The Recruiting Wire 5.12
May 12th, 2008 - byBilly Gillespie’s recruitment and subsequent commitments from two 8th grade basketball players has continued to cause a wave of controversy across the college basketball landscape. Kentucky now has commitments from every class ranging from 2009 to 2012. Here are some of the highlights of the argument from multiple media sources.
Brit Kirwan, chancellor of the University of Maryland system and co-chair of the Knight Commission, which work for reform in college athletics had some extremely sharp words of criticism.
“It’s so inappropriate for the university and the athletic departments to be engaged in recruiting students that age when they’re still in junior high school. It’s an abuse of students time, and it raises all sorts of questions in my mind of propriety.
“Who knows who’s going to be coaching at that university when the kid goes to college? It’s bad enough that kids in junior year or senior year being inundated with letters and calls to move this practice down, it’s a terrible practice. …
This is a really really terrible practice and I’m confident we’ll find a way to put a stop it.”
The NCAA’s Official blog the Double-A Zone echoed the same sentiments:
How can an eighth grader possibly know what college campus and athletics program is the best fit? Wouldn’t it be wise to wait and see if there are other schools that have better academic tracks for this particular prospective student-athlete?
• When I was 13, my dream job was still professional baseball player. Three years later, the goal had changed significantly. That doesn’t mean kids shouldn’t hold on to their reach dreams for as long as possible, but professional sports are just that – a reach.
• Because this has been picked up by major media, the 13-year-old’s name is all over the news. We’re not using his name for a reason.
• We published our “Are There Really Recruiting Rankings For Sixth Graders” post on August 22. That post has garnered more comments that most we’ve had, which means that this is a hot topic and will continue to be a hot topic as more kids continue to “commit” before high school begins.
• This prospective student-athlete would enroll at Kentucky in 2012. In today’s changing landscape, will Gillispie still be in Lexington?
• What if Kentucky brings in three kids at this kid’s position two years before he gets to Lexington and there’s no immediate need for his services? Forget the scholarship.
• If this kid goes out and averages six points and three assists during his first three years of high school, there is no way Gillispie uses a scholarship on him.
Rivals.com on the possibility of the NCAA instituting a minimum age in which a college coach can accept a scholarship.
The question becomes where does it stop. If Gillispie can secure an eighth-grader, you know someone is going to go after a seventh-grader. Are you comfortable with assistant coaches scouring the middle-school ranks? The ploy on some level even makes sense for mid-majors and low majors that often have to wait to sign players after the high majors have made their picks. Maybe they’d have a better chance if they were the first school to make an offer. If they stick to a commitment they offered to, say, a fifth-grader, won’t the parents make sure their child honors his side?
I don’t think a school should be allowed to take a commitment until two years before he’s allowed to sign a National Letter of Intent. That means November of his sophomore year of high school. That’s plenty early.
Billy Gillespie answered fired back at his critics with some eye popping comments in the Lexington Herald Leader.
“If you’re in recruiting, it’s very, very competitive,” Gillispie said at a news conference on Saturday. “You start earlier and earlier all the time because you’re seeing guys earlier.
“It’s a little bit different for us, maybe, than for university presidents.”
When asked at a news conference on Saturday if he’d recruit, say, a 12-year-old, Gillispie said, “I’d never say never.
“You have to understand and respect everyone’s opinion. To say something negative, it’s OK. I understand that because it’s not normal. But it is a little bit different when you’re trying to recruit the best players.”
“If you’re in recruiting, it’s very, very competitive,” Gillispie said at a news conference on Saturday. “You start earlier and earlier all the time because you’re seeing guys earlier.
“It’s a little bit different for us, maybe, than for university presidents.”
When asked at a news conference on Saturday if he’d recruit, say, a 12-year-old, Gillispie said, “I’d never say never.
“You have to understand and respect everyone’s opinion. To say something negative, it’s OK. I understand that because it’s not normal. But it is a little bit different when you’re trying to recruit the best players.”
Gillispie cited an advantage to recruiting young prospects. At that age, the players have not yet become basketball celebrities who acquire hangers-on like barnacles on a ship.
“In recruiting, the biggest problem we see is people who don’t get a chance to make their own decisions,” Gillispie said. “The longer you go in a recruiting situation, there’s more possibility a person is going to make a decision for a player. … And it’s usually outside the family.
“With an early commitment, you’re 100 percent with the family. … You know 100 percent for sure that the family is going to be thinking of one thing, that’s of the child, with no other agenda.
“Maybe (that’s) the part of recruiting, unless you’re in it, you probably don’t understand it enough.”
In the short-term the current rules aren’t going anywhere. Student-athletes will have a chance to evaluated at earlier and earlier ages. If they are lucky enough to be recognized at such a young age, they need to be prepared to handle the process. That means education on the process needs to be a must for anyone even considering the possibility of playing collegiate sports.
