NABC suggests changing college hoops

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Group suggests changes in college sports

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI

The Associated Press

7/7/2004, 9:09 p.m. CT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The National Association of Basketball Coaches recommended a sweeping new recruiting model Wednesday, one which included allowing players to be eligible for five years and giving coaches more access to their players in the offseason.

The NABC discussed the proposal at its annual summer meeting and will submit a revised edition to the NCAA, which must approve it.

The most significant changes would grant men's players five years of eligibility, allow coaches to talk to players outside the traditional player-coach environment and eliminate official visits to high school juniors in favor of increased phone calls.

"This will change the landscape of college basketball," said IUPUI coach Ron Hunter, a member of the committee that wrote the recommendations. "Where now, me as a coach, could have access to my kids and be able to help them become a better basketball player or a better student."

The NCAA asked the NABC nearly three months ago to help develop a new recruiting model that would address the student-athlete experience as a whole, both on and off the court. The NCAA hopes the new rules will attract more players to college, encourage them to stay in school and remain at the university they originally choose.

The NABC held a 3-hour meeting on Wednesday to get reaction from many of its members. Some recommended subtle changes, which means another committee must examine the revised edition before it is submitted to the NCAA.

Executive director Jim Haney was reluctant to talk about specifics, instead saying the recommendations are geared toward three goals the committee set — getting players to graduate, keeping them eligible and from transferring schools.

If the NCAA adopts the recommendations, basketball players would get an additional year of eligibility, but also lose a year if they decide to transfer to another Division I school. Current NCAA regulations require players to sit out a year, but they retain all of their eligibility.

"It's about getting a degree," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "We're expected to graduate our guys in four years and travel around the country."

In recruiting, the committee recommends that coaches give up their official visits to high school juniors in favor of monthly phone calls to the players' homes. Izzo said that would help coaches forge a stronger connection with recruits and help players choose the school that's right for them.

"As coaches, we wanted kids and parents to hear more from us than AAU coaches and other people out on the streets," Hunter said.

Once players are enrolled in college, coaches want more access to them in the offseason, something strictly regulated by the NCAA.

"It's greater access for coaches to mentor and advise a player about his career, academics, things not necessarily specific to basketball," Haney said.

It also means coaches would have more contact with players on the court in the summer.

"If his shot is broke in April, you rely on the kid to fix it for four months," Izzo said. "Just give us a chance to talk to our kids, do things that are human and natural that we haven't been able to do."

The NABC will make the suggested changes and submit the plan to the NCAA, which should decide by April 2005 at the latest, Haney said.

"We anticipate there will be plenty of critics," Haney said. "We're prepared to take the scrutiny. Some people just don't want to trust the coaches."

When asked the odds of the proposal passing, Haney hesitated, then said, "They are good in that the document is sound, and the recommendations are sound."

Izzo said the committee worked closely with the NCAA, which he believes increases the chances for success.

[Guest e-bone]

Looks like it may very well go through.

I think this will help non power conference schools more, so to me it is a good thing.

[ADLER]

Brand supports new eligibility proposal

By MICHAEL MAROT

The Associated Press

7/8/2004, 8:08 p.m. CT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — NCAA president Myles Brand will back a sweeping new proposal that would give college basketball players a fifth season of eligibility.

One day after the National Association of Basketball Coaches unanimously approved the measure, Brand responded by calling it an "outstanding package."

"I'm supportive of the package in its entirety," Brand told The Associated Press on Thursday. "It's coherent, and it's an effort to make the coach look more like a mentor and a teacher."

The coaches association plans to submit a revised proposal to the NCAA. The NCAA still must debate the measure and approve the recommendations, a process that will likely take at least a year.

Brand believes the extra year of eligibility will help place a greater emphasis on education and improve lagging graduation rates. He said most students take 4.8 years to graduate and that athletes should be expected to do the same.

Another part of the package calls for coaches to meet regularly with players about their classwork and future plans.

While Brand acknowledged there would be critics, he will not be one.

"I understand it will be controversial," he said. "We'll see how it turns out. But I believe the main purpose is to increase graduation rates in men's basketball, which has had the most severe problem."

Brand had four NCAA officials help craft the plan during a yearlong process that culminated in the coaches' approval Wednesday.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said at the Nike All-America Camp in Indianapolis that the NCAA and NABC had formed an unprecedented partnership.

