Spurrier threatens to leave SC

[ZOOMBAG]

...over the rejection of some of his prize recruits by the faculty admissions board. Finally an SEC school willing to tell a coach to stick it over the academic reprobates they recruit. While the players recruited met NCAA minimums they apparently did not pass muster against the admissions board.

No link but it was in our local sports section yesterday.

[GatorGrad]

If a recruit passes the NCAA minimum to play college sports, they should be able to play for any school that they want to play for that also wants that recruit to play for them. The standards should be the same for all schools across the board to level the playing field.

[GatorGrad]

I just think it is silly that one recruit can qualify for say Miami, but not Florida...which is what happened with Santonio Thomas several years ago and Spurrier was POed at the Florida Admissions Department about it. Why can he get into Miami but not Florida when he accepts a scholarship to Florida and meets the NCAA minimum? Are his chances of graduating significantly better at Miami? Maybe a little bit, but not enough to warrant turning down a recruit to let him go to an in-state rival IMO. I just with everyone was on the same playing field. ESPECIALLY schools playing in the same conference (a recruit shouldn't be denied to South Carolina, but able to enroll at Tennessee for instance.)

[Blue Hen]

I feel exactly the same, Zoom. A huge 'kudos' to the University of South Carolina Admissions office. I'm impressed !!!! Usually at these big time CF factories the Athletic Department tells the Admissions office who gets in. This is the opposite....very refreshing to hear.

[Blue Hen]

When Spurrier was at Florida, the scholarship FB players averaged an 892.7SAT score ( which includes ACT scores transposed to the SAT scale) GG, that's just awful.....one of the lowest team averages in all of D1 at the time.

Source : 1998 NCAA Grad Rate Report, pps 170-171 - University Of Florida.

The D1A average was 939.41

I wouldn't suggest mentioning anything about 'standards' at UF. Excellent University but the FB players are about as dumb as you'll find. Have you looked at the special 'hideway' majors for these kids ? It's comical.

[GatorGrad]

And yet in the last several years, the fact is that Florida has had to turn away players that couldn't qualify before that have qualified at other schools, including Miami and Ohio State. I'm not even boasting about it...I DISAGREE with it. I want every school to have the same standards so that it's an even playing field.

BTW, Urban Meyer has had the consensus #1 and #2 recruiting classes the last two seasons. Over 50 athletes, most of which were 3*, 4*, or 5* players, and not ONE kid failed to qualify. That is unheard of. I think it speaks volumes to the types of kids that Meyer is recruiting these days to our school.

[Blue Hen]

Yeah, those numbers I posted certainly don't apply to any current Gator FBers.

I , too, want every D1A FB program to adhere to the same academic eligibility standard. That just seems logical and necessary for a level playing field. HOWEVER....a huge HOWEVER....that standard needs to be LIGHT YEARS higher than the current NCAA bare minimum initial eligibility standards we have now...LIGHT YEARS higher. You've got great volumes of kids playing college football at Florida, VT, and other places that are reading on the 6th grade level !!!

[happjack]

And yet in the last several years, the fact is that Florida has had to turn away players that couldn't qualify before that have qualified at other schools, including Miami and Ohio State. I'm not even boasting about it...I DISAGREE with it. I want every school to have the same standards so that it's an even playing field.

BTW, Urban Meyer has had the consensus #1 and #2 recruiting classes the last two seasons. Over 50 athletes, most of which were 3*, 4*, or 5* players, and not ONE kid failed to qualify. That is unheard of. I think it speaks volumes to the types of kids that Meyer is recruiting these days to our school.

Why should the likes of Stanford, Duke and Vandy dumb down their standards for football players just to even the playing field, if a school chooses to have higher standards more power to them.

[Blue Hen]

Even Stanford, Duke, NW, Vandy, Rice and the service academies have somewhat lower standards for jock admissions, although those standards are way higher than those of the factories. I still think a 1050 SAT (old scale) and a HS core gpa of 3.00 should be bare minimum qualifications to receive a D1 athletic scholarship. This would pretty much level the playing field and not force those few schools with the higher standards to compromise much further. I'm for smarting up rather than dumbing down.

[GatorGrad]

Even Stanford, Duke, NW, Vandy, Rice and the service academies have somewhat lower standards for jock admissions, although those standards are way higher than those of the factories. I still think a 1050 SAT (old scale) and a HS core gpa of 3.00 should be bare minimum qualifications to receive a D1 athletic scholarship. This would pretty much level the playing field and not force those few schools with the higher standards to compromise much further. I'm for smarting up rather than dumbing down.

Do you realize that some regular students get into and attend D1 universities with high school GPA's that were under a 3.0 and SAT scores under 1050? Are you saying that the NCAA should have a HIGHER academic minimum for athletes compared to regular students? Ha.

[Blue Hen]

Yes I am...........for this reason : Playing CF is almost a full time job, requiring about 25-35 FB hours per week. That combined with being a legitimate full time college student requires a kid to be pretty disciplined and intelligent........unless he gets fraudulently pushed through.

[GatorGrad]

Come on, Hen. So you honestly think now that schools should discriminate by making the standards HIGHER for football players than regular students? So a regular student getting accepted to the University of South Florida with a 2.9 GPA or a 1030 SAT score would be OK, but if a football recruit has the same GPA or SAT score, they shouldn't be allowed to qualify?

Do you think "regular students" just sit around all day and do nothing but study? Many students have full time jobs as well and have to earn their way through college. Or they are involved in other activities, clubs, etc. Should they also raise standards for kids who plan on working 30 hours a week once they get on campus? Should that be part of the application? Like if you plan on working in college, you need a 1050 SAT score, but if you do not, a 1000 SAT score is enough?

[Blue Hen]

Good questions/points GG. OK..............1000 SAT and 2.75 core GPA...............my final offer !!!

[tigercpa]

By Gene Sapakoff
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Football season officially has started at the ambitious state university attached to the frequently expanding football stadium on George Rogers Boulevard. You can tell because the lips of South Carolina administrators are moving when Steve Spurrier talks.
That school president Andrew Sorensen stopped short of responding to Spurrier’s four-minute Sunday rant about South Carolina’s admission process for football players by donning a visor and offering a salute might be a good thing.
South Carolina (the university) evidently has drawn a line in the field turf with Sorensen telling The Post and Courier’s Travis Haney “our standard, even for our special admissions committee, is higher than the NCAA’s.”

This apparent Head Ball Coach vs. Institution quibble cuts deeper than Spurrier’s apparent concern for recruits Michael Bowman, a receiver from Wadesboro, N.C., and defensive back Arkee Smith, a defensive back from Jacksonville, Fla., who were denied admission despite meeting NCAA eligibility standards.
Spurrier, 62, wants to win big now.
As in Southeastern Conference title big. Fans, of course, will be happy if Spurrier can duplicate Lou Holtz-style New Year’s Day bowl victories at some sunny stadium in Florida.
But there are potential cracks within the Gamecock master plan, even for one of the greatest coaches in college football history:

--Academics vs. athletics. State universities want the prestige and cash flow that comes with national academic recognition, and they want good football and basketball teams, too. Tommy Bowden and his staff successfully negotiated tweaks in the Clemson admission system, which blazed the trail for Spurrier’s crusade. Both of these battles will continue at least into Signing Day ‘08, dividing influential boards and ordinary households.
The shallow base
--A compromise in recruiting philosophy. Spurrier already was struggling with the realization that major adjustments are necessary at South Carolina that were not necessary at Florida, his alma mater and previous college gig. The pool of good, academically prepared players is too shallow in the Gamecocks’ home-state recruiting base to accommodate his high demands. Which is why, stunningly, only seven of South Carolina’s original 32 signees this year are from South Carolina. Even more stunningly, more than 80 percent of the players in Spurrier’s first three recruiting classes were “special admissions” cases.
--Yes, how times have changed. Spurrier while at Florida thoroughly enjoyed pointing out that the academic prowess within his program was rivaled within the SEC only by Vanderbilt. Now he is asking South Carolina, rarely compared to Vanderbilt, to lower admission standards that are at least perceived to be a notch lower than those at such schools as the College of Charleston and Clemson.
--But all the Head Ball Coach ever asks for is a level playing field. He makes sure everyone in his golf foursome counts every shot. He has a shiny reputation with the NCAA enforcement office. He uses the word “permissible”
a lot when talking about NCAA rules. He knows some schools have coaches who cheat.
--High School Musical II. Already less popular than you would expect among high school coaches in South Carolina, Spurrier’s integrity essentially was questioned by Bowman’s high school coach, Jody Grooms. He implied that Bowman was “weeded out.”
Thin margin

--Fuzzy math. Spurrier and his staff “over-signed” for its last recruiting class, originally signing 32 new players when the NCAA limit is 25. Something has to give if everybody is academically qualified. Coincidentally, Bowman and Smith were among the lower rated players in the signing class and among the first dozen to commit. In the cutthroat, big-boy world of college football there are hurt feelings on every campus but this could have been handled much better — by a football office that has to know the impact of perception on reality.

--Gray area. Spurrier said the over-signing plan was grayshirting, the practice of having some players delay enrollment or attend fall semester classes part-time — at their own expense — until scholarships open up in January. But how many prospects in South Carolina’s recruiting base can afford to grayshirt their way through even one semester?

The margin for error is every bit as thin as a new Gamecock Club decal.
Spurrier, in two seasons at South Carolina, has qualified for back-to-back bowl games and has not lost a game the Gamecocks were expected to win. South Carolina this season just might compete for an SEC title by vaulting over Florida, Georgia and Tennessee in the rugged SEC East.

The SEC, however, is more unforgiving than The Ocean Course. Bowden, despite a 31-28 loss last November, has owned the Gamecocks. Slippage is only one 6-6 season away.

Reach Gene Sapakoff at gsapakoff@postandcourier.com .

http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/aug/08/a_crack_spurriers_master_plan12434/?print

["14-O" U.]

--Fuzzy math. Spurrier and his staff “over-signed” for its last recruiting class, originally signing 32 new players when the NCAA limit is 25. Something has to give if everybody is academically qualified. Coincidentally, Bowman and Smith were among the lower rated players in the signing class and among the first dozen to commit. In the cutthroat, big-boy world of college football there are hurt feelings on every campus but this could have been handled much better — by a football office that has to know the impact of perception on reality.


I've always liked Spurrier but I'm not convinced this situation was as simple as the school denying admission to players he wanted. It sure smells like he may just be covering up what was likely his choice to eliminate some less desirable players. As is common with big time coaches, he probably just had someone else take the fall for him and put the blame on the admissions office in thise case. If he takes the blame for pulling the scholarships it would be used against him in future recruiting battles.