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Varsityedge.com October 2003 News - Newsletter Homepage
NEWS ON INDIVIDUAL COLLEGES
There are so many sports being cut at colleges throughout the country, that it’s exciting to see some programs actually being added.
Robert Morris University (D1) will add field hockey, men's ice hockey, and men's and women's lacrosse to its intercollegiate athletics program in 2004-05. The additions bring the school's total of Division I sports to 22, including an earlier-announced addition of women's golf, which begins its first season this fall. The women's lacrosse and field hockey teams will be affiliated with the Northeast Conference. Robert Morris is looking for a conference affiliation for the men's ice hockey and men's lacrosse programs, neither of which the NEC currently sponsors.
Florida Southern College (D2) will sponsor varsity programs in men's and women's swimming beginning in 2003-04. Although normally a member of the Sunshine State Conference, Florida Southern will compete as an independent in swimming (Rollins College and the University of Tampa are the only other Sunshine State programs sponsoring swimming). The addition of men's and women's swimming brings Florida Southern's total number of varsity sports to 15, five of which have been added or reinstated in the last nine years
Caldwell College has added women's cross country as a varsity sport, effective immediately.
Stevens Institute of Technology (D3) Will sponsor wrestling first as a club program this year, then at the varsity level for 2004-05. Stevens Institute sponsored a wrestling squad for 22 years before dropping the sport in 1992. The school will sponsor 21 varsity sports with the addition of wrestling.
Vassar College (D3) is adding women’s golf as its 23rd varsity offering.
William Smith College (D3) Is adding golf as its 11th sport for women during the coming academic year. William Smith announced it will play a limited schedule during the coming year after selecting a head coach for the team. There now are seven schools in New York sponsoring Division III women's golf.
New Jersey City University is reintroducing men's cross country this fall as its 15th sport, after discontinuing the program following the 1981 season and just one year after reinstating its men's indoor and outdoor track and field programs. Earlier this year, New Jersey City's sports sponsorship fell below the Division III minimum of 14 when the university dropped football, citing budgetary constraints. The addition of men's cross country brings the school's sports sponsorship back to the minimum required number of offerings.
The Maryland Terrapins (D1) Have declared Cheerleading the newest varsity sport. The team will have a 10 competition schedule. The team will start with 4 scholarships this year and phase in 4 next year and 4 more in 2005 bringing the total to 12 scholarships for a 25 person team.
NCAA SANCTIONS
The NCAA has informed the University of Hawaii, Manoa, that the Association has vacated the men's volleyball team's championship win and the team's place in the final standings in the 2002 NCAA Division I Men's Volleyball Championship because of the use of an ineligible student-athlete.
The record of the team's performance in the championship must also be deleted and the team's trophy, as well as individual awards received by the ineligible student-athlete, must be returned to the Association. Hawaii must also pay a fine in the amount of $5,000 to the Association, which will be used to fund student-athlete welfare programs.
ACADEMIC NEWS
The PSAT will be revamped by the college board in 2004 shortly before the new SAT test is introduced. The new PSAT test will try to reflect the new changes on the SAT test but will not include a writing section or include any Algebra 2 questions.
NEW BOOKS
A new book called “Reclaiming the Game: College Sports and Educational Values” takes a hard look at the role of athletics primarily at the Division 3 and Ivy League level. The book paints a picture of student-athletes getting preferential treatment from admissions department and rarely getting involved in school or using the schools resources to their full advantage. I think Chris Webber getting paid $260,000 in college at Michigan, or Patrick Dennehy getting killed allegedly by a teammate and then discovering massive violations by the Baylor Basketball Coach, are more significant issues than some Ivy League and D3 players not going to school plays on their days off.
RECRUITING RULES
I currently attend a four-year college and would like to transfer to an NCAA school. Do my parents or I need permission in order to contact a coach at another college to which I am interested in transferring?
Yes. You need what is called a permission to contact letter. A college athletics staff member may not make contact with you or your parents, directly or indirectly, without first obtaining the written permission of your current director of athletics. If permission is not granted, the second school may not encourage your transfer and in D1 and 2, may not provide you with financial aid until you have attended that second school for one academic year. You may write a letter to an NCAA college expressing your interest in transferring. You are not permitted to discuss transfer opportunities with the coach on the telephone prior to written permission being granted.
