Over signing classes and Troy
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June 2009
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I was meaning to comment on this a couple of days ago and never got around to it, but it looks like the practice of over signing recruiting classes could be on its way out. The SEC banned the practice a couple of days ago, which is likely the first step toward the NCAA banning it all together. Why should UNT fans care? Troy is really, really good by Sun Belt standards and is really, really good at making the practice work in its favor. Troy waits and pounces on great players who don't qualify academically, signs them and then places them in junior colleges. Junior college coaches agree to give them back after two years. The ones that make it play for Troy, which proceeds to dominate the league with players of a higher caliber than Sun Belt teams usually get. Eugene Kinlaw, the NJCAA National Defensive Player of the Year, was a sign-and-place player Troy is getting back this year. It would do UNT a world of good if the NCAA bans Troy from using that practice in the future. Here's a link to Sports Illustrated's story on the issue: Over signing E-mail entry: |
Brett -
I have to say I like your take on the issue. Let me put my cards on the table - I am a Troy grad and respect Larry Blakeney very much. With that said, I am in favor of schools not signing partial qualifiers or players who clearly are only there for the football and not the education.
Gotta ask, though - if Troy can do it as well as it does, why can't the Mean Green? It was obviously legal to do it. I see the logic in eliminating over-signing, but don't blame Blakeney for getting benefit from a system that allows it.
Now that I live in Dallas (for almost a week now), I am looking forward to Troy in Denton in 2010. In the meantime, I hope to enjoy seeing the Mean Green improve and make the Belt a better conference.
So, if a kid has an opportunity to better himself becasue of his athletic ability but doesn't have the acceptable test scores (SAT or ACT) he should be kicked to the curb? "Well he isn't smart enough to go to a 4 year school, so let's just give up on him being a college graduate", is that it? Or, maybe, just maybe Coach Blakeney (and staff) feel that some kids can qualify if given an opportunity, and still compete on the athletic field (in JUCO)then once they have completed their eligibility OR get qualified, they can move to the next level. By helping these kids in the first place (it isn't hard to determine if a kid is going to qualify or not) allows them to repay this act by returning to the school that helped them with that opportunity. It isn't a matter of 'stockpiling' players, it is a way in which Troy's staff looks at building relationships with not only possible future players, but also with those staffs at the juco colleges. Does anyone in Dallas remember a kid from Snow Junior College? He was a quarterback named Jason White. I bet he was glad that Oklahoma gave him a chance out of JUCO and, BTW, so are the OU Sooner fans.
Did you know that 7 SEC schools "oversigned" commitments this past year? Obviously not to the extent of Ole Miss or Troy, but 7 did sign more than 25. So, let's not blanket Larry Blakeney as 'the only one who does it', Army signed 55 kids (does anyone out there think they are oversigning to put kids in juco for their future?).
Think about it before
So, if a kid has an opportunity to better himself becasue of his athletic ability but doesn't have the acceptable test scores (SAT or ACT) he should be kicked to the curb? "Well he isn't smart enough to go to a 4 year school, so let's just give up on him being a college graduate", is that it? Or, maybe, just maybe Coach Blakeney (and staff) feel that some kids can qualify if given an opportunity, and still compete on the athletic field (in JUCO)then once they have completed their eligibility OR get qualified, they can move to the next level. By helping these kids in the first place (it isn't hard to determine if a kid is going to qualify or not) allows them to repay this act by returning to the school that helped them with that opportunity. It isn't a matter of 'stockpiling' players, it is a way in which Troy's staff looks at building relationships with not only possible future players, but also with those staffs at the juco colleges. Does anyone in Dallas remember a kid from Snow Junior College? He was a quarterback named Jason White. I bet he was glad that Oklahoma gave him a chance out of JUCO and, BTW, so are the OU Sooner fans.
Did you know that 7 SEC schools "oversigned" commitments this past year? Obviously not to the extent of Ole Miss or Troy, but 7 did sign more than 25. So, let's not blanket Larry Blakeney as 'the only one who does it', Army signed 55 kids (does anyone out there think they are oversigning to put kids in juco for their future?).
Think about it before