SoCalHoops High School News

High Schools, CIF & Recruiting:
The Daily Breeze Chimes In--(Jan. 11, 2000)

Many articles have been written about the phenomenon of high school transfers, open enrollment, "recruiting" and claims of undue influence in high school basketball over the past five or six years. Many say that the current situation of students transferring to high profile programs is nothing new, others are alarmed about it.  Critics of open enrollment and athletic transfers say that there's "no loyalty" left among high school students anymore.  Proponents simply say that athletes are now making the same choices that an aspiring actor would make in being able to pick a school with a good drama department, the same opportunity that promising musicians, smart math or science students have had for years:  Pick the best program, maximize your opportunities, and improve your chances of being able to compete well beyond the high school environment.

The Daily Breeze is the latest to chime in with their "scandal" article on the subject.  And hey, even SoCalHoops gets a mention in the story. . . oh, by the way, they have the date of our Compton Centennial preview wrong though.  Our preview of Compton Centennial was on October 19, not October 20. . . details, details. . .

We're not quite sure how we feel about the Breeze's treatment of this subject, because it's a little too wide-reaching in scope and really jumps from topic to topic. . . summer ball, aau travel teams, free apparel, high school transfers.  Too much stuff, not enough space in such a short article, and the result is, from our perspective, a bit scattered.  CIF and "lack of control"?  Well, if you're going to treat the subject of transfers, then in our view, it's more important to educate the reading public about the actual rules relating to and governing transfers, rather than try to feed the continuing and common misconceptions about what is a "legal" or "illegal" transfer, and what the CIF's real role in all of this is.    But for the Breeze, the only thing that matters is if it "feels right" and as far as they are concerned, if it doesn't feel right, it must be wrong, must be the result of illegal recruiting. . . . where there's smoke, there's fire. . . .  Maybe there is, but the Breeze article doesn't really answer any of the questions it raises. Oh well. . . at least it makes interesting reading. 

The main focus of the article, at least the jumping off point is Compton Centennial, it's new coaches and the resultant transfers this season.  The CIF has apparently looked at the situation there, even assessed a four-game-forfeit penalty due to some missing paperwork for four students, but overall has determined that there's no problem.   But in the court of popular opinion, at least among the rival coaches in the league interviewed by the Breeze, there's uniform distaste for what's happened there.   Anyway, someone's gotta take a stand on this issue, and like the guys in Animal House, the Breeze says, "We're just the guys to do it. . . . ."   Their conclusion though is not startling:  "Pinning down one guilty party is next to impossible. The only certainty is there isn't a single guilty party, if guilty at all."

Since the Breeze doesn't have an archive, we'll post their article here.  They have a confusing website, hard to find articles (because they're not dated at the top and they seemingly post them in random order on a single page. . . you never know when and where they're going to appear and when they'll be gone. . . ).  Here's the article:

Playing in a gray zone

Apaches are latest model of disturbing transfer trend

By Sean Duncan
STAFF WRITER
Publish Date:Tuesday January 11

Three days after playing a prominent role for the West Torrance High football team against rival North on Oct. 15, Jurrell Davis checked out of West and was enrolled at Centennial High in Compton.

On Oct. 20, Davis and nine other transfer students were listed on Centennial's basketball roster on the SoCalHoops Internet site.

Among Centennial's new players was Anthony Coleman, a sweet-shooting 6-foot-8 forward who played with Davis at West the year before. Coleman had transferred to Centennial in mid-August.

When West basketball coach Karim Girgis heard about the transfers, he was stunned. Not only did he have no warning, but his potentially dominating team was reduced to a mediocre one.

“Initially, it was devastating to me as a coach,” Girgis said. “It hurt me personally to lose two kids who I have grown close to. It knocked us back a couple of steps. We went from the hands-down favorite to win league to the middle of the pack.”

Girgis, the 1999 Daily Breeze Coach of the Year, initially thought he did something to force the two players to transfer. Girgis realizes now that he did nothing wrong.

He just got a firsthand lesson of the state of high school athletics these days a transitory world that has players migrating to schools in chase of more exposure, more apparel and ultimately a college scholarship.

In the case of Davis and Coleman, they were simply following the newest Pied Piper of high school basketball, Rod Palmer. Palmer, who was under fire for various reasons at Compton High before resigning, took over as the head coach and athletic director at Centennial this season. He brought in 10 transfer students (nine are on the roster), ranging from Mississippi to Palisades.

Players transferring from one school to another for athletic purposes is nothing new. It happens all the time. But the sheer number of transfer players on Centennial's roster has raised a lot of eyebrows and many questions.

How can players freely transfer from school to school? What are the parameters of transferring? What is the impetus? What is in it for the players? For the coaches? Is it legal? If not, why can't it be stopped? Will it ever stop?

The questions are growing along with the problem. Many coaches can attest that the answers are elusive.

