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I found this excerpt in a recent New Haven Register article about Prep Schools which made passing reference to South Kent Prep and SMUrecruits Walker and Dia:

"The NCAA continues to push reform. Even though text-messaging was a more publicized matter last week, the NCAA passed a noteworthy piece of academic legislation. The rule will limit high school students one core course after a student’s four-year high school graduation date that would count toward college eligibility. Also in 2008, the NCAA will require 16 core courses instead of the current 14."

Have a feeling that this "one core course rule" like so many in college Basketball will suffer the "Lucky Charms" magical disappearing act before it ever goes into effect but if it does wouldn't this have a revolutionary affect on many of the ills of College Basketball. Big headlines about the text messaging Rule but nothing about this? Anybody know about this Rule change.

I guess I was cruising the Caribbean when this was made public. This from the New Yourk Post:


NCAA'S NEW RULES MAY HURT MCMILLAN
By DAN MARTIN
July 9, 2007 -- PHILADELPHIA - Dwan McMillan plans to attend college next year. He's thinking about schools such as Clemson, Cincinnati and Memphis, as well as St. John's.

Despite his plans, the Brooklyn native's whereabouts after he leaves St. Benedict's (Newark) after the upcoming season remain very much in doubt.

Depending on perspective, the point guard is either the victim of circumstance and bad timing or his own past problems. Either way, new NCAA regulations will make it significantly harder for players such as McMillan, who is about to enter his fifth year of high school, to attend college when they want.

"He's kind of a perfect example of what these new rules are about," said St. Benedict's coach Danny Hurley. "He's someone who is capable, but didn't take his first years of his academic life seriously, and now it's hurting him. But it would be a shame if his last two years of hard work didn't pan out for him."

The NCAA has made a belated attempt to curtail players from going to high school for more than four years and then becoming eligible to play in college. There is a chance McMillan could get a waiver from the new rule, which essentially says players can make up only one core course in their fifth year of high school.

In years past, the former Boys & Girls standout likely wouldn't have had an issue. Another former Boys player, Eugene Harvey, took an almost identical route through high school, starting at the Bed-Stuy school and then heading to St. Benedict's - thanks at least in part to the fact Hurley and Boys head coach Ruth Lovelace attended Seton Hall together.

Hurley said there is a parallel between the two players, and he even had to suspend both. Harvey responded well.

"Now he's a really good player at Seton Hall," Hurley said. "We'll see how Dwan does."For his part, McMillan, who is at Reebok U basketball camp at Philadelphia University, said his late-season benching took its toll and that he wouldn't be a problem again. Nevertheless, his situation may not be able to be rectified.

"I don't think I should be effected [by the new rules]," McMillan said. "I'll be all right."

Hurley wasn't quite as certain.

"We'll have to see where he commits and what the compliance people say," Hurley said. "We'll have a better understanding then. But in the meantime, he can help himself by doing well on the SAT and things like that which will hopefully make the issue moot. He's done all the right things recently and matured a lot. Hopefully, he'll be at a four-year school after next year."

McMillan is far from alone in his predicament. For years, players relied on prep schools - some of which were nothing more than diploma mills - to make up for past problems. St. Benedict's isn't one of those schools, but the NCAA also restricted players' abilities to stay in high school an extra year.

All that is fine with McMillan.

"A lot of guys were abusing the system," McMillan said. "That's' not what I did. I'm going to be OK."

[email protected]

Another view:

Leading off today: The whining has begun in the aftermath of significant NCAA rules changes aimed at prep-school basketball factories.
The Washington Post wrote about the issue this week and found plenty of players and coaches who think that the new rules are too tough and/or poorly publicized.

My take on it: Get your high school diploma in four years like the vast majority of high school graduates do it and you won't have to worry about rules that crack down on prep schools.

If that isn't possible, at least come close enough to graduating so that some minor catch-up work at a prep school makes you eligible to play at a four-year school. And if that isn't possible, then I've got two words for you: junior college.

But, no matter which path you take, ease up on the whining. The tone and volume of complaints makes it sound as though critics think school is getting in the way of basketball when in fact the more likely problem is that basketball has been interfering with school work for too many semesters.

The new NCAA rules give athletes beginning ninth grade four years to meet the core academic course standards if they want to be eligible to play in college. After that, they may take only one additional core course at any high school or prep school recognized by the NCAA. Beginning in 2008, recruits will need to pass 16 core courses instead of 14.

The changes were in part inspired by newspaper investigations into "diploma mills," shady schools operating with little or no genuine academic structure. Players were using those "schools" to boost transcripts, turning failing grades into A's and B's. As a result, the NCAA decided it would not accept transcripts from at least 15 schools because of irregularities.

The problem, the article says, is that many high school
players are unaware of the changes and assume that they still have what amounts to a fifth year to beef up their transcripts. Beginning Aug. 1, players who need more than four years to fulfill their core-course requirements must apply for a waiver to be eligible to play college athletics.
"They will understand in a year or two when one of their friends get messed over because the rule affected them," Clark Francis, editor of Hoop Scoop, told the newspaper.

