wow...RichRod didn't hold back for the quotes in this one


Jackson


Big East rule could hinder Mountaineer recruiting
Jack Bogaczyk
Daily Mail Sports Editor



Wednesday February 08, 2006

MORGANTOWN -- The football recruiting class West Virginia landed last week was different than the previous five groups signed by Coach Rich Rodriguez.

It had to do with profile, but not with the small size of the class (15) or its collective or individual heights and weights.

The difference was academic.

No longer can WVU and its Big East Conference brethren take recruits who do not meet the NCAA initial eligibility standards.

A lopsided November vote by Big East university presidents ended the acceptance of non-qualifiers.

"I don't think they thought this out real well," Rodriguez said. "The way it is, it goes too far, in my estimation."

At the Big East presidents' official league meeting next month in conjunction with the men's basketball tournament, the policy language will be finalized.

Rodriguez doesn't expect much tweaking, if any.

The original vote was 13-3, and WVU, which has had success with a limited number of non-qualifiers, was in the minority.

Commissioner Mike Tranghese has admitted previous discussions and at times emotional debate focused on academics and didn't include consideration of the on-field ramifications of the nixing of non-qualifiers.

I'm all for continued progress in enhancing academics in major college athletics, and the subject has been getting new attention and additional quality control with the NCAA's Academic Performance Rating system that has gone into effect.

That said, this Big East decision, and its timing, strikes one as somewhat head-in-the-sand.

Considering only football, the Big East is playing in a popular-opinion stadium that's far south of its five Bowl Championship Series conference foes.

Big East pigskin, right now, doesn't need diminished recruiting pools.

I did some checking on non-qualifier guidelines in Division I-A conferences.

The Big East is the fourth BCS league to eliminate non-qualifiers, joining the Atlantic Coast, Big XII and Pacific-10.

In football, the Southeastern Conference allows two non-qualifiers annually per school.

The Big Ten has no blanket prohibition, but some of its schools don't allow NQs, as they are called.

However, if a Big Ten school takes a non-qualifier, although he cannot accept a grant-in-aid, he counts against the limits of 25 (annually) and 85 (total).

Below the BCS, the Mountain West also doesn't allow initial non-qualifiers, except as transfers (once they have credits elsewhere).

Conference USA, the Mid-American, Western Athletic Conference and the Sun Belt have no restrictions on signing non-qualifiers.

"The football coaches didn't have any say," Rodriguez said. "We were basically told this was being done ... I thought a limit of two per team would have been good.

"The SEC does OK with that. The Big Ten doesn't have (a formal limit), and they are known for their football and academics."

Rodriguez's program has done well with -- and by -- players who used to be labeled as "props," after the original Proposition 48 that created more NCAA academic credibility.

From the recent Sugar Bowl champions, receivers Brandon Myles, Darius Reynaud and Tyler Benoit were non-qualifiers, as were defensive back Eric Wicks and Thandi Smith and defensive lineman Johnny Dingle, a Florida transfer.

Receiver Brandon Barrett, former two-time Kennedy Award winner as the state's top player at Martinsburg High, was a non-qualifier at WVU. He will start next season.

"Myles, Benoit, Reynaud, Wicks, they're on the (WVU) Athletic Director's Honor Roll now," Rodriguez said. "Completely eliminating non-qualifiers isn't the answer, because I don't think whether you're (an NQ) is a true indication of potential collegiate success.

"Maybe you've missed on the sliding scale by 10 points on a test score or a tenth of a point on the (grade) average. Is it not possible for someone that close to get an opportunity he wants?

"Limit the number, that's fine. And if you take one or two and they don't graduate, then the program lose those scholarships for the next year."

Rodriguez said WVU approached its 2006 recruiting year differently. Formerly, the Mountaineers might tell a couple of borderline academic prospects that they'd take them as NQs, with players paying their own way for a year.

"This time, we told those kids if they didn't make it, we couldn't take them. We lost one or two that way. We had to make decisions on how we thought things would turn out."

The WVU coach also found the 2006 Big East football schedule, announced Tuesday, in what he called "a conflict" with the Big East policy on non-qualifiers.

"I think we have some people who sat up on their high horse about academics and pushed for this," Rodriguez said. "Well, they're talking out of both sides of their mouth. On one hand they say they're all for academics.

"On the other hand, we've got all these weeknight games (WVU is in four of the eight in the big East) that cost kids days in class or on campus. They say this policy makes a statement. It doesn't make a statement; this just eliminates opportunities."

That said, he isn't expecting a presidential pardon next month