AJC > Sports > Highschools > Blog > Archives > 2007 > June > 21 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USGHSA yawns at recruiting verdict
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There’s little that high school football and basketball fans around here like to complain about more than recruiting.
Today, the Supreme Court ruled that high school associations are not violating free-speech rights by penalizing schools and coaches for recruiting athletes from other schools.
The case stems from a 1997 incident in Tennessee, where the coach of 10-time state champion Brentwood Academy near Nashville invited 12 eighth grade students from another school to attend his team’s spring practice.
Does today’s ruling mean Georgia just got the high court’s endorsement to crack down on recruiting? Not at all. Georgia has always had that, and the Supreme Court just affirmed it.
Don’t expect any more Georgia schools to be busted for recruiting as a result. Those penalties are quite rare as it is.
The Georgia High School Association’s stance on recruiting hasn’t changed: ”We don’t have a mechanism to go out and hunt violations. We just react to what we’re asked to do,” Ralph Swearngin, the GHSA’s executive director, reiterated to me today.
The easy thing would be to tell Ralph to get his head out of the sand, but consider this: Despite all the rumors and allegations that fill up message boards about cheating and recruiting, Swearngin says he gets only two or three official complaints a year about recruiting.
So if recruiting is really a problem, is the GHSA to blame for not being proactive? Or should we look at the fans and coaches who complain but do nothing to substantiate it or bring it to the GHSA’s attention?
I’d like for the GHSA to do more, but I also suspect there are far more accusations than facts out there.
Tell Todd about it: Who’s to blame when recruiting gets out of hand? Or is the system OK as-is? Debate starts here.
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Comments
By dale
June 21, 2007 2:56 PM | Link to this
Recruiting is rampant in high school athletics. As long as you had the 1.5 multiplier for private schools competing in GHSA, it somewhat leveled the playing field. Without it, public schools are at a severe disadvantage.
By Bubba
June 21, 2007 4:53 PM | Link to this
As a graduate of a PUBLIC school, and someone who has watched over 400 high school football games in Georgia, let me say that the 1.5 multiplier was a joke for two reasons.
No. 1, the multiplier punished ALL private schools, the majority of which do not recruit.
No. 2, the multiplier did not nothing to address a much, much, MUCH bigger problem in the GHSA; specifically, the recruiting that takes place among the public schools … mainly the ones that are located in metro Atlanta.
By Buba is bogus
June 21, 2007 7:53 PM | Link to this
Hey Bubba, what do u have against private schools first of all some of the private schools tax dollars goes to funding public schools. Second the 1.5 multiplier is bogus each school is the same. Recruiting I bet it goes on but get real people if we are talking about this High School sports are more corrupt then we may think. Get real Todd no recruiting goes on it’s a sad excuse for school’s who lose to there rivals year in and year out.
By Buba is bogus
June 21, 2007 7:58 PM | Link to this
Ok I contradicted myself, high school recruiting is bougus it goes on under the table minsucle I bet like 5% of the school’s in Georiga recruit. It isn’t Coach coming over to your house and mama making a home cooked meal, it’s son come to our prestigious football camp. Overall I think it’s bougus but it only goes on at the schools whose standards are win at all costs which includes CHEATING!
By Buba is bogus
June 21, 2007 7:59 PM | Link to this
Ok I contradicted myself, high school recruiting is bougus it goes on under the table minsucle I bet like 5% of the school’s in Georiga recruit. It isn’t Coach coming over to your house and mama making a home cooked meal, it’s son come to our prestigious football camp. Overall I think it’s bougus but it only goes on at the schools whose standards are win at all costs which includes CHEATING! s
Sorry Buba I didn;t read ur whole post I thought u were dissing Private School
By The Real Story
June 21, 2007 8:06 PM | Link to this
I may only be a sohpmore in high school but I would consider recruiting to be in the college level like the Tennesee- Alabama incident with Phil Fulmer or the Text Messaging incident with Calvin Sampson. All in all this stuff surfaces from one incident or two and spreads like wildfire. I want to be in the media someday btu I can admit the AjC (Sorry I am an advid readear) over analyzes a lot of things and blows it out of proporition a lot. High School recruiting only exsists where standards are low and the enviorment of the school is unwelcoming
By blue
June 21, 2007 8:37 PM | Link to this
Hey, they know who is recruiting. It’s bad in Dekalb County. Coaches are calling kids to come to their schools. it seems as if people are scared to talk. But they let them do it. Is it fair that some kids at these school want be able to play because of recruiting. Real coaches coach their kids at school. GHSA knows what’s going on and Dekalb Co too.
By Recruit This
June 21, 2007 9:11 PM | Link to this
If you had to name the 5 high schools that recruit the most, who would they be? Buford? Parkview? Brookwood? Marist? St. Pius? Norcross hoops?
Personally, I think players themselves do the most recruiting. Do you really believe Ncross hoops coach Eddie Martin has to go out and encourage players to come play for a perennial championship contender? Or do you think players contact Martin about coming to play for him?
By DSGB
June 21, 2007 9:31 PM | Link to this
Recruiting doesn’t go on as much as people think. If a kid wants to win and his current school isnt getting it done then they will want to go to a better program. Its really simple:
“Build it, and they will come.”
By DSGB
June 21, 2007 9:31 PM | Link to this
Recruiting doesn’t go on as much as people think. If a kid wants to win and his current school isnt getting it done then they will want to go to a better program. Its really simple:
“Build it, and they will come.”