"Myles Brand has given us more access to himself and the staff," Krzyzewski said. "It's phenomenal. We were in a period 11 or 12 years ago and just a couple of years ago where no one listened. Now they are listening."

If the NCAA passes the plan, coaches would also be able to make more phone calls to recruits.

Other measures in the proposal include more stringent penalties for schools committing secondary infractions and greater enforcement of current NCAA rules.

Brand said the coaches insisted on that part and he believes the entire package will not only put a greater emphasis on academics but also create parity among all Division I programs.

"It won't affect kids who leave before the fourth year because they'll leave anyway," Brand said. "But it well help in building parity and in most cases, the benefits will be in the mid-major programs."

Brand has been a proponent of academic reform since taking over as president in January 2003. Since taking over, the NCAA has passed legislation increasing the number of core courses required for incoming freshmen and increased the percentage of hours toward graduation for student-athletes to remain eligible.

Earlier this year, the NCAA also passed a measure that would penalize schools with consistently poor graduation rates although a subcommittee is still determining where the cutoff line should be. Schools could lose scholarships as early as this fall.

Brand considers this proposal another step in that direction.

"In some ways, it's not a radical package. It's a coherent package," he said. "It's a new model and a new approach for student-athletes and recruiting. I'm very supportive of it."

[ADLER]

Players back fifth year of eligibility

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI

The Associated Press

7/9/2004, 4:51 p.m. CT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Keith Brumbaugh shook his head and sighed at the thought of spending five years playing basketball in college.

"Five years of school?" the blue chip recruit from Deland, Fla., said Friday at the Nike All-America Camp. "Five years is a long, long time to be in school."

But Brumbaugh, who is deciding between Florida and Florida State after flirting with the idea of jumping straight to the NBA, is not the kind of player coaches target with their proposal to add a fifth year of eligibility.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches unanimously recommended a sweeping new recruiting model Wednesday, one which includes allowing players to be eligible for five years.

NCAA president Myles Brand supports the proposal, saying the extra year of eligibility will help place a greater emphasis on education and improve lagging graduation rates. Brand said most students take 4.8 years to graduate and that athletes should be expected to do the same.

Many of the high school players in town for the Nike Camp endorsed the idea of a fifth year, but with an asterisk.

"It's better overall, but it's not something I'm going to worry about," said Levance Fields, a 5-foot-10 guard from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Like many of the youngsters at this year's camp, Fields envisions a relatively brief college career at a school such as St. John's, Pittsburgh or Miami before making the jump to the NBA.

NABC executive director Jim Haney said the proposal is aimed more at the vast majority of Division I schools, not at the center of the basketball universe.

"The intent wasn't that it helped one institution," Haney said. "We wanted it to touch and improve all of them."

The smaller schools with the less-touted recruits stand to benefit most if a fifth year is added.

"Not only does this proposal help the Michigan States and the Dukes, but the Central Michigans and the IUPUIs as well," said IUPUI coach Ron Hunter, who sat on the committee that wrote the proposal.

The NCAA asked the NABC nearly three months ago to help develop a new recruiting model that would attract more players to college, encourage them to stay in school and remain at the university they originally choose.

North Carolina center Sean May said he thought a fifth year would go a long way toward keeping more players in school and helping them work toward a degree.

"A lot of guys take classes to stay eligible," May said. "By the time they get to the end of their college career, they're not on course to graduate, and they still have to come back to school.

"If players get that fifth year of eligibility, it could help them and the game a lot," he said.

Jonathan Adams, a 6-5 forward from Ringgold, Ga., likes the idea of a fifth year of eligibility.

"I think it's a good opportunity for a lot of people," Adams said. "Academic-wise, it would help you graduate and with the extra year, it could make you better and give you a better chance to make it to the NBA."

Then there are players like Brumbaugh and Justin Dentmon, who have a hard time envisioning a college career that long.

"It would be hard to stick around for that fourth or fifth year watching a lot of guys getting drafted and knowing I could be right there with them," said Dentmon, a 5-11 guard from Carbondale, Ill.

That's not what this proposal is about, said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo.

"It's about getting a degree," Izzo said.

Tell that to Brumbaugh.

"That don't make a difference," Brumbaugh said of the fifth year. "They're having a hard time getting kids to go to college at all."