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SoCalHoops College Recruiting News

Big Time Correction: Oxy Signs
Signs 8, Not 10--(May 19, 1998)

Yesterday we reported that Occidental College had "signed" 10 players during the spring signing period. Oops. Our bad. Actually it was only 8, and it turns out that the rumors of Tyler Okamato and Josh Long "signing" were just that, i.e., rumors.

We also got a little more enlightened on the DIII "signing" procedure. Coach Brian Newhall of Occidental informed us that:

"A D-III 'LOI' is when a student makes a deposit ($400) to our admissions department. We do not use "LOI".....the deposit indicates that they have accepted their financial aid package and "committed" to coming in the Fall."

Coach Newhall also wrote to say:

"If you know of any 3.5 gpa, 1200 SAT's who are looking for schools we are always interested."

So we called coach Newhall just to make sure that someone wasn't just pulling our leg, and sure enough, he confirmed that neither Okamato or Long were on his list of "commits" and that neither of them, to his knowledge had put their money up with the admissions office.

Coach Newhall also spoke about the concept of D-III ball in general, addressing the so-called stigma which it seems to have with many high school coaches and players who seem to think D-I is the only way to fly. "It's a shame that many good high school players seem to think their choice is 'D-I or nothing'." Coach Newhall wasn't talking about the JUCO players who can't qualify, but those with the grades to play at schools like Oxy. "We could probably fill a roster with top caliber players from some of the UC intramural squads who, because they weren't given the exposure or weren't at that 1% of the top players didn't get D-I scholarships and have given up on competitive ball; had they come to Occidental, they could still get a first-rate education and still play competitively," said Newhall.

He also let us know just how high the standard is at a school like Oxy: Stephan Swiatt (6'-5" So. SF) from Orange Coast College who actually has committed, reportedly scored 1400 on his SAT. Now that's bright.