' entire 2008 season
Derrick Rose was born and raised in Chicago's South Side to Brenda Rose and was the youngest of four brothers. He grew up an avid fan of basketball, rooting for the Michael Jordan-led Bulls, and spending long hours on nearby courts with his brothers Dwayne, Reggie and Allan. With their influence, he dribbled at an early age and became ambidextrous. As his special talent for basketball grew and the number of city championships won increased, his brothers began to restrict outside contact to him, fearing his road to the NBA would be exploited and derailed by outside parties, such as with the case with former Chicago prospect Ronnie Fields.[7] Rose played AAU ball with the Mean Street Express, where he was coached by brother Reggie and starred alongside Indiana prep star Eric Gordon.
In 2003 Rose enrolled at Simeon Career Academy.He played freshmen and JV basketball for the Wolverines and wore #25 in honor of Ben "Benji" Wilson, a former promising player who was murdered by a gang member in 1984.[8] Rose wasn't allowed on varsity due to a long-standing tradition that head coach Bob Hambric, who had been with the school since 1980 had; no freshman on the varsity team. That rule didn't lessen Rose's play and he went on to put up 18.5 points, 6.6 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game and led both the freshmen and sophomores to city championships with a 24–1 record.[9] Hambric softened his stance and allowed the freshman a chance to play on varsity in the state tournament, but Rose declined, wanting the players to get due credit.[10] The next year Hambric retired and Robert Smith was hired, opening the path to varsity. In Rose's much-publicized debut, he had 22 points, 7 rebounds and 5 steals over Thornwood High School in a sold-out game filled with college scouts and coaches.[11] He led the Wolverines to a 30–5 mark while averaging 19.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 2.4 steals but the season ended after a loss in state regionals. Rose's play garnered him his first national award: a Parade Third Team All-American spot.[12]
During his junior year in 2006, the Simeon Wolverines broke through and won the Chicago Public League championship held at the United Center where Rose starred with 25 points and crowd pleasing dunks. The team advanced through the playoffs and earned a berth in the Class AA state championship against Richwoods High School, where a fourth quarter buzzer beater by Richwood forced overtime. The score was knotted at 29 late in the extra period when Rose stole the ball and buried the game winning jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining. The title was the Simeon's first since the Wilson-led Wolverines won in 1984. The team finished 33–4, nationally ranked[13] and Rose was awarded with an All-State Illinois mention, EA Sports All-American Second Team pick[14] and another Parade All-American selection.[15]
Entering his senior year, Rose was ranked the fifth best prospect in the nation by Sports Illustrated. In January 2007, Simeon traveled to Madison Square Garden in New York City in January 2007 to play Rice High School and star guard Kemba Walker.[16] The Wolverines, however, lost 53–51.[17][18] The season highlight was a nationally televised contest on ESPN against Virginia perennial power Oak Hill Academy two weeks later. Matched up with hyped junior guard Brandon Jennings, Rose had 28 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds and held Jennings to zero points in the first three quarters, 17 overall in a 78–75 win.[19][20] For his performance, USA Today named him their high school player of the week.[21] Simeon went on to repeat as Public League champions[22] and defended their state championship, defeating O'Fallon High School 77–54.[23] In doing so, Simeon became the first Chicago Public League school to win two straight state championships. In his final high school game, Rose scored 2 points, but pulled down 7 rebounds and totaled 8 assists. The Wolverines ended the season 33–2 and ranked 1st in the nation by Sports Illustrated[24] and 6th on USA Today's Super 25.[25] Rose averaged 25.2 points, 9.1 assists, 8.8 rebounds and 3.4 steals.