By DSGB
June 21, 2007 9:32 PM | Link to this
Recruiting doesn’t go on as much as people think. If a kid wants to win and his current school isnt getting it done then they will want to go to a better program. Its really simple:
“Build it, and they will come.”
By DSGB
June 21, 2007 9:35 PM | Link to this
Recruiting doesn’t go on as much as people think. If a kid wants to win and his current school isnt getting it done then they will want to go to a better program. Its really simple:
“Build it, and they will come.”
By Saint Pius doesn't recruit
June 21, 2007 10:06 PM | Link to this
are u kidding me SPX doesn’t recruit
By HS Coach
June 22, 2007 12:39 AM | Link to this
People, get real, take it from some one in the fire. Not a football coach, but you have to recruit to win. If you think a winning program in Ga has not recruited then you are out of your mind! It is in many forms and all the big dogs do what it takes. Apts for families out of district, money to kids, scholarship deals, etc. It all goes on. Only the dumb ones get caught, and they are all smart!
By PIUS DOESN"T RECRUIT LMAO
June 22, 2007 7:32 AM | Link to this
Pius doesn’t recruit lol. The girls team was full of recruits. Kelly Cain (Home School Chamblee) Morgan Tooles (Home School Sandy Creek)Kylee Marx-Booth (Taken away from Holy Innocents last year) just three to start must we go on.
By DHF
June 22, 2007 10:17 AM | Link to this
Coaches don’t have to recruit to get students to come to their school. Their winning progams and the kids/parents desire to get to the next level is all it takes to get a kid to jump ship. Yes I know for a fact that coaches have talked to players but more often I have seen parents/current players do the talking to get kids to jump ship. If a school isn’t willing to pay to get a quality coach to come in and run their program then they suffer the consequences. Parents are willing to do what it takes to get their kids to college. If that means moving them to a good progam to get them seen by college coaches then that’s what they do. Not all kids are going to get to college on academic scholarships. Sports are their way in the door. Yes, there are those that just want to use that opportunity to get to the Pros but their are those that just want to get to college anyway they can
By red
June 22, 2007 10:39 AM | Link to this
well, some kids to go to school, but coachs do recruit. I know for a fact that this is happening. it’s hard to sell houses these days and you think parents will just find a house in Norcoss or Dunwoody. Please, there are a team of people helping the coach. Coaches are recruiting some of these kids. Look at Columbia’s roster. Who wants to go their for academics. How many of these players have you heard that’s playing ball after graduate from these schools. Coaches are using the players to make them look like great coaches. How many players from DHS are actually playing college ball. I mean on the team they signed with. These kids are being used like slaves.
By SoGaBubba
June 22, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this
Most “recruiting” that occurs is indirect. Strong programs attract the best.
That being said, I have seen some lower level Assistants directly involved in “talking” with kids, even at the Middle School level.
By Todd Holcomb
June 22, 2007 11:24 AM | Link to this
I think that DSGB is correct: ”Build it and they will come.” You could also say, “Build it, and your players and their parents might talk their friends into joining you.” There’s not much that a coach can do about that.
My concern then becomes whether it’s a good idea for kids and parents to be choosing schools for athletics instead of academics. That’s another topic altogether.
And on another subject, our headline — ”GHSA yawns” — is only about the recruiting angle of the court’s decision. Dr. Swearngin was pleased that the court affirmed the right of high school associations to set the same rules for all its member schools. It’s the impact the court’s ruling will have on recruiting that the GHSA is yawning about.
By 28 Sweep Pass
June 22, 2007 11:39 AM | Link to this
Hey Todd,
Didn’t I read where you won a GA Press Award recently. Congratulations!
One of the local high schools in my area is upgrading or has plans to upgrade their athletic facilties. They just started at $3M-plus project on the football field and have plans for gym, etc. that will affect all outdoor and indoor sports.
The “build and they will come” aspect in their case applies to kids that may have left the program in the past for greener pastures and better facilties.
I think these types of renovations tend to put a sparkle in a kid’s eyes, especially when they are in 7th or 8th grade and eyeing high school.
As a kid, if my neighbor had a better yard than mine, we played there. Same things applies in h.s. sports now, at least in the metro area.
By David
June 22, 2007 12:42 PM | Link to this
Once again, sports skews everything. No one complains about the dozens (and more likely hundreds or thousands) of families/kids who move for a better education/school system…you know, the REASON these schools exist. But, if a kid can run really fast or throw really hard, we suddenly care about where they go. If the blatant recruiting so often described by fans was actually taking place, there would be more than a couple of official complaints each year. The reality is that these people have made up their minds that School X is cheating, so whenever another kid goes there, they see it as confirmation. If it were so easy to document, the official complaints would be flowing into the GHSA. You think all the other “uber-competitive cheater” coaches wouldn’t want to catch their opponents in the act?
Let’s not forget the other huge factor: the close proximity of schools in metro Atlanta. Of course more kids are going to switch schools. My family moved a mile down the road two years ago. Had I still been in school, I would have had to switch high schools. Good thing I’m not a blue-chip athlete, or I’d have to hear about how my parents and my coach lack ethics and morals.
By Brad
June 22, 2007 6:33 PM | Link to this
The GHSA has no power and doesn’t care, the private schools do it and it’s proven in the recent state championships in the smaller classificatins. Wake up and give all schools a chance. Make all private schools compete in Class 5A and let them recruit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Coach Charles Phillips
June 23, 2007 12:00 AM | Link to this
We might as well have a High School draft lottery in Gwinnett County. Theres so much recruiting going on its really ashame. And the powers in the county know this, but choose to look the other way because of who or where the school is. We all know that Norcