SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Michael Fey Still Not Qualified
For UCLA Yet. . . --(Dec. 18, 2001)

Jim Downs is reporting at his UCLA "Bruin Hoop Report" that Michael Fey (6'-11" C) who graduated from high school in Seattle this past June and who signed a letter of intent more than a year ago with plans to join the Bruins current crop of freshmen, has once again failed to achieve a high enough score on his SAT to be eligible for admission (and freshman eligibility under NCAA rules) to UCLA. 

According to Downs, "Six-foot-eleven center Michael Fey, a high school graduate who verbally committed to the Bruins, failed to achieve a qualifying score on his latest SAT attempt, making him ineligible to enroll at UCLA and play winter quarter, sources say. Fey will continue to take the SAT until he passes, according to sources."

The interesting thing about Fey once again not qualifying is that many are still holding out hope that he will achieve a high enough score on the ACT, the results of which he expects to receive shortly, to make up for the low SAT score, with the plan still being in place that if Fey's ACT is sufficient, he will join the team this next quarter in January, at least according to several observers.   However, the ACT alone cannot be used at the University of California for admission, and the school still requires all incoming freshman to take the SAT II's.  Right now, there's been no clarification from Fey or those close to him whether he's having difficulty with the SAT I's or whether it's the II's (which are subject-specific tests), so we just can't say.  But the ACT, at least that test alone as a substitute for the SAT cannot be used for admission to any UC school, including UCLA.

While we of course wish Michael Fey all the success in the world and hope he qualifies soon, we're just a little puzzled about whether Fey will be able to come in at mid-year in any event this season, because when his first NLI was voided last June when he failed to qualify, Michael signed another NLI this past November.   And, that being so, according to the National Letter of Intent folks who run that program, there are very restrictive rules which apply to mid-year college entrants, i.e., the NLI program's own "FAQ" states that if a player signs an NLI in the fall, the player must wait until the following fall semester to enroll.  Of course, there's probably an exception for this one that we're not aware of, and wee certainly hope so for the Bruins' collective sake, because they could sure use Fey's size and inside game right now. . . .

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