July 1, 2008

SEC to lower admission standards

Senator Blutarsky brings word that the SEC has lowered its admission standards to match the NCAA minimum and will allow member schools to begin admitting non-qualifiers on a case-by-case basis.

At its most recent meetings in Destin, Fla., the SEC apparently relaxed its rules concerning non-qualifiers. I was in Destin but missed that development, as did most of the other reporters there, none of whom (at least as far as I have seen in extensive on-line searching) mentioned it at the time. It's only been referenced in stories about Powe. But here is what Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone had to say about the change.

'Basically, the SEC's initial eligibility rules will generally mirror the NCAA's, which allow some non-qualifiers to attend school and try to get their grades up before competing,' Boone told the Clarion-Ledger. 'The one caveat is that any non-qualifier still has to be approved by the (SEC) commissioner.'

...

It is a huge change in the way the conference approaches this issue. In the past, the SEC — unlike other leagues — didn't allow non-qualifiers on campus at all, at least as prospective athletes. A non-qualifier either had to get qualified in prep school or graduate from junior college. Otherwise, they didn't get on the field, ever.

So what brought about this historic change? Hark back to last October when Alabama head coach Nick Saban accused South Florida of stocking its team with players that didn't qualify under the SEC guidelines.

"The distribution of players is not the same for everybody," said Alabama head coach Nick Saban. "There's a significant amount of players who don't qualify (at some schools) and they end up being pretty good players at some other schools. I think there are six guys starting on South Florida's defense who probably could have gone to Florida or Florida State but Florida and Florida State couldn't take them. And if you do a good job of recruiting that way ..."

Saban stopped there, but the implication is obvious: If you recruit that way you get players that are good enough to elevate a program in a hurry.

And there you have it... yet another recruiting change brought about by Nick Saban. (See also, "the Saban Rule")

So... now the SEC will be on a "level" playing field with most of the other conferences. Of course, the big winners from this change are going to be the bottom and mid-level SEC teams, who were losing recruits to other conferences (notably the Big East, C-USA, and MAC) because of the SEC's insistence on higher academic standards.

Sly Croom, Rich Brooks, and Houston Nutt owe Saban a cigar, I suspect.

The other fascinating part of this change is the new commandant role for the SEC commissioner.

So... you're telling me that if a team wants to admit a non-qualifier they have to saunter up to the SEC Head Cheese and make their case? Heh. As if the SEC honcho job wasn't political enough already.

I'm just waiting for the first time the SEC commish says "no" to Kentucy/Tennessee/Vandy/Georgia/Florida/South Carolina/Alabama/Auburn/LSU/Arkansas/Ole Miss/Mississippi State after saying "yes" to Kentucy/Tennessee/Vandy/Georgia/Florida/South Carolina/Alabama/Auburn/LSU/Arkansas/Ole Miss/Mississippi State.

Comments:

SEC to lower admission standards
Senator Blutarsky brings word that the SEC has lowered its admission standards to match the NCAA minimum and will allow member schools to begin admitting non-qualifiers on a case-by-case basis.
At its most recent meetings in Destin, Fla., the SEC apparently relaxed its rules concerning non-qualifiers. I was in Destin but missed that development, as did most of the other reporters there, none of whom (at least as far as I have seen in extensive on-line searching) mentioned it at the time. It's only been referenced in stories about Powe. But here is what Ole Miss athletics director Pete Boone had to say about the change. 'Basically, the SEC's initial eligibility rules will generally mirror the NCAA's, which allow some non-qualifiers to attend school and try to get their grades up before competing,' Boone told the Clarion-Ledger. 'The one caveat is that any non-qualifier still has to be approved by the (SEC) commissioner.' ... It is a huge change in the way the conference approaches this issue. In the past, the SEC — unlike other leagues — didn't allow non-qualifiers on campus at all, at least as prospective athletes. A non-qualifier either had to get qualified in prep school or graduate from junior college. Otherwise, they didn't get on the field, ever.
So what brought about this historic change? Hark back to last October when Alabama head coach Nick Saban accused South Florida of stocking its team with players that didn't qualify under the SEC guidelines.
"The distribution of players is not the same for everybody," said Alabama head coach Nick Saban. "There's a significant amount of players who don't qualify (at some schools) and they end up being pretty good players at some other schools. I think there are six guys starting on South Florida's defense who probably could have gone to Florida or Florida State but Florida and Florida State couldn't take them. And if you do a good job of recruiting that way ..." Saban stopped there, but the implication is obvious: If you recruit that way you get players that are good enough to elevate a program in a hurry.
And there you have it... yet another recruiting change brought about by Nick Saban. (See also, "the Saban Rule") So... now the SEC will be on a "level" playing field with most of the other conferences. Of course, the big winners from this change are going to be the bottom and mid-level SEC teams, who were losing recruits to other conferences (notably the Big East, C-USA, and MAC) because of the SEC's insistence on higher academic standards. Sly Croom, Rich Brooks, and Houston Nutt owe Saban a cigar, I suspect. The other fascinating part of this change is the new commandant role for the SEC commissioner. So... you're telling me that if a team wants to admit a non-qualifier they have to saunter up to the SEC Head Cheese and make their case? Heh. As if the SEC honcho job wasn't political enough already. I'm just waiting for the first time the SEC commish says "no" to Kentucy/Tennessee/Vandy/Georgia/Florida/South Carolina/Alabama/Auburn/LSU/Arkansas/Ole Miss/Mississippi State after saying "yes" to Kentucy/Tennessee/Vandy/Georgia/Florida/South Carolina/Alabama/Auburn/LSU/Arkansas/Ole Miss/Mississippi State.