I especially like the line that says the second school may not encourage your transfer.
I guess Doug Williams carrying a jersey with the number 13 (Clarrett’s number at Ohio State) on it and going on national television and saying how you would like this player on your team isn't considered "encouraging"
Clarrett has also sued the NFL over its policy of not letting players enter the draft until they have been out of high school for 3 years. The policy is in place so young players who are still growing into their bodies do not get broken in two by grown men who have been involved in 12-month weightlifting programs for a living and who’s job is to break the bones of quarterbacks, receivers, and running backs.
RULE CHANGES
In Field Hockey, one experimental rule eliminates the requirement that the ball be completely stopped on a penalty corner before it can be brought into the scoring circle. Under this rule, the ball only has to travel outside the scoring circle before it is brought back in for a shot. While that rule favors the offense, the other supports the defense. It states that a defender is allowed to raise her stick above her shoulder in order to stop or deflect a shot on goal unless it is dangerous to do so or is likely to lead to dangerous play. Varsityedge.com has no idea what any of that means, but it sounds good.
College Recruiting Services
Every time I try to stop talking about this subject something always comes up. Recently, several recruiting services were investigated by the NCAA for a whole bunch of stuff. It was discovered that several paid recruiting services were giving away free online listings to star high school athletes in order to increase the notoriety of the service. "If Joe all-American uses it, it must be good". It is also against the rules to use a high school athlete’s image in any marketing material and brochures for the recruiting service. It is also against NCAA rules for a college coach to endorse any recruiting service, be it an online service, or a direct mail marketing service. Several coaches were quoted on websites of recruiting services they didn’t even use and some coaches were quoted without their knowledge. One recruiting service decided to use a quote from the head football coach at Arizona. Turns out the owner of the recruiting service played for the coach like 10 years ago, and decided it was alright to put a quote from the coach. Several other coaches were quoted and were not even in coaching any more or at the same school.
ODDS N’ ENDS
Neil Parry suited up for the San Jose State football team in September and was a member of the punt team unit. Parry had his leg partially amputated after a severe break in a college game 3 years earlier. Parry has undergone 25 operations.
Vanderbilt University is eliminating its athletic department and making a new department to oversee both varsity and intramural athletics. The move is an attempt to integrate academics and athletics into a more homogeneous group. This could be a big success or one of the worst decisions ever made in collegiate athletics! Wait and see.
California Senator Kevin Murray is trying to pass a bill that would free California’s 47 public universities from being governed by the NCAA.
Kudos to Chris Rix, quarterback at Florida St. After parking in a handicap space on campus because he was late for class and receiving a $100 fine, he follows that up by parking in a space designated for the schools rehabilitation center. The good news was he was going to class, the bad news was, it was wine tasting. Just kidding!
I stumbled into the COOP, a famous bookstore in Harvard Square where a new book on college admissions caught my eye. It was written by some Harvard people. One chapter contained information on college athletics and recruiting and began like this...."College athletic scholarships are only offered at the Division 1 level." Apparently they forgot about Division 2, NAIA, and Junior college. This is what happens when people who have no knowledge of recruiting and athletics try to write about it. Now some parent or kid who bought that book is getting calls from some D2 schools and not returing them because they read there is no scholarship money at the D2 level!
Co-Author Ray Lauenstein of www.athletesadvisor.com and myself took in a football and baseball practice at Harvard University. Football practice was a model of efficiency and organization as the team of roughly 100 players was broken down into 5-7 groups to perform different drills and going from drill to drill was a seamless event that you barely noticed. At one point the team would be in 5-7 different groups and next thing you know, a huge team drill would break out in the middle of the field in a blink of an eye. Practice was videotaped by no less than 2 camera's. The team was using the Astro-turf field hockey field to prepare for their upcoming game at Cornell which plays on turf. Baseball practice on the other hand was a model of INEFFICIENCY. During live batting practice verses pitchers, there were no less than 9 players standing around on the on-deck circle waiting to hit, this wasn't so bad until a new pitcher had to come onto the mound and warm up and by then every player was standing still waiting. This was surprising because they have a pretty good program and coach, but we didn't see an batting cage nearby or any work of batting Tee's being done, which is a good way to keep players busy. Perhaps we caught them on a slow day.
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