NCAA rule comes under fire

Steve Addy

Friday, July 27, 2001 | 10:14 a.m.

Any time the NCAA adds a page to its men's basketball recruiting rules, a roomful of coaches is certain to give it 200 thumbs down.

They tend to get crabby when the NCAA makes their jobs more difficult.

But at this week's Big Time Tournament, where most Division I head coaches are scouting, their dislike for one of the NCAA's newest rules has been especially keen.

Starting this year, Division I teams are limited to eight new scholarships -- "initial counters" in NCAA lingo -- over a two-year period, with no more than five in any year. Every new player on scholarship counts, whether they are a freshman, Juco transfer or Division I transfer.

The bylaw was passed in April 2000, but goes into effect next week. It has come to be known as the "5/8 rule," but coaches have other names for it, many of them unprintable.

"It's not a good rule at all. I hate it," said Fresno State's Jerry Tarkanian, the former UNLV coach. "You've got no room for error."

"We've already got more rules than we can say grace over," Rebels coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "This is a rule with good intentions, but bad results. I don't like it."

The coaches' disapproval doesn't stem from the rule's supposed intent: to prevent them from yanking scholarships from underperformers to facilitate wholesale roster changes.

In the coaching racket, it's known as "running off" players, which often occurs after a program changes coaches. Even when the new coach promises a player he can stay on scholarship but ride the bench, the player gets the hint, transfers elsewhere and frees up a scholarship for a fresh face.

Last year, San Diego State coach Steve Fisher drastically altered his roster by encouraging five transfers, including one of his first 1999 recruits. But the new rule makes such tactics obsolete.

The rule was also intended to reward programs that recruit players who will stay in school for three or four years. Programs with a high level of player transiency are already suffering scholarship shortages because the 5/8 rule prevents them from immediately replacing everyone.

That is mostly what has the coaches in an uproar. The NCAA wants coaches to work harder to keep players in their programs, but no 5/8 exceptions are made when an underclassman leaves for the NBA, transfers, flunks out, quits the program or suffers a career-ending injury.

"Some coaches run off players, but not as many as the NCAA is painting it," Virginia's Pete Gillen said. "Some kids leave on their own. Some transfer in good academic standing or go the NBA. You should be able to get those scholarships back.

"As always, the people making the rules are up in their ivory towers. They're not down in the infantry. The intentions were good and there is some value in the rule, but it's not exactly commensurate with reality."

Though the rule didn't alter the team-wide scholarship limit -- 13 per year -- it is already having that affect. Some high-profile programs will have 10 or fewer scholarship players next season because of mass defections to the NBA or transfers.

Arizona lost three underclassmen to the NBA -- Michael Wright, Richard Jefferson and Gilbert Arenas -- and almost lost Jason Gardner. But even with Gardner staying and the Wildcats signing five players, they'll have 10 scholarship players next season, and only three new scholarships to award in 2002-03.

Arizona lost an appeal to the NCAA, as have Texas Tech and six other schools. Texas Tech will have nine scholarship players in coach Bobby Knight's first season, largely because he kicked three players off the team and a fourth decided to transfer.

UNLV benefitted from Knight's housecleaning, because he also didn't want Juco recruit Jamal Holden, who signed under previous Tech coach James Dickey. The Rebels signed Holden in May after Knight released him.

Spoonhour still doesn't like the rule, though it worked in his favor with Holden. UNLV gave five scholarships in this class, and is already two scholarships short this season and next because of NCAA sanctions.

"The idea is to keep (coaches) from running off people or discontinuing scholarships," he said. "I've never really done that, but the premise is good -- to protect the student-athlete by making it harder to take away his aid.

"But the rule was put in without any thought about how it would work."

Nolan Richardson of Arkansas said, "If I send a player to the NBA after two years, like Joe Johnson this year, then I feel I've done my job. I've gotten him ready to make a great salary out in the workplace. Why should my program not (regain a scholarship) from that?"

There is hope for a rule revision. In October, the NCAA is scheduled to review a proposal to permit teams to recover scholarships under certain circumstances, though it's doubtful that allowances will be made for an underclassman leaving for the NBA.

"They're going to take a bad rule and modify it," Richardson said. "But all they'll have is a modified bad rule, instead of doing what's right. They should get rid of it and start over."

"I think the rule will be revisited," said Gillen, who gave five scholarships this year. "There have to be some exceptions."