Complexities in College Recruiting.

Changes in High School Academics

FORMER RULE 13 Core Courses:
4 years of English.
2 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher).
2 years of natural/physical science
(1 year of lab if offered by high school).
1 year of additional English, mathematics or natural/physical science.
2 years of social science.
2 years of additional courses (from any area above or foreign language, nondoctrinal religion/ philosophy, computer science*).


14 CORE-COURSE RULE: 14 Core Courses: (2005 Grads)
4 years of English.
2 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher).
2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered by high school).
1 year of additional English, mathematics or natural/physical science.
2 years of social science.
3 years of additional courses (from any area above or foreign language, nondoctrinal religion/ philosophy, computer science*).


16 CORE-COURSE (2008) 16 Core Courses:
4 years of English.
3 years of mathematics (Algebra I or higher).
2 years of natural/physical science (1 year of lab if offered by high school).
1 year of additional English, mathematics or natural/physical science.
2 years of social science.
4 years of additional courses (from any area above, language or nondoctrinal religion/ philosophy).

* Computer science you notice is being dropped from the Core Courses by 2008. It's also limited inbetween 2005-2007.

Of course, there are exceptions to this. The exception is that the Computer Science course, in the interim, must be of sufficient difficulty to be considered a mathmatics course and under the mathmatics department. Check with your guidance counselor to see if your course schedule is going to meet the NCAA requirements without attending summer school between your senior year and the first year of college.

 

Now, we have a list of your 14 (for 2005) core subjects. In order to determine your grade point average, they take the grade in these courses, select your "best" core scores and do the computation.

If you have 3 years of math above Algebra I and they only require 2 years then they will take the two higher grades. Forget the Weight lifting course or any of the "fluff stuff". It's not a core subject so it's not considered when the NCAA calculates your GPA.

After they have come up with a "Sports GPA", they then look at your SAT's. This will determine if you are "eligible". Obviously, the higher the Core GPA, the lower the SAT can be and still retain eligibility.

But you are getting into the two-edged sword of "scholarship blending". Since your "Sports GPA" is only calculated on the 14 (soon to be 16) core courses, it has to be over 3.5 OR your SAT has to be at least 1200 OR you must be in the top 10% of your graduating class for any academic money you could receive not to be counted against the athletic cap.

Obviously, if your core GPA is below 2.0, you aren't eligible. If your base SAT is below 800, you aren't getting in many colleges at all.

All it takes is careful planning and making the effort to take care of business academically.
CoreGPA SAT ACT
3.550+ 400 37
3.525 410 38
3.500 420 39
3.475 430 40
3.450 440 41
3.425 450 41
3.400 460 42
3.375 470 42
3.350 480 43
3.325 490 44
3.300 500 44
3.275 510 45
3.250 520 46
3.225 530 46
3.200 540 47
3.175 550 47
3.150 560 48
3.125 570 49
3.100 580 49
3.075 590 50
3.050 600 50
3.025 610 51
3.000 620 52
2.975 630 52
2.950 640 53
2.925 650 53
2.900 660 54
2.875 670 55
2.850 680 56
2.825 690 56
2.800 700 57
2.775 710 58
2.750 720 59
2.725 730 59
2.700 730 60
2.675 740-750 61
2.650 760 62
2.625 770 63
2.600 780 64
2.575 790 65
2.550 800 66
2.525 810 67
2.500 820 68
2.475 830 69
2.450 840-850 70
2.425 860 70
2.400 860 71
2.375 870 72
2.350 880 73
2.325 890 74
2.300 900 75
2.275 910 76
2.250 920 77
2.225 930 78
2.200 940 79
2.175 950 80
2.150 960 80
2.125 960 81
2.100 970 82
2.075 980 83
2.050 990 84
2.025 1000 85
2.000 1010 86

 

I am going to give you guys someone to beat on, so here we go. I have whole different opinion of this 'student athlete' definition. Seems like every time there is a dilemma like Maurice Clarette at Ohio State then the NCAA wants to burn the barn down to kill the rats. First, I think everything should be done to insure these kids get a legit degree. What I don't agree with is setting the bar so high that we force these young men out of athletics. What have we accomplished by forcing these marginal students into a job at the mill? What administrator pats himself on the back for cleansing the schools of these academic imposters? Its a hollow achievement in my book.With all of the resourses our universities have I think these students should benefit from any help we can give them. The athletes sure make a big contribution to the school. Playing at a d-1 level in any sport reqiures a huge committment on the students part. Everyone isn't cut out to be a scholar. Do we want to take their athletic opportunity from them also?
Someone mentioned earlier about a basket weaving degree, or the value of a degree. Don't get me started on that one. What is an average 4 yr. degree worth now any way? IMO not a lot, everybody has one. If you don't follow your degree with grad school or some other specialized training you could find yourself at Harris Teeter so fast it will make your head spin. A concentrated tech. school degree or advanced military training will take you a lot farther in the real world than a vanilla B.A. degree.
I don't advocate giving athletes a free pass thru school. I don't condone cheating in any form. What I do propsose is giving these marginal students all of the help and resources we can to stay academically elligable. In the journey they might be exposed to something that sets them on fire, something that motivates them to acheive at higher level than ever expected.In those cases I think our universities would be fulfilling their roles in the truest form. Lets be real, educating only the brightest isn't that hard. Do we want all of our sports teams to look like Princeton and Davidson? I don't think so. I know there is no bashing on this board but you guys have my permission , take your best shot.

