January 16, 2009- The NCAA's Black Friday
by Alex Schwartz
The National Collegiate Athletic Association got this one wrong, very wrong. This past Friday, January 16, the NCAA denied an appeal to re-open the April Live Recruiting Period to Division I college coaches. This time, which had been great for schools looking to fill their scholarship openings and quite helpful to players searching for a free college education, is gone, finished, done with. Say goodbye to the April Live Period. The much-maligned NCAA decided, in what may be the worst decision it has ever made, has decided to do away with this key recruiting time in order to return power back to high school ball. It's an attempt to cut out the "bad guys" that grassroots basketball has a reputation for being involved with. Also, Myles Brand and Co. want to make sure that student-athletes don't forget that academics do indeed come first and that they don't miss too much school. The intentions of the NCAA are great, they really are, but so were the intentions of Prohibition, the build of the Titanic, and the reputation of Richard Nixon. We all know how those turned out. Frankly, the NCAA does have a good idea to keep the "bad guys" out of the grassroots circuit and to keep kids in school, but this will not do the trick. Getting rid of the April Evaluation Period will not stop many players from attending tournaments, as there will still be DII, DIII, JuCo, and NAIA coaches on hand, as well as throngs of media, just like always. Oh, and those "bad guys"—who really are not as common as they are made out to be—will still be there and even the ones that aren't will be around when July rolls around, so really it's just delaying the inevitable. As for missing school, most of these tournaments are on weekends, so maybe a kid misses a few hours—yes, possibly even the whole day—on Friday and/or Monday, which won't kill them. The AAU coach—not to mention the kids' parents and/or guardians—have to make sure the kids do their work, and that's that. Besides, they will still be going to tournaments even without DI coaches in attendance, just as kids have gone to non-Live events in April in the past.So, again, although the motives of the NCAA are good, they are, ultimately, going to be unsuccessful.
There are many other reasons, besides the fact that it will not have the desired affect, as to why the elimination of the April Live Period is a bad decision on the part of the NCAA. April was a time when an unsigned senior could showcase his game, boost his stock, catch someone's eye, and maybe find a place where he could get to go to school for free, which is really what it's all about—the opportunity for these kids to have their college educations fully paid for. Now, those players will not be seen by DI coaches in April and that route will be much harder for players to take, as coaches will have seen them less, if at all. The national deadline for a kid to declare his or her college plans, putting athletics aside, is May 1. Thus, if April is thrown out the window, kids may be forced into picking a school where they may not be the right fit or where they have to pay. If the kid does not decide on an institution and wants to wait to been seen at July tournaments and camps, it can be much harder, as at that time, many coaches are going around to watch prospects they are already involved with to show they are interested, and also are less likely to take a kid that late. Cases like that of Clayton Sterling, a 2008 graduate of Boys & Girls (NY) who committed to Toledo over the summer, are rare. Thus, class of 2009 kids like Leonard Hayes of Lawrenceville (NJ), Jordan Robinson of Rutgers Prep (NJ), and Tristan Benjamin of Piscataway (NJ), Darien Hutton of Ewing (NJ), Cameron Badger of APEX Academies (NJ), and Darrin Elam of Trenton Central (NJ), will be less likely to find a college home where they can play ball and go to class for free. Those are just a few players, only from the Garden State, who will be affected by this poor choice on the part of the NCAA. It just isn't right. As much as the NCAA is trying to help the kids, they are really just being hurt by not having the opportunity to show what they've got in front of DI coaches. That leads to the question of why DI schools are being singled out. Why can DII, DIII, JuCo, and NAIA coaches all go to these events while DI coaches cannot? That is illogical, as all programs that give scholarships and are regulated by the NCAA—this rules out DIII—should have to follow the same rules.
This isn't only bad on the kids' end. Colleges will now have to take more risks on kids, as they will not get to see players as much. Therefore, many kids may well end up at levels—whether it's too high or too level—that they don't belong at. This will increase the already mounting number of transfers in Division I mens' basketball. Coaches who want to fill up their scholarships may hand them out to kids that they don't truly want, to kids who may not even realize it's not in their best interest to attend those schools, as maybe they would have been a better fit elsewhere. What good does this do either side? Not much.