Mike Chrystie update: Yes, I know we're down to the last few days of the school year. But I'm dishing out some mandatory homework to our loyal readers:

Take a moment to drop a line to Mike Chrystie and his wife to show them some support.

Chrystie was an oustanding football player for Oxford (Section 4) from 1997 to 2000, and his name still dots the state record book. He was the NYSSWA's Class D co-player of the year as a senior running back/kicker, then went on to a career at Colgate.

A little more than three months ago, Chrystie, a teacher in the Windsor school district, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease (Lymphoma). He quickly began undergoing chemotheraphy (seven treatments thus far) but has managed to spend some time in the classroom this spring and even got out to some Oxford sporting events recently.

Chrystie and his fiancee Missy moved up their wedding to the middle of last month, and his medical prognosis is encouraging.

That's where you come in. Missy has set up a blog on CarePages.com to help friends keep updated on what's going on.

I'm sure it would be a big boost to the family if you went to the site (after a brief registration process, use "MikeChrystie" when you're asked for the Carepage name) and left a few words of support.

The Washington Post:


Prep Stars Caught Off Guard By New Academic Timeframe

By Eric Prisbell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 12, 2007; Page E01

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Sitting in the Dean Smith Center, Terrance Joyner, a junior at Genesis One Christian School in Mendenhall, Miss., scrolled through his Sidekick 3 to find an e-mail from a college basketball coach. The e-mail explained a new NCAA rule that will prohibit players from attending prep schools for a year to improve academic deficiencies following four years of high school.

"I'm happy a lot of college coaches put me on to it," Joyner said after reading a portion of the note aloud. "A lot of people don't know about it."


In the month since the NCAA moved to address abuses in prep basketball, some prominent college coaches have called for the rule to be changed and several AAU coaches have looked for loopholes in it. But the rule is a mystery to many of those who could be most directly affected: high school players who need to improve their grades to become eligible to play in college.

"Nobody is talking about it," said Lance Stephenson, one of the nation's top sophomores from Lincoln High in Brooklyn and one of hundreds of players who competed in a high-profile AAU tournament in North Carolina last weekend.

The new NCAA rule states that upon entering ninth grade, athletes have four years to meet the eligibility standards in core academic courses to participate in college athletics; following those four years, they may take only one additional core course at any high school recognized by the NCAA. Beginning in 2008, recruits also will need to complete 16 core courses instead of 14, which will make it harder for players to become academically eligible after four years of high school.

The rule was introduced following reports in The Washington Post and the New York Times last year that highlighted the proliferation of so-called diploma mills, fraudulent schools operating with little or no oversight that players use to correct deficiencies in their academic transcripts compiled at traditional high schools.

The NCAA announced earlier this year that it would not accept transcripts from 15 nontraditional schools because of academic irregularities. Seven other schools, including Genesis One Christian, are still under review.

The problem, according to some involved in youth basketball, is that with so many high school players unaware of the change, many potential college recruits assume that they still have a fifth year to correct their academic problems when they now are limited to one course. This could have severe implications on their eligibility to play in college.

"They will understand in a year or two when one of their friends get messed over because the rule affected them," said Clark Francis, editor of Hoop Scoop, a basketball recruiting publication. "Suddenly people who aren't educated about it become educated real quick. We're going to throw away a class or two of players."

Gerald Stokes, the coach of the 16-Under Baltimore Stars, said he first learned about the rule in an e-mail sent by an AAU organization more than a month ago. Stokes said he and other Stars coaches have informed those on the team who could be affected.

When asked who -- players, parents or coaches -- is responsible for players not knowing about the rule, Stokes said: "All of the above. They are not being educated about it."

Kevin Lennon, the NCAA vice president for membership services, said informing high school players about the rule is a "shared responsibility," and that college coaches who are recruiting players often are in the best position to do so. "It does take time to get the word out," Lennon said, adding, "It would surprise me if kids being recruited were not aware of it."
st:

In one respect its needed, in another its overkill by the NCAA. The NCAA doesn't want to get into certifying prep schools. So the good ones get lumped in with the bad ones. Schools like Fork Union Military which has a great post-graduate program and instills discipline in these kids (although I can't help but wonder who pays their $20,000+ tuition bill), will suffer just like Diploma Prep which meets in Harry's Garage. There are no easy answers. Now there will be more pressure on HS teachers to give out C's and D's to athletes.

I'm a little surprised they limited it to one core credit. As you might remember I said I thought SMU should admit Prep School kids EVEN IF they were short on their core if they only needed to polish up on 1-2 core courses. Many of these kids have a whole semester or more to polish up on and these are the kids taking 22 credits in a semester or 38 in a spring/summer session to miraculously become eligible. Limiting it to only one core will have a huge effect of funneling these kids into JC where they will have to graduate after 2 years to become eligible. I don't have a problem with that as that is where they belong.

I agree that it will funnel them into junior college, but I don't always agree that is where they belong. Some of the junior colleges have as much incentive to become diploma mills as the diploma mills. Given the number of internet universities now proliferating, I am somewhat surprised that there hasn't been a scandel there yet. Anyone up for starting a junior college?

they cleaned up those internet/correspondence course rules too in the last 2 years. Not sure about details but I recently read that they have been sharply curtailed.