tommy johnson fails to qualify

socalogo.gif (8739 bytes)
SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Tommy Johnson Fails To Qualify
At Washington State--(Nov. 15, 2000)

This is going to be a tough year for Tommy Johnson (6'-5" Fr. SG) who graduated from Crenshaw in June and is currently enrolled at Washington State. he won't be playing, and it appears the reason is his high school grades.

Last year, Tommy Johnson was on top of the SoCal high school basketball world, playing for the Crenshaw Cougars, named LA City Section "Player of the Year" for his outstanding performances all season long. He can shoot the ball like nobody's business from way outside, has speed, size and can defend. He was recruited by many schools, but opted for Pac-10 Washington State in Pullman, Washington. It was a long way to go, but he wouldn't be without some familiar faces. There was Milton Riley, a SoCal player who could show him the ropes. Marcus Moore from Redondo Union and Compton Dominguez would finally be eligible and playing for the WSU Cougars too. And when his former teammate EJ Harris' own recruiting fell through (he had been recruited by Kansas State, but when Tom Asbury was fired after a dismal season, EJ was given a release from his NLI), EJ and Tommy decided to enroll together at WSU. But Tommy apparently will not be playing this season at WSU and his only options right now appear to be enrolling at a JC or a prep school, or he can continue to attend classes at WSU where he is taking a lighter load than would be needed to play in any event (6 units), without a scholarship. And because he's already enrolled at WSU, his NCAA clock has started to run.

We came across the following article detailing Tommy's situation which appeared in the Spokesman-Review.com (the Spokane, Washington area paper), on November 4, 2000, and every player still in high school can probably learn something from Tommy's experience, because if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone. Not to get too preachy about this, and certainly not at Tommy's expense, because he's a great kid who now finds himself in an unfortunate situation which could have been prevented, but grades are the most important thing.

Cougars' top recruit fails to qualify
Carter Strickland - Staff writer
Saturday, Nov. 4, 2000

PULLMAN _ Tommy Johnson is here.

But maybe not for long.

The Washington State University men's basketball signee has failed to meet NCAA eligibility requirements and will not play for the Cougars this season. Johnson's status has been in question for months. But he and the Cougars still held out hope, so much that Johnson has been hanging around, but not participating in practices.

Now it appears as if Johnson will have to go to a junior college or prep school in order to meet the NCAA requirements to play Division I-A basketball.

"It's unfortunate for Washington State University, our basketball team and Tommy Johnson the person that he will be unable to play for us this season," WSU coach Paul Graham said. "I am disappointed, and Tommy is disappointed."

Johnson was WSU's top-rated recruit during the off-season. The Crenshaw High School product was the Los Angeles City player of the year last winter.

For the Cougars, Johnson was expected to compete immediately for playing time at the two-guard spot. Washington State still has plenty of depth at that spot without him. Returning starter David Adams is back. Graham also added junior college transfers Jerry McNair and Kendall Minor.

Still, Johnson was seen by many as the key to rebuilding the team and reestablishing a strong recruiting pipeline from Southern California.

Nothing prohibits Johnson from coming back to WSU once he meets NCAA requirements.

The Cougars begin their season with an exhibition game against Lewis-Clark State College at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Friel Court.

And the inability to qualify was exacerbated by yet another problem, and in order to understand the problem Tommy had, you'll need to read another article from the Spokesman-Review.com, which appeared back on August 8, 2000.

Cougs up in arms over transcripts delay
Crenshaw High School recruit may not enroll for fall semester
Related stories

Carter Strickland - Staff writer

PULLMAN _ Washington State recruit Tommy Johnson's basketball eligibility will rest in the hands of the NCAA Clearinghouse.

That is if Crenshaw High in Los Angeles is ever able to furnish the Clearinghouse with all of the necessary information.

Cougar coach Paul Graham and his assistants have been furiously pressing Crenshaw to send Johnson's transcripts to the Clearinghouse, but at each turn they have been blocked by what appears to be apathy from the high school staff.

"We can't send Gary (assistant coach Gary Stewart) down there to get the stuff because that's a violation," said
Graham "So we call every day over and over, but we get `Oh you've got to talk to Ms. Jones.' or `She's on vacation
for the next two weeks.'

"And we send Tommy over there to get everything and really he's a kid and all he's interested in doing right now is playing at the park," Graham continued. "So he comes back and tells us that the person wasn't there.

"It's frustrating."

It's doubly frustrating because Johnson, the L.A. City Player of the Year, has passed his SAT. All that needs to
be checked out by the NCAA are his transcripts.

And the longer it takes the less likely Johnson is to show up in Pullman this fall.

"What we're worried about right now is that the Clearinghouse is still trying to get football players through," said Graham.

So Johnson, if his transcripts ever make it, might not be the NCAA's highest priority.

Washington State also encountered problems with the Clearinghouse last year and it cost Marcus Moore an entire semester. Moore's high school, Centennial in LA, did not send an updated transcript to the Clearinghouse that reflected the classes he retook. Despite correcting the error, the Clearinghouse ruled it was too late for Moore to enroll in the fall.

"With Tommy we don't know when he's going to make it," said Graham. "We are hoping and we are doing everything
we can to get him here. We are counting on him being here."

The Cougars may also count on getting swingman Mike Bush back in December. Bush, who was ruled academically ineligible for the fall, posted two As and a B during summer school and appears to be committed to picking his grades up.

"But when he does get back, he's going to have to fight to get back in the lineup," sad Graham. That's because Graham feels there will be strong competition among the guards and wings with the addition of junior college transfers Kindall Minor, Jerry McNair, Framecio Little and possibly Johnson.

"It's not going to be like it was last year when a guy could look down the bench and see he was going to play 38 minutes no matter what," the coach said. "These guys are going to have to compete to play."

All of the players are expected to report back to campus Aug. 24.