Also, does the NCAA not realize that the problem of missing school does not only relate to basketball? Apparently not. Youth tennis players frequently miss school to go to major events, and soccer players miss school to go to Live Evaluation events as well. The best of the best in these sports may actually miss a great deal of time due to camps and events, which happen more frequently during the school year than they do in basketball. Why single out basketball players? If the NCAA truly wanted to correct the problem it sees in kids missing school then it would put in a rule for all sports, not just one. Frankly, it's just not right.
The NCAA, on Friday the 16th, also disallowed DI coaches from working middle school camps, which is another mistake. If this gives a coach a leg up in recruiting, it probably won't be much, as they are all in their early teens and a lot changes between then and signing an NLI, which will be done by very few middle school campers. If a coach wants to go to these camps, take time from their personal life, and work with some youngsters, why not let them? A kid making a college choice is highly unlikely to base it off who coached him at some camp when he was 12. Also, these coaches provide valuable insight and wisdom to pass down to the little kids. I worked for The Hoop Group during its Junior Elite Camp over the summer, a camp that had coaches from the NEC, MEAC, and WAC as coaches of the kids' teams. These three men who worked the event could have gone home and relaxed, or gone over summer recruiting notes, but instead they chose to help out kids who had yet to reach high school. If their hard work does, for some reason, give them a bit of a recruiting edge, then so be it, they deserve it. Any school could have had a coach at the camp, but only three did. Thus, it's really rewarding those coaches and schools that are using their knowledge of the game to help young ballers. Now, no DI coaches can work middle school camps, and it hurts the kids much more than any one else.
The NCAA is making a mistake, a big mistake. Myles Brand and Co. are not looking at the big picture, but rather are trying to correct problems that are very hard to correct, problems that will not be fixed by these acts. In attempting to repair these problems, new issues, some of which are even worse, are created. Friday, January 16, 2009 was a sad, sad day in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and amateur sports as a whole.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association got this one wrong, very wrong. This past Friday, January 16, the NCAA denied an appeal to re-open the April Live Recruiting Period to Division I college coaches. This time, which had been great for schools looking to fill their scholarship openings and quite helpful to players searching for a free college education, is gone, finished, done with. Say goodbye to the April Live Period. The much-maligned NCAA decided, in what may be the worst decision it has ever made, has decided to do away with this key recruiting time in order to return power back to high school ball. It's an attempt to cut out the "bad guys" that grassroots basketball has a reputation for being involved with. Also, Myles Brand and Co. want to make sure that student-athletes don't forget that academics do indeed come first and that they don't miss too much school. The intentions of the NCAA are great, they really are, but so were the intentions of Prohibition, the build of the Titanic, and the reputation of Richard Nixon. We all know how those turned out. Frankly, the NCAA does have a good idea to keep the "bad guys" out of the grassroots circuit and to keep kids in school, but this will not do the trick. Getting rid of the April Evaluation Period will not stop many players from attending tournaments, as there will still be DII, DIII, JuCo, and NAIA coaches on hand, as well as throngs of media, just like always. Oh, and those "bad guys"—who really are not as common as they are made out to be—will still be there and even the ones that aren't will be around when July rolls around, so really it's just delaying the inevitable. As for missing school, most of these tournaments are on weekends, so maybe a kid misses a few hours—yes, possibly even the whole day—on Friday and/or Monday, which won't kill them. The AAU coach—not to mention the kids' parents and/or guardians—have to make sure the kids do their work, and that's that. Besides, they will still be going to tournaments even without DI coaches in attendance, just as kids have gone to non-Live events in April in the past.So, again, although the motives of the NCAA are good, they are, ultimately, going to be unsuccessful.
There are many other reasons, besides the fact that it will not have the desired affect, as to why the elimination of the April Live Period is a bad decision on the part of the NCAA. April was a time when an unsigned senior could showcase his game, boost his stock, catch someone's eye, and maybe find a place where he could get to go to school for free, which is really what it's all about—the opportunity for these kids to have their college educations fully paid for. Now, those players will not be seen by DI coaches in April and that route will be much harder for players to take, as coaches will have seen them less, if at all. The national deadline for a kid to declare his or her college plans, putting athletics aside, is May 1. Thus, if April is thrown out the window, kids may be forced into picking a school where they may not be the right fit or where they have to pay. If the kid does not decide on an institution and wants to wait to been seen at July tournaments and camps, it can be much harder, as at that time, many coaches are going around to watch prospects they are already involved with to show they are interested, and also are less likely to take a kid that late. Cases like that of Clayton Sterling, a 2008 graduate of Boys & Girls (NY) who committed to Toledo over the summer, are rare. Thus, class of 2009 kids like Leonard Hayes of Lawrenceville (NJ), Jordan Robinson of Rutgers Prep (NJ), and Tristan Benjamin of Piscataway (NJ), Darien Hutton of Ewing (NJ), Cameron Badger of APEX Academies (NJ), and Darrin Elam of Trenton Central (NJ), will be less likely to find a college home where they can play ball and go to class for free. Those are just a few players, only from the Garden State, who will be affected by this poor choice on the part of the NCAA. It just isn't right. As much as the NCAA is trying to help the kids, they are really just being hurt by not having the opportunity to show what they've got in front of DI coaches. That leads to the question of why DI schools are being singled out. Why can DII, DIII, JuCo, and NAIA coaches all go to these events while DI coaches cannot? That is illogical, as all programs that give scholarships and are regulated by the NCAA—this rules out DIII—should have to follow the same rules.
This isn't only bad on the kids' end. Colleges will now have to take more risks on kids, as they will not get to see players as much. Therefore, many kids may well end up at levels—whether it's too high or too level—that they don't belong at. This will increase the already mounting number of transfers in Division I mens' basketball. Coaches who want to fill up their scholarships may hand them out to kids that they don't truly want, to kids who may not even realize it's not in their best interest to attend those schools, as maybe they would have been a better fit elsewhere. What good does this do either side? Not much.
Also, does the NCAA not realize that the problem of missing school does not only relate to basketball? Apparently not. Youth tennis players frequently miss school to go to major events, and soccer players miss school to go to Live Evaluation events as well. The best of the best in these sports may actually miss a great deal of time due to camps and events, which happen more frequently during the school year than they do in basketball. Why single out basketball players? If the NCAA truly wanted to correct the problem it sees in kids missing school then it would put in a rule for all sports, not just one. Frankly, it's just not right.
The NCAA, on Friday the 16th, also disallowed DI coaches from working middle school camps, which is another mistake. If this gives a coach a leg up in recruiting, it probably won't be much, as they are all in their early teens and a lot changes between then and signing an NLI, which will be done by very few middle school campers. If a coach wants to go to these camps, take time from their personal life, and work with some youngsters, why not let them? A kid making a college choice is highly unlikely to base it off who coached him at some camp when he was 12. Also, these coaches provide valuable insight and wisdom to pass down to the little kids. I worked for The Hoop Group during its Junior Elite Camp over the summer, a camp that had coaches from the NEC, MEAC, and WAC as coaches of the kids' teams. These three men who worked the event could have gone home and relaxed, or gone over summer recruiting notes, but instead they chose to help out kids who had yet to reach high school. If their hard work does, for some reason, give them a bit of a recruiting edge, then so be it, they deserve it. Any school could have had a coach at the camp, but only three did. Thus, it's really rewarding those coaches and schools that are using their knowledge of the game to help young ballers. Now, no DI coaches can work middle school camps, and it hurts the kids much more than any one else.
The NCAA is making a mistake, a big mistake. Myles Brand and Co. are not looking at the big picture, but rather are trying to correct problems that are very hard to correct, problems that will not be fixed by these acts. In attempting to repair these problems, new issues, some of which are even worse, are created. Friday, January 16, 2009 was a sad, sad day in the history of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and amateur sports as a whole.
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