Recruiting Mills

[Stallion]

Our New Head Coach signed TWO kids from Philadelphia Lutheran
Christian



Closing loopholes on 'diploma mills'By WENDELL BARNHOUSE
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/TOM STRATTMAN
If NCAA President Myles Brand has his way, incoming freshmen will need to prove they have made the grades to get into college.Academic integrity has been an NCAA legislative emphasis for the past two decades.

Later this week, the NCAA's board of directors and executive committee will meet in Indianapolis to consider emergency legislation aimed at closing the latest loopholes being used to circumvent the organization's eligibility standards for incoming freshmen scholarship athletes.

Prep schools and some private high schools have become "diploma mills," where athletes can earn what appear to be bogus academic credentials and pass enough core courses to become eligible as freshmen.

The NCAA has been tracking certain schools for the last 18 months because of concerns regarding questionable academic practices. Recent stories in The New York Times and The Washington Post have provided further evidence that a number of prep schools are operating outside the margins of legitimate education.

"There are private institutions that are perfectly legitimate and, in fact, do a great job academically," NCAA President Myles Brand said. "Obviously, there are some that are not. They're frauds. Those are the ones we're after."

The new rules could go into effect immediately and could affect incoming freshmen this fall. However, the changes aren't expected to be retroactive.

"Any student-athlete who plans to apply for a scholarship and is attending [a school the NCAA plans to question] had better think twice," Brand said. "They will be at great risk. There will be no amnesty."

Oklahoma State signed basketball player Gary Flowers, who attended Genesis One Christian Academy in Mendenhall, Miss. The school is not accredited. Of the 40 Genesis One students who are ninth grade or older, 33 are basketball prospects.

Vernice Cloyd of Genesis One signed with Alabama during the early signing period. After discovering that Genesis One is not accredited, Alabama withdrew its scholarship. Oklahoma State has not made a decision on Flowers' scholarship status.

To become eligible as college freshmen, high school student-athletes must reach academic minimums established by the NCAA. The initial eligibility standards combine a sliding scale of grade-point averages in 14 core courses plus standardized test results.

The New York Times wrote about University High in Miami, which was portrayed as a diploma factory. The Times and the Post exposed similar issues at Philadelphia's Lutheran Christian Academy (which has about 30 students).

The Times reported that four former Lutheran players said they were not required to attend classes and the school's basketball coach, Darryl Schofield, was their only teacher.

Schools that are being targeted by the NCAA offer diplomas for a flat fee (University High's going rate was $399), allow students to take 10 courses in one semester and other schools have seen a student's grade-point average jump from 1.0 to 4.0.

A common practice is for high school players to intentionally flunk out during their senior year in high school, then attend a prep school to raise their grades and become eligible.

If a player graduates from high school but is not academically eligible for a college scholarship, he can't attend a prep school to become eligible.

Brand says the approach to shutting down the "diploma mills" needs to have three prongs -- the NCAA, schools admissions offices and law enforcement (to prosecute fraud).

"The NCAA has to fix its rules, no question about that," Brand said. "I think right now we're on track to do that in a rather rapid way.

"We're not going to get involved with accreditation. We'll try to do the very best we can to provide information to college admissions offices about the prep schools."

The NCAA will focus on schools that lack state oversight, have membership in a state high school athletic association and accreditation.

The NCAA legislation that is likely to be approved this week will have a three-tiered approach.

First, the NCAA plans to ask for schools about which it has doubts to answer questions regarding curriculum and teacher certification.

Second, the NCAA would conduct site visits to verify how the school operates.

Third, NCAA legislation would allow the Clearinghouse (which determines academic eligibility of incoming scholarship athletes) to determine whether it would accept courses from that school following the letter and the site visit.

New legislation also would allow the NCAA greater latitude in scrutinizing transcripts that appear questionable.

The NCAA Initial Eligibility Trends Working Group has been studying the issue.

Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for member services and chair of the Working Group, estimates that between 100 and 200 schools could come under scrutiny because of their questionable academic standards and practices.

Overall, Lennon said there are about 5,000 "non-traditional" secondary schools around the country. And with each state having its own rules about accreditation regarding non-public secondary schools, the NCAA's task is complicated.

"We can't go through another year," Lennon told USA Today. "If we discover there is a school that has been providing fraudulent education, not going to class, not doing anything, we are going to say we are not going to accept the courses immediately."


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Wendell Barnhouse, (817) 390-7760 [email protected]
ead Coach signed a player from Philadelphia Luthern

[anurep]

So are you saying this is good or bad?

[The PonyGrad]

Good question when stallion is posting this.

LEt's see ... our model is messed up we are not competing with the schools that recruit the mills.

[EastStang]

The NCAA will focus on schools that lack state oversight, have membership in a state high school athletic association and accreditation.

Brand is an idiot. This statement would rule out virtually every private high school in the Mid-Atlantic. In Virginia, Private schools are banned from the VHSL because of separation of church and state in the State constitution.

Further, I hope he isn't saying that prep schools are out entirely. I mean any recruit willing to put up with a year at Culver or Fork Union Military Academy probably got a better education than he would have gotten in four years of high school and probably learned some discipline as well.