 

I absolutely agree with you..... The person who suffers most because of these decisions is the marginal student.

Over the past decade, maybe two decades, the trend in baseball's draft has been away from the high schooler and towards the college player. It's so pronounced on some teams that they don't even scout high schoolers any more.

To the detriment of the student-athlete, I'm afraid this is going to reverse the trend. Pressure will be placed on another level also. There will be a growing opportunity for these players at the JUCO level.

The NCAA's don't control squat about the JUCO's, so they can continue to do their own thing. In states like Tennessee, where there is a large JUCO and NAIA population of schools, the effect will be minimal.

It smacks NC hard, right in the face. South Carolina is hit even worse than NC. South Carolina right now only has 2 baseball playing JUCO's and no NAIA teams. As a saving grace, SC has the HOPE scholarships to fall back on, but NC doesn't.

Think about it.... in SC, a marginal student can still attend college and compete. He'll have to do it on a Hope scholarship, not an athletic one. If he becomes a 0-2'er, they might not be able to use his athletic award percentage the next season, but GUESS WHAT .. he didn't have one.

In NC, there isn't any such opportunity. Georgia and South Carolina have tremendous advantages for the average student. Virginia is hurting in this ruling also.

- - - - - - - -
My only thing is that complaining doesn't help as much as preparing. For the 2005 students, these "late breaking" changes/info aren't of much help anymore. If you have a freshman, you have time to prepare and educate him about the "facts of life". That's really why I start these topics.... purely educational for the younger players.

 

Why?.....I happen to agree.

 

Maybe we should shoot at him ... he seems to want it ....

 

ss-05,

You make some interesting points IMO.

You should keep in mind that ALL students who pay tuition should be ensured that they get what they (or their parents LOL) pay for. Student athletes should not be afforded any special treatment. Nor should tuba players or school newpaper editors.
That is the challenge of the student athlete. Ultimately - It is up to the individual student to ensure he/she gets the most out of his education - regardless of his/her other interests.

The bar isnt really very high. Unless you are talking about Princeton or Yale,etc...
I attended a good college - and my roomate was a basketball player - 4 year scholly guy - I think he went to about 10 classes in 4 years. I kid you not.
Ultimately - he - like so many others - wound up in palookaville with a worthless college degree. His fault - yes. The NCAA and the schools fault also - Yes.

If a kid is a terrible student and a great player - there are alternatives in his/her pursuit of the dream and desire to get an education.

I think the point NCBB makes is critical. Once again - the NCAA will impose requirements that simply do not level the playing field among colleges from different states. So - basically - despite perhaps great intentions - they accomplish virtually nothing and just further distort inequities in the system.

Piecemeal fixes in a system the size of college athletics/NCAA never work - and usually backfire. Throw in the money involved in big time NCAA sports - and you realize one thing very quickly - only YOU can ensure that YOU get the education you pay for.

In a way - it is the first "real world" lesson many young adults get.
Use it wisely.

 

There is a "OUT" .... I want everyone to understand this one ...

Who is actually "counted" when they are doing the APR compliance calculations? Only those students who are receiving any athletic scholarship award.

You have a great player who is a marginal student and he can attend WITHOUT RISK to the institution provided he's not receiving any athletic award. Once he starts receiving book money, he has to be counted/calculated against.

Now ... for the flip side ... Academic money in D1 is harder to come by than in D2 which is harder to come by than in D3. The rules are more stringent the higher you go.

So ... now, lets take another look at the situation.

#1. The Marginal Student can still attend college and play ball. He may be promised a roster spot, but if no money is changing hands, then there is no NLI and no reporting to the NCAA in case he doesn't quite make it.

#2. The Marginal Student cannot receive academic money from D1 institutions without setting off many red flags.

#3. This will force the Marginal Student to the state-supported institutions where the tuition is lower or to the JUCO's where the tuition isn't as expensive. The JUCO's also aren't subject to the NCAA regs. The education is affordable at

#4. The Private, 4-year colleges are hit the hardest. They are more expensive, cannot use any "creative financing" for these students academically and have generally lower numbers of scholarships to deal with to begin with. Schools like Pfeiffer, The Abbey, High Point, Catawba, Elon and Campbell will be hit the hardest. Many of them will have to start spreading out in their recruiting efforts, traveling out of state.


This all brings us to a new term (gee wizz this stuff gets deep)...

GSR: Graduation Success Rate
Different method of determining Graduation Success. It does not penalize institutions for players who transfer out as long as they would have been academically eligible if they had returned. This will ease the problems associated with the pro draft and changing schools, but the actual methodology that will be used is still mostly smoke and mirrors.

 

Wow ... I wish I had said all that .......

 

Itsinthegame, you mention your roomate that went to 10 classes in 4 years, I wasn't talking about protecting the lazy student. I just hate to see the hard working marginal student get forced out because we are trying to penalize everyone like your roomate. It would be better to deal with a few of those cases individually than pass broad reforms that only leave the brightest standing at the end of the day.