what about Jason Kidd. Did he ever go back to finish
Just revisiting this after finding this topic in a search. Apparently didn't return, but he did get a college degree. Not exactly from a prestigious university or anything, but he apparently put in the effort. It does seem a little bit weird referring to University of Phoenix as an "Arizona based university". But they're not a diploma mill either.
The 2021 graduating class at the University of Phoenix will include Jason Kidd. That’s because the Dallas Mavericks’ coach went back to school and got his degree from the Arizona-based university.
Kidd took classes online and finished at UP last month with a degree in English. It was a celebratory moment for Kidd, who embraces all that education at a higher level entails.
And where does Kidd keeps his precious diploma?
“It’s in my office,” he said. “I have my diploma. It’s framed. It’s something that will be up there with the (two Olympic) gold medals and the (NBA) championship — to be able to get my degree.”
Kidd played two years at the University of California-Berkeley from 1992-94 before deciding to forego the last two years of college to pursue a career in the NBA. The Mavs used the No. 2 overall pick in the 1994 NBA Draft to select Kidd, and he went on the earn 10 All-Star berths and helped the Mavs capture the 2011 NBA title, and also helped the U.S. win gold medals in 2000 in Sydney and in 2008 in Beijing.
So why did Kidd, 48, decide to return to college and earn his degree? He said the impetus came from Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
“I saw this commercial with Larry Fitzgerald a while back.,” Kidd said “It was for the University of Phoenix and it was talking about how he promised his mom he would get his degree, and I thought that was kind of incredible, and that kind of inspired me to want to get my degree also.
“I told Larry that when I saw that commercial that kind of gave me the thought that maybe I can do the same thing.”
Kidd re-started his efforts to get a degree in 2019 while he was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers. The entire process had its obvious challenges.
“Home schooling is tough when you have kids,” Kidd said. “You have to have a schedule of time.
“I think it was perfect to be an assistant coach – to be able to do my work there, but also have time to work on getting my degree.”
Kidd’s college degree also serves as sort of a badge of honor. In other words, the respect level for him and his success educationally went up a notch or two.
Kidd said: “I think when you talk to our younger generation and you talk about how important education is, there started to be questions of: ‘Did you graduate?’ So I shook that question a couple of times.
“Now I don’t have to avoid that question.”
In fact, having that diploma affords Kidd the unique opportunity to encourage others – players, coaches and basketball staff personnel – to go back and get their diploma.
“I finally graduated, so I’m excited to have that diploma,” Kidd said. “It’s been a while (since he took college courses), but school was fun.”
I'm a DVC member and I would rather stay there than a couple of the DVC resorts. I just wish I could stay there with points. 
