TM

SoCal College Basketball News

Can the NABC Stop Recruits from
Embarrassing Themselves?--(November 16, 1997)

Another gem from the Star News (11/16/97) and Javier Morales. In his column today he writes about the embarrassing and immature way two recruits, Quentin and Chris Richardson handled themselves during their "signings" last Wednesday. They're not related, although you might have guessed the were from the similar way they both acted. Quentin announced that he signed with DePaul, and Chris has signed with UNLV. For their sakes, we hope that DePaul Coach Pat Kennedy and UNLV Coach Bill Bayno can teach these kids a few things about the world, and how to act in it, besides just how to play college basketball.

Both of the Richardsons staged "media events" last week to announce their signings. One, Quentin Richardson, even had his own Internet page home page, The Quentin Richardson Official Homepage (can't find the URL. . . know we had it around here somewhere. . .), on which he touted himself by publishing "Q-Tips" each day. For weeks prior to his announced signing, the site teased visitors with gems like: ``The school that I've chosen will go the Final Four in my freshman year. I expect to play games in the United Center. In college I will be wearing a blue uniform with No. 34. . . . Many of my games will be televised.'' On Wednesday night, the high school senior, who won't graduate until June, even held a "press conference" in a Chicago restaurant, to announce that he would attend DePaul.

Give us a break kid.

You're from Chicago. Go rent a copy of Hoop Dreams. Do it now, and then get back to us with your "press conference".

And then there's the other Richardson, Chris, of Corpus Christi, who turned down Arizona, thus freeing up Ricky Anderson's spot with the Wildcats. In contrast to Ricky's subdued, almost private (except for media interruptions) celebration with his family, Morales writes that Richardson put on quite a show when he turned down Lute Olson:

"Chris Richardson, no relation, of Corpus Christi (Texas) Carroll High School also staged a production at his family's home Wednesday night. Neighborhood kids, one by one, walked into the house holding a poster of each school that recruited Richardson, including Arizona, as he stepped to a makeshift podium in the living room. Richardson addressed the media, saying, ``I have asked you to come here tonight so I can announce to you that I will be attending . . . '' He then stepped away, walked to his bedroom and remained there for five minutes before emerging with a UNLV sweatshirt. ``Take a look at me now, and continue to look, because the best is yet to come,'' he said."

Makes you want to puke.

These kids have never even played a minute of college basketball, in fact they haven't even played their senior season in high school, and already they're staging "media events".

Had Lute Olson actually witnessed this sorry spectacle of the Richardsons, both of whom he recruited, he probably never would have offered them scholarships in the first place. We're glad Lute finally came to his senses and decided to offer a nice, down to earth kid like Ricky the spot after all. Ricky's glad, his family's happy. And only time will tell if the two Richardsons discover the meaning of the word "humble".

Lute Olson told Morales ``The biggest problem is that by the time everybody gets done recruiting kids, their only question is whether they can jump to the NBA or whether they can come in and lock up a starting position. They expect immediate gratification. They don't realize that guys who have already been in college, probably for a year, or maybe two or three, are pretty heavily qualified themselves.''

Hey what about the concept of their scholarships also being called "academic scholarships"? They aren't just "rides", they're supposed to reward an athlete by allowing him to attend a school so that he can get an education while he plays. What about that Chris? How about it Q? We'd like to suggest that both of you read the October 20, 1997 issue of Sports Illustrated's article by Bruce Anderson at page 116, entitled "No Free Ride". That's why you're going to college.

Morales believes this type of behavior is a symptom of the ``Me Generation'' or ``Generation X.'' But, he also writes that the "me" attitude is also largely attributable to what he describes as "overzealous Amateur Athletic Union coaches, a network of recruiting services and those shoe company camps, such as the prestigious Nike and adidas events" which over-inflate the kids' egos.

As we've reported here many times already, and as Morales notes, the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations and the National Association of Basketball Coaches have both come out in favor of limiting "off-season" or summer recruiting, replacing the current system with more recruiting by college coaches during the high school season to give high school coaches "more control" over the process, and also instituting a series of regional USA Basketball sponsored development camps. That way if a college coach wants to see a particular player, he will know in advance which regional camp the player is attending, and can schedule a visit under a more controlled environment than currently seems to exist at the shoe company and all-star summer tournaments.

Of course, as we've also reported, and as Dana and Dave Pump, Sonny Vaccaro, and others have said, even if the NABC proposal does become effective, the shoe company camps and the traveling team tournaments, such as the Las Vegas Grande Finale and the Pump Shootouts, will still continue to be held; there's simply too many people now involved who make their living promoting these events (some of whom actually also believe they're doing something good for the kids). These events won't just disappear.

But Morales does point out the obvious effect of the NABC proposal, one that we haven't seen anyone else express, and which is probably so obvious that it's been overlooked by most of the commentators: Morales notes that with the restrictions, the Nike and adidas camps, and others such as Issy Washington's Annual Slam-N-Jam NIT Tournament in Long Beach, Calif., and the Big Time Tourney in Las Vegas--- events which are stocked with AAU coaches and tons of player talent--- would simply be void of college coaches in the stands. They'd still be held, you just wouldn't see any of the coaches there.

This would, of course, only make AAU coaches, scouting services, recruiting services and recruiting analysts such as Bob Gibbons, Van Coleman and Clark Francis, all of whom have their contacts with the college coaches, even more critical to the process. Why? "They would be the eyes and ears for coaches at those events," writes Morales.

And even if the NABC plan does go into effect, it'll have zero effect on guys like the two Richardsons: There's probably nothing the NCAA can do to stop two apparently immature high school kids from embarrassing themselves and their families at signing time.

Maybe the NABC wants to rethink it's strategy a bit?

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