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Get Scouted Scouting CareersNSR’s Take? If Passed, Either or Both Will Shift the Recruiting Process
Two significant NCAA rules are potentially looming and as the organization’s convention gets closer, it’s prudent to that we examine how these changes could impact prospects and recruits.
Let’s take a look at the first one. It concerns incoming freshmen and transfers in basketball and football whose grades are “on the bubble.” The new proposal, if adopted, would require colleges to not only closer scrutinize the academic qualifications of all newcomers, but it would make those with borderline grades and test scores attend summer school prior to being admitted as full-time students. What those new standards will be is still unknown, but one thing is for certain, if you don’t want to be put on this “watch list,” the best way to insure that your summer will be free is to get your grades up now.
We won’t know for sure how it will play out and don’t expect to get the final word until a vote is taken. That’s expected to happen at the 2011 NCAA Convention to be held in San Antonio on January 12-15. Heck, it may not pass, but the sentiment seems to support the guess that it will go through pretty darn easily. Committees with current student-athletes as members typically have significant pull with the membership at large and with their support the momentum has swung toward passage.
What can you do? Check with your guidance counselor to confirm your core course GPA. Anything below a 2.3 core could be cause for concern, but that’s just our take on it. As for which minimum ACT or SAT scores might raise a red flag is hard to tell, but stay tuned to this blog. We’ll give you the full scoop when, and if, the proposal is adopted.
The second potential new NCAA rule is the disallowing of verbal commitments. From our side at NSR, it’s appears to be a bit of a knee reaction to all the dust which swirls around all those early, early commitments which are all the rage. When USC’s head football coach Lane Kiffin (who else, right?) made a scholarship offer to a seventh grader from Delaware last spring, the NCAA and many others, threw their hands up in mock surprise. Kiffin’s reputation is such that he can’t scratch his toe without causing a reaction, but he may have tested the limits of good judgement, once again, in this particular scenario.
In truth, the offer-very-early trend has been gaining momentum for a few years. It’s been going on at a number of DI schools and as could be expected lower DI’s and DII’s are following suit by securing earlier and earlier verbal thumbs up from prospects. It’s said that not many coaches are in favor of the practice for a lot of good reasons, but like a bundle of other bad habits which have recently raised their ugly heads, greed regretfully appears rises to the top before good sense has a chance to take over. College coaches are not immune.
Representatives of NCAA member institutions are supposed to have a chance to vote on the proposal at the January NCAA Convention in San Antonio, but politics could get in the way, that is if enough big schools with a lot of pull think they can’t live without giving out offers to pubescent kids whose abilities are deemed extraordinary. However, there has been so much bad news of late regarding athletes, agents and such that this may pass if for nothing else than good PR.
When it comes to you, the current prospect, and assuming for a moment that the rule is enacted, it would mean that if you are really, really sure you want to accept an offer, you’d better do it before February 1st of 2011. In actuality, it probably won’t go into effect until sometime later, but the NCAA has been known to put immediate start dates on new rules which they feel are especially egregious, and this may be one of those situations. The good news is that when passed, prospects will be able to spend more time under less pressure considering which school is the best fit for them athletically, academically, geographically and socially.
So, what else can you do? It’s simple, send an email or written note (remember how to do that?) to the NCAA, or to the athletic director at the college of your choice, expressing your opinion one way or the other. The feedback you give them could sway the vote.
For now, we’ll watch with interest as the 2011 NCAA National Convention agenda is publicized over the next few months along with the array of chatter accompanying it from Web sites, bloggers, oh, and the real sports journalists. We’ll weigh in, too. And, we’ll keep you informed.
National Scouting Report is dedicated to finding scholarship opportunities for athletes who possess the talent, desire, and motivation to compete at the collegiate level. We’ve helped connect thousands of athletes with their perfect college.