Rose accepted a scholarship to play for the University of Memphis Tigers under John Calipari, who recruited him after seeing the high schooler cry in an AAU game.[30] Strong efforts were made by Indiana University and in-state University of Illinois to sign Rose to their own programs.[31] Illinois in particular planned to pair their five-star recruit Eric Gordon and Rose together.[32] Gordon however retracted his verbal commitment from the Fighting Illini, opting to play for Indiana, and Rose subsequently gave his verbal commitment before the start of his senior season.[33] Rose chose Memphis because of the school's history of putting players in the NBA and the prospect of Rod Strickland, a 17 year veteran of the league, mentoring him. Rose switched to #23, unable to wear his customary #25, retired by the school in honor of Penny Hardaway.[34]
With the addition of Rose and veteran teammates Joey Dorsey and Chris Douglas-Roberts, the Tigers started out the season ranked third in the nation. Memphis sprinted to a 26–0 start and claimed the number one ranking in the country for the first time in over 25 years before falling to the University of Tennessee Volunteers 66–62 in February.[35] Memphis was able to bounce back and capture the Conference USA Tournament to qualify for the "Big Dance" with a 33–1 record.[36] Rose averaged 14.9 points per game, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game during the regular season and earned All-American Third Team honors among others.[37] He finished as a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award as well as the John R. Wooden Award.[38]
Memphis was seeded No. 1 in the South Region and blew out most of its competition on its way to the Final Four. Rose earned high praise for his increased focus on defense, hounding Texas Longhorn guard D.J. Augustin into a low-percentage game in the Elite Eight.[39] In a match-up against the UCLA in the Final Four, Rose finished with 25 points and 9 rebounds while putting tight pressure on Bruins' point Darren Collison to lead the Tigers to the NCAA championship game against the University of Kansas Jayhawks with a 85–67 victory.[40][41] The win set a NCAA mark for most wins in a season (38).[42] Against Kansas, Rose scored 17 points on 7–17 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and dished seven assists, but missed a critical free throw at the end of the second half, and Memphis fell in overtime, 75–68.[43] Memphis concluded the season 38–2. Rose was named to the All-Final Four team after averaging 20.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6 assists during the tourney.[44]
On April 15, Rose declared for the 2008 NBA Draft.[45]
According to the University of Memphis' legal counsel Sheri Lipman, a month after the loss to the Kansas Jayhawks, the NCAA sent a letter to the school stating that Rose had "an invalidated standardized test score the previous year at Chicago's Simeon High School". The next January, the NCAA sent another letter, charging Memphis with knowing that Rose had someone else take his SAT for him.[46] Memphis started its own investigation and sent its response back on April 24.[47]
On May 28, the Memphis Commercial Appeal obtained the letter through the Freedom of Information Act and released it. Although the player's name was redacted due to privacy laws, process of elimination and sources revealed the player as Derrick Rose. The next day in a separate investigation, James Sullivan, Inspector General of the Chicago Public Schools district's Board of Education, released a report of his investigation stating that four student-athletes of a CPS school had one-month grade boosts to alter their college transcripts.[48] The Chicago Sun-Times revealed the school as Simeon Career Academy and that three of the four were Rose and his former teammates Kevin Johnson and Tim Flowers, prominent members of the back-to-back championship teams.[48] The newspaper claimed that Rose's grade was changed from a D to a C.[48] Another part of the report stated that "high school staff lost the original permanent records for three of the above mentioned students athletes" (including the unknown four).[49] Sullivan started the investigation because "none of the grade changes were supported by any documentation”. He also failed to find a suspect as "at least seven people at Simeon had the ability to access student grades and records".[48] Illinois High School Association (IHSA) executive director Marty Hickman reacted by saying, "It is obvious that this is worth taking a look into".[49] Robert Smith, who coached the Wolverines from 2004 to 2007, denied any wrongdoing.[48] District spokeswoman Monique Bond said the students involved probably didn't know about the grade change.
Additionally, allegations surfaced that Rose's brother, Reggie, had been allowed to travel with the team for free on several occasions.[50]
Memphis contended that it had learned of the allegations about Rose's SAT score shortly after he enrolled at the school. It conducted its own investigation, in which Rose was questioned by four school officials. Ultimately, Memphis was unable to find any evidence that Rose had cheated based on what was available at the time, and cleared him to play.[51]
Rose released a statement through his lawyer Daniel E. Reidy: “Mr. Rose is aware of the allegations reported in the press. Mr. Rose cooperated fully with the University of Memphis' athletic and legal departments’ investigation of this issue when he was a student, and that investigation uncovered no wrongdoing on his part."
On August 20, the NCAA vacated Memphis' 2007–08 season. It took the line that even though Rose's score hadn't been thrown out until after the season, strict liability required that he be declared ineligible.[6] It also determined that even without the questions about his test score, Rose would have lost his eligibility in December 2007 due to Reggie being allowed to travel for free.[52]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derrick_Rose
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