Dan Monson is a never-say-never kind of guy when it comes to the NCAA’s latest change to the recruiting rules.
The Long Beach State head coach cited competitiveness as one of the reasons he thought the NCAA decided to classify seventh-graders as men’s basketball prospects in mid-January.
“The problem is they’re being recruited now and competitiveness [of coaches] is part of the problem,” Monson said. “Coaches figure out how to play within the rules.
“The success of early commitment recruits forced the NCAA to [change the rule.]”
The old rule classified high school freshmen as the youngest prospects coaches could recruit.
The change comes in light of a trend of some college coaches “working at private, elite camps and clinics for seventh- and eighth-graders” and schools expressed concern that participating coaches received a recruiting advantage, according to an article on ESPN.com.
Joe D’Antonio, the chairman of the 31-member Division I Legislative Council, told The Associated Press, “It’s a little scary only because — we talked about this — where does it stop?”
LBSU athletic director Vic Cegles expressed a similar sentiment, adding, “When you’re recruiting seventh- and eighth-graders that’s really pushing it. It tells you how competitive the whole thing really is.
“It tells you something negative about our culture.”
As an example, Monson used O.J. Mayo, the former Southern California star who played one season at USC before bolting for the NBA last summer. Mayo’s name was circulating around headlines as a can’t-miss prospect even before he started attending high school.
“I saw O.J. Mayo play a lot,” Monson said. “[If he] were to express interest in playing for Long Beach State, it would be hard for me to say, ‘hey, you’re just a seventh-grader.’
“I would like to say I wouldn’t, but I want to win.”
From an athletic department standpoint, Cegles said schools were allowed to even go as far as send student-athletes to read to middle schoolers to promote teams.
“Now you can’t touch anybody,” he said.
One of the things coaches took advantage of in the old system was the unlimited amount of contact with prospects, Monson added.
“You could call them any time, if you wanted,” Monson said. “I don’t know if [the rule is] not needed. I think you do whatever to win within the rules. I can’t say never but I haven’t.”