Some coaches call bringing in players from other schools recruiting, a wide-spreading cancer that has no cure. Others the growing majority maintain they are simply fulfilling the wishes of players who want to compete at the highest level of high school sports while keeping up with the competition.

Most agree on one point: The trend of transferring is here to stay. sptsub The Centennial paradigm

Centennial's basketball program has struggled in recent years. Last season, the Apaches finished fifth in the Bay League and missed the playoffs. Enter Palmer. While coaching at Compton, the boys basketball team had to forfeit almost all of its wins for using an ineligible player one season. Last season, seven Compton players became ineligible.

Yet 10 players flocked to Centennial this season. Four of Palmer's former players from Compton followed him to Centennial, along with two players from West, and one player each from Palisades, Lynwood and a Mississippi school. Another player from Washington D.C., who was listed on the roster, never enrolled.

Palmer did not return repeated phone calls for this story.

“Ten  players is ridiculous,” Carson coach Richard Masson said. “But take a look at every team that is very good they have very few players from their area. High school is like college ball.”

After receiving a filed complaint, the CIF Southern Section office looked into the Centennial situation. While it found no recruiting improprieties, it did make Centennial forfeit four preseason tournament games for not having the proper paperwork for all 10 of the transfer students. The paperwork has since been turned in, and now everything is fine, said CIF Southern Section Sports Information Coordinator Thom Simmons.

Centennial is 9-7 and 1-2 in the Bay League this season.

Centennial Principal Todd Irving also looked into the situation and said he found no wrongdoing.

“You definitely have to question it as an outsider,” Irving said. “that's why I'm doing everything by the book.

“Coach Palmer is an excellent coach. He brought instant credibility.”

Some disagree.

“Ten transfers is an indictment in itself,” Peninsula boys basketball coach Mike Boyd said. “Everybody's trying to get a leg up. That's what it boils down to. Realistically, are you telling me this is the best place to go to school Centennial?”

Of course, with all the transferring loopholes, it's all legal. Or as Masson put it, “illegally legal.”

Legal formation

In the CIF Constitution and bylaws, there are more than three pages on the rules and regulations of students' rights to transfer without losing eligibility.

The most obvious: when a student moves and shows a “ change of address.” Sounds simple, but this leads to fudging addresses. For example, a player will list an aunt or uncle as his legal guardian who lives within the area of the school he wants to transfer to.

“You've got situations where kids are living in apartments, living with coaches, you've got all of that,” Boyd said. “CIF should make it real easy. One change and that's it.”

In some school districts, like Long Beach, there is open enrollment. In this case a student can move from school to school within the district freely. A student is allowed to transfer once without moving. The only requisite is that the proper paperwork must be filed by May 15.

Other schools accept waivers and hardship waivers, which are the “imposition of a severe and nonathletic burden upon the student or his/her family.”

Some schools in the L.A. City Section offer magnet programs. Crenshaw, for example, has a teacher's education program. Any student who shows interest in becoming a teacher can enroll in the program. Masson said he recalled one year when eight of Crenshaw's 13 basketball members were enrolled in the teacher's education program.

Private parochial schools have always had free reign of transfers. Now public schools are catching up.

“CIF  has watered down the rules enough that it makes it easy,” El Segundo boys basketball coach Rick Sabosky said. “There are so many loopholes. Guys will find a way around it.”

Movers and shakers

While school-hopping is prevalent in all sports, it has the greatest affect on basketball because there are fewer players competing at a time.

“Basketball's probably the worst because it gets affected the quickest,” Boyd said. “Bring in one great player and you've got a good team. Bring in two great players, and you're going to be a force. You can't do that in football and baseball.”

Basketball is also the most visible because of its year-round all-star camps, traveling AAU teams and exposure tournaments. It's at these events, many coaches believe, the players are coaxed into transferring.

“The biggest culprits are the summer leagues and the traveling coaches,” Masson said. “It's almost like the high school season is the minor league system for the travel teams.”

“All-Star camps are so big because that's where the college coaches are,” Boyd said.

That's also where the free apparel is. All the top AAU and traveling teams are sponsored by Nike or Adidas, as are all-star camps.

Many high school assistant coaches help run or coach all-star camps. Often, that's when the first contact is made. For example, Coleman's coach at the Rim Rattler summer showcase was a Centennial assistant.

Coleman said at no time was he approached by someone in an effort to per suade him attend Centennial.

“Most of the assistant coaches do the recruiting,” Masson said.

But it's not just assistant coaches. Other players and parents also serve as recruiters.

“Travel ball and all that stuff, they should find a way to outlaw it. Or at least regulate it,” Sabosky said. “If you go to one, it's a crack-up. There are so many college coaches there it's a meat market. College coaches don't want to go to high school games anymore ... why should they?

“It's a sickness in basketball.”

Finger of blame

Pick a blame, any blame: Kids no longer have allegiance to their school. Coaches will field the best teams by any means necessary. School administrators choose to look the other way. The CIF office refuses to do anything about it.

Pinning down one guilty party is next to impossible. The only certainty is there isn't a single guilty party, if guilty at all.

“I think the real problem isn't the kids,” Boyd said. “It's the adults. The administrators turn their heads. You can't blame the kids. What kid doesn't want to play on a terrific team? The kids are just the pawns. But they're smart pawns.”

Three years ago, Sabosky's star player, Brad Jackson, transferred to South Torrance. Sabosky, however, videotaped Spartans coach LaMont Henry picking up Jackson at his mother's house in Inglewood and driving him to school. When Sabosky brought the video tape to South administrators, they refused to look at it.

Henry and Jackson each received a minor suspension and went on with the season.

Players and players' parents aren't stupid. They want the best possible situation, the most exposure to help them get a college scholarship, which can be worth more than $100,000 these days.

“I just needed to get more looks from college coaches,” Coleman said. “I wanted more exposure. I saw (Centennial) in the summer and my dad and I liked the way they played.”

Former All-Area guard Brandon Granville played his first three years at St. Bernard before transferring his senior season to perennial powerhouse Westchester. Westchester wound up winning the state championship and Granville earned a scholarship to USC.

“Kids feel like they have to be at a certain program in order to get looks,” Girgis said.

Redondo coach Jim Nielsen has been on both sides of the fence. He's been accused of bringing in players, and he had a high-profile player transfer out last year when point guard Marcus Moore left for Dominguez.

Nielsen said not once has he solicited a player. They just want to play for a winning program.

“I get at least two calls a month from parents wanting their kid to come to Redondo,” Nielsen said.

Said Masson: “The loyalty and integrity are gone. This has been a problem for quite a while now. But people now are abusing it and it's out of control.”

It's not uncommon to hear about coaches bringing in three or four players a year. Inglewood had four transfers this season. So why have lower-level programs?

Since coaches don't get a monetary bonus if they make the playoffs or win a certain amount of games, why do they do it in the first place?

“It's feeding egos, that's all it can be,” Boyd said. “ I see (coaches) bringing people in, it's not coaching. They're baby-sitters. But being a coach is a double-edged sword. They feel like they need good players to win, and if you win you have a job.”

“Coaches think they are great when they get players,” Sabosky said. “It's not bad if a kid moves and transfers to a school. It's the guys who are beating the bushes for the kids.”

There have been blatant cases of illegal inducement, and it's widely known that it happens. So why doesn't the CIF Southern Section office do anything about it?

Sabosky, who has been a member of the CIF basketball committee for years, has heard countless cases.

“That stuff gets brought up and basically shelved,” Sabosky said. “They turn and look the other way. Nobody wants to deal with it. When guys do get investigated, nothing gets done. Everybody is afraid of lawsuits.

“I think one of the biggest fears is if CIF pushes too hard, somebody will sue them.”

Said Boyd: “CIF doesn't want to get involved. They're afraid.”

Nielsen learned the hard way that very little can be done. He said he had eight signed affidavits stating that Dominguez coach Russell Otis talked with Moore prior to his transfer a blatant infraction.

“Yet CIF chose not to enter any of it in the hearing,” Nielsen said.

The case was ultimately thrown out because Nielsen said Inglewood had an affidavit saying that Redondo recruited Moore, which was untrue, Nielsen said.

“I learned in the Marcus Moore situation that CIF has little control, if any,” Nielsen said.

Simmons said the CIF office is not afraid of lawsuits.

“We have 540 member schools,” Simmons said. “For us to be actively policing all the schools is an impossible task.”

Simmons said the CIF office relies on the school administrators to help police. But as one area coach put it, many schools have “-friendly administrators.” sptsub The bottom line

Is there an answer to the growing problem? The simple answer is no.

As shady as some cases may be, often they are legal, or not provable. The CIF needs a smoking gun in order to do anything, and it is extremely difficult to get verifiable proof.

“Contact is impossible to prove,” Girgis said.

But not all cases fall through the cracks. The Narbonne girls basketball team had its state title stripped two years ago and couldn't compete in the playoffs last season after being found guilty of recruiting. More times than not, however, such penalties are not incurred.

“Coaches need to do what's right,” Sabosky said. “ lot of people do it, some are just more blatant than others.

“The answer really is to have two groups: A homogenous group and a recruiting league. Because what it is now is you're playing traveling teams.”

“It's gotten to the point where there are the haves and the have-nots,” Girgis said. “Basically, you're playing against all-star teams. ... How do you stop it?”

With all the finger-pointing, proposed solutions and varying opinions, most coaches agree on one thing: recruiting and high-volume transfers are here to stay.

“What can I do? Nothing,” Boyd said. “'ll just tell the truth. We need people to stand up and say what's right. I don't see an end. It's a big mess out there.

“The real misconception is what success really is. It's not wins and losses, I'll tell you that. Life just doesn't work that way.”

©Copyright 1997-2000 All rights reserved
Questions? Comments? Need Information?
E-mail: jegesq@socalhoops.com