From the field to the classroom
New requirements have changed the way college coaches recruit
Jordan Wilson
Issue date: 12/5/06 Section: Sports
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Suddenly, prospects' English courses will be measured comparably with their athletic prowess.
A new rule that takes effect with 2008 recruits requires prospective collegiate athletes complete 16 core courses in high school to become eligible to play in Division I sports. The old regulation, which will be ousted after the 2007 recruiting class, required 14 core courses.
Saluki coaches looking to get a head start on 2008 recruits have taken notice of the vast changes - the already hectic world of recruiting just added another flaming hoop for coaches and recruiters to jump through.
Mario Moccia, SIU's athletic director, said coaches might be taking a different approach.
"So coaches aren't so much looking at a 40-yard dash time or a jump shot," Moccia said. "Now they're looking at the academic credentials of the kids."
Chris Lowery is in the process of doing just that.
The third-year men's basketball coach is in the thick of his 2008 recruiting. Lowery has already finished next year's recruiting class and has seen the change while searching for prospective players to man his 2008 roster.
It's become more of a gamble now.
Will Player X finish that fourth year of English? Does Player Y have enough core classes offered at his or her high school?
Lowery said it's these types of scenarios that have altered his recruiting philosophies.
"It makes you have to recruit a different kid," he said. "It makes you have to put a kid who's talented enough on hold who may not have enough core courses."
Reliance on compliance
Going from 14 to 16 required courses can't be devastating - two courses is chump change, right?
On the contrary.
Requiring an extra year of mathematics and an extra year of an additional course - which can come from any core area - is a substantial increase in workload.
Case in point: Out of about 320 student-athletes at SIU, compliance director Christian Spears said only 19 would comply with the new requirement of 16 core courses. Of course, current collegiate student-athletes don't have to worry about such requirements, as the 2008 class is the first class to be affected.
Yet, the discrepancy of compliance, one Spears called "scary staggering," shows the stark shift in recruiting that will ensue.
Doug Elgin, the commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference, said there will undoubtedly be an adjustment period until high schools, colleges and recruits can all be on the same page.
Elgin said there would be an adjustment period until the academic incongruity lessens; the requirement might have an adverse effect on some until the word gets spread properly.
In the meantime, 16 core courses exemplify the NCAA's prerogative - incoming student-athletes will be better prepared for a college workload.
"It will definitely send a message to students that are coming up through the pipeline that they have to be better prepared," Elgin said.
Not a perfect world
Chris Lowery calls it a flaw.
Some high schools, Lowery says, don't offer ample classes for students to satisfy the recently passed 16-course requirement.
Why should one of the recruits shell out his own money for an online class or a class at a community college to get that 16th core course?
Lowery doesn't get it.
"Kids in smaller schools who only offer 14 or 15 core courses, what do you tell them?" Lowery said. "You're penalizing their school system because they can't afford to have those types of cores."
Spears admitted the transition won't come without strife.
There's a cloud of confusion at the high school level concerning what is a core course and what is not. To make matters worse, most universities hold different requirements than the NCAA bears. Simply put, a specific class might be considered a core course by a certain university but not by the NCAA. At the same rate, an NCAA-certified core class might not be recognized by a certain university.
That's where the perplexity sets in.
Spears said some high schools don't know the intricacies of the new guidelines. Some might not have an updated list of NCAA certified core courses, while Spears said others don't even know the password to check their current list on file.
"It's kind of sad," Spears said. "There's still some schools in the dark ages. What do you do?"
Schooling the school
Ensuring recruits comply with the 16-course requirement is not an easy task; lapses can stem from the high school's lack of adherence.
SIU football coach Jerry Kill said the issue isn't at the collegiate level. He understands the core course change. It's not to Kill's advantage - his coaching colleagues across the country have grasped it also.
It's the high schools - in particular, Kill said, high school counselors - that have to adjust.
"Some counselors and some schools may not understand it," Kill said. "Then the parents don't understand it, and you have all kinds of problems."
Spears is taking an external approach to keeping those problems away from the SIU Athletic Department.
He's teaching the schools how to teach.
Spears said he's traveled to high schools throughout southern Illinois, including Marion, Mount Vernon and Murphysboro. SIU is also hosting a conference Dec. 20 to educate high school athletic directors on the subject.
Moccia said such action is necessary to ensure SIU recruits come in with a clean academic bill.
But in the end, Moccia said the burden would be on the Athletic Department to ensure high schools are doing their part to make a smooth transition for recruits into the college classroom.
Before the Salukis start instructing their highly touted recruits, they must first teach the high schools a thing or two.
"You would think that every school in the country would automatically know that there is a new rule change in core classes," Moccia said. "That may not be the case - especially if you're in a more rural school that's not producing Division I athletes on a regular basis."
