doug520

SoCalHoops College News Report

Doug Wrenn Announces He'll
Attend Prep School, Not UDub--(May 20, 1998)

Doug Wrenn (6'-4" Sr. G) finally publicly announced what many recruiting analysts had known for months: That the NCAA Clearinghouse had not approved two of his courses as "core" curriculum, and therefore even though Wrenn passed the SAT, he did not gain overall academic eligibility. Today, he read from a prepared statement at a press conference and announced that he would attend an as yet undetermined East Coast prep school next year. "This is a crucial point in my life," said Wrenn. "I have to take a hard look at what's best for Doug Wrenn," he said. "I hope after a year of prep school Washington will recruit me as a freshman," he said. "My No. 1 option is going to be Washington going into the process again, [but] everything is going to be wide open."

Washington basketball coach Bob Bender could not be reached for comment but issued a release saying he completely supported Wrenn's efforts to improve his academic record. But, by refusing the scholarship, Wrenn has effectively ended his commitment to the UW.

Wrenn will continue to attend classes at Seattle's O'Dea High School, but will not formally graduate with the rest of his class on May 27.

While there had been clear indications that the NCAA Clearinghouse would not approve the two courses, Wrenn's statement indicated that he was "surprised" by the decision. "I thought I was going to be playing basketball for the Huskies next year in front of my friends and family - now I'm going to be playing thousands of miles away," he said.

Apparently the process went something like this: Wrenn got a letter from the Clearinghouse, which is the agency ultimately charged with approving the academic eligibility of incoming D-I freshmen back in March. The letter said that the Clearinghouse was questioning two classes: language arts class and a math class which were both taken during Wrenn's freshman year at O'Dea. Wrenn first spoke to a counselor at his school, determined that he could not go to summer school, and finally decided to call coach Bender for advice. "I called coach Bender, and he got right on it. He got back to me in about an hour on something that could've taken a couple days." But unfortunately, Bender could not solve the problem, thus leaving Wrenn with the choice of either taking the SAT again to get a higher score to compensate for the two missing classes, attend a JUCO, or go to prep school.

Wrenn did not seriously consider going the JUCO route, and he said so in his statement: "I don't think I need junior college," Wrenn said. "I don't think I need to develop for another two years. It was basically a no-brainer."