judge denies stay

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

More Chaos In Recruiting: Judge Denies
Stay In NCAA Prop 16 Case--(March 16, 1999)

Yesterday, in response to several inquiries on the message board, we featured some selections from articles about the recent ruling by a US District Court Judge in Philadelphia which struck down Proposition 16, which is the provision whereby the NCAA set initial eligibility standards for incoming freshmen. Essentially, the old rules provided that students had to complete a certain number of core classes, and then had to have a specific grade-point average and SAT or ACT score (a sliding scale) in order to be eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics. On March 9, the court struck down Prop. 16 by granting a summary judgment in a case brought by two minority students who contended that the SAT-GPA requirement was not reasonable and violated federal law. The court agreed and in a 52 page written opinion, ruled for the plaintiffs.

The NCAA immediately issued a press release (posted here yesterday) saying that the NCAA would (1) seek reconsideration and/or clarification of the ruling, (2) would seek a stay of enforcment pending appeal so that new rules could be formulated, and (3) would appeal from the judge's ruling in any event.

This morning (Tuesday, March 16, 1999), the same federal judge denied the NCAA's request to delay enforcement of the court order that bars the use of minimum standardized test scores as an eligibility requirement for freshmen athletes.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter, who issued the initial ruling last week that struck down Proposition 16, denied the NCAA's request for a stay.

Immediate enforcement of Buckwalter's initial ruling could cause chaos among the 302 Division I schools who would suddenly be without a critical recruiting guideline, NCAA counsel David Bruton said in court. The NCAA also said the ruling could affect teams participating in the men's and women's basketball tournaments now going on. "Because the number of spots available for recruiting and athletic scholarships are limited, the rules of the game are knocked out," Bruton said in court Monday about the end of the minimum test score requirements for freshmen.

Well, that's not entirely true, because most academic institutions already have minimum admission requirements anyway. But at least for now, there is no NCAA rule in place, and even the NCAA acknowledges that this is the case.

Stay tuned, because there will undoubtedly be more on this in the next few days.

We just received word from John Saintignon, the head coach at Bonita Vista High School that Roy Morris (6'-1" Sr. PG) has committed to the University of San Diego.

Apparently Roy took a recruiting trip there this past weekend, and after enjoying it and liking what he saw, made the decision to stay local. Roy has good size, an excellent handle, and this season, prior to the playoffs, was averaging 15.3 ppg and 5.3 rebounds per game. With Victory Esquer (6'-1" Sr. SG), Tyson Leninger (6'-2" Sr. F), Lamar Robson (6'-3" Sr. F) and Sonny Jensen (6'-6" Sr. C), Bonita Vista won the San Diego CIF Section Division I title by defeating Southwest, 75-62 in a game which saw Morris, an All-County selection, hit for 15 points and grab 12 rebounds. Bonita Vista lost in the first round of the State Southern Regional playoffs to Mater Dei, but that was a game played without Robson, their leading rebounder who averaged 14.4 rebounds per game, who was sick with the flu.

With Morris signing at USD, it looks like the long wait for Kyle Dodd (6'-0" Sr. PG) from Brea-Olinda to make up his mind is now over; Dodd, is reportedly still looking at Utah and other schools will probably make a decision in the next few weeks.