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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Schea Cotton Saga Continues
To Be A Mystery--(Aug. 5, 1998)

North Carolina State basketball recruit Schea Cotton, the most highly touted player ever signed by Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek, will not enroll at North Carolina State University. Sendek held a news conference yesterday evening and confirmed the fact that Cotton will not enroll as a student. He had been anticipated to at least enroll this fall in the hope that he could either convince the NCAA or obtain some sort of injunctive relief entitling him to play this year or next year. Sendek refused to discuss why the two-time Parade All-America from Long Beach, Calif., whose SAT score twice has been disallowed by the NCAA, would not be attending State, but "the crux of the matter is he's not coming,'' the coach said. Sendek declined to say whether the decision on Cotton was made by him or university officials. "In this matter,'' Sendek said. "I think it's best that I say less.''

Cotton's mother was contacted by newspaper sources Tuesday evening, and said she did not know why her son would not be joining the Wolfpack. "I wish I knew, I really do,'' she said by telephone from Long Beach. "But I'll tell you this much. This wasn't something that our family decided. The one thing I've learned about college basketball is it's a business.''

Schea Cotton, who has deferred all questions to his mother and attorney
Stuart Rice, was unavailable for comment. So was Rice.

His mother would not elaborate on her comment, other than to say that she recently heard a rumor that Schea would not honor his commitment to N.C. State. "We've never said that Schea wasn't coming to N.C. State,'' Gaynell Cotton said. "I really don't know what to think right now. We didn't have a backup plan. Why would we need one? He was planning to go to N.C. State. That was the only plan.''

Gaynell Cotton said she did not know who made the decision, but "it didn't come from us.''

Cotton has previously committed to three different schools -- N.C. State, Long Beach State, UCLA -- but hasn't attended any of them.

Gaynell Cotton said she was even more surprised at what she views as disinterest on N.C.State's part considering her son's decision to take the Scholastic Assessment Tests under standard conditions. He received a qualifying score last fall, but it was rejected twice by the NCAA because he took the test with special accommodations -- bigger print and extra time -- and the NCAA ruled those services should not have been rendered. The test will be administered again Oct. 10, but she said that Schea has not yet registered for it.

Gaynell Cotton also told newspaper sources that Schea is currently being tutored for the SAT and would be getting help as well for the ACT. If Cotton receives a qualifying score on either exam in the fall, he can enroll for the spring semester and be eligible to play immediately for any school willing to sign him. Other than taking both standardized tests, Cotton has no definite plans, his mother said. When asked whether he would consider going overseas or playing professionally, she said, "If we were thinking about that, he would have been in one of the summer leagues out here getting ready. What's done is done. I can't do anything about it. It's their decision.''

Now that Cotton appears out of the picture at North Carolina State, many of you may not care who they are recruiting, but Sendek has his irons in the fire with several top 100 players, and has two scholarships to give. He likely will use both of them, especially with the Wolfpack being involved with several top-100 players, possibly Raleigh native Tony Robertson, who now plays in Rhode Island, and New York City's Kenny Satterfield, or possibly Matt Carroll from Horsham, Pa., who at 6'-6" is considered a top-30 prospect by many recruiting gurus. This summer, Carroll was a member of the12-player USA Junior World Championships Qualifying Team that won a gold medal in the Dominican Republic. One of his teammates was Wolfpack signee Adam Harrington. While playing at the Bob Gibbons' Tournament of Champions in May, Carroll said he planned to make his decision during the early signing period in November. It probably will come down to State and Wake Forest, which has only one scholarship available.

As for Schea, we'd guess that he will continue to resist the JC route, although we really don't understand why he would do that. He can play for two years at, say, LACC for Mike Miller and potentially lead them to yet another State Championship and pretty much be assured of gaining admission in two years to virtually any Pac-10 school he wants. On the other hand, he can continue to hang tough with the NCAA, and he'll be a 30 year old freshman, watching his basketball future in the rear view mirror.

Truly a mystery, and one we can't quite figure out how he's going to solve.