Columnist Dean Juipe: NCAA back to looking at freshmen

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2000 | 10:13 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

The NCAA has the tenacity of a pit bull.

When the organization that governs collegiate sports gets hold of something it just won't let go, no matter how many times you swat it over the head.

Its unbending opposition to legalized sports gambling in Nevada is merely one example of the NCAA's resolve. The fact that it also has sufficient clout and the financial resources to push its agenda forward only accentuates its power.

It doesn't give up easy, as proven by its refusal to let the issue of freshmen eligibility die quietly.

Assuming they're academically qualified, freshmen have been eligible to participate in all college sports since 1972. But in recent times the NCAA has considered reversing its position and barring freshmen from game competition.

The matter appeared to be resolved in July of last year when an NCAA task force voted to retain the status quo.

But now freshmen eligibility is back on the front burner, courtesy of a newly formed NCAA subcommittee. In a bizarre and perhaps illegal stance, that subcommittee will focus exclusively on the question of freshmen eligibility in men's basketball.

To NCAA President Cedric Dempsey's credit, he has acknowledged the legal drawback if freshmen are prohibited in men's basketball and has gone so far as to say he would expect it to be formally challenged in court.

But that doesn't mean he -- and that subcommittee -- might not be willing to take their chances. For some reason, the NCAA wants to revert to the dark days when freshmen played at what amounted to a junior-varsity level and it may believe it can substantiate its position in court.

This is an issue that has lingered too long, yet it's one that the reformists say needs to be re-addressed due to their acquiring some new ammunition. And here it is: Graduation rates in men's basketball have dipped to 33 percent, compared to 58 percent for all Division-I athletes.

Also to be considered by the subcommittee -- which will report to the faculty-rep stocked Knight Commission by spring -- is the fact that 68 percent of the men's basketball players in college are minorities. So there's a potential civil-rights suit involved as well, should the NCAA go forward and bar freshmen in this single sport.

The NCAA admits its lawyers are already studying the legal ramifications of the issue, which implies that it would prefer to change the eligibility rule and might welcome such a recommendation from the subcommittee.

But what the NCAA doesn't seem to grasp is that countless young men would skip college altogether if it means sitting out a season in what they believe is the prime of their physical life. If you think too many kids are jumping from high school to the NBA as it is, imagine the chaos if the NCAA bans freshmen.

Further, a high school player with borderline NBA talent might bypass college and play in a minor league rather than sit in the stands as a college freshman.

From virtually any perspective, the NCAA shouldn't be debating this issue.

Put it to rest. Let the freshmen in college basketball play as we're accustomed to seeing, as is their legal right if every other freshman athlete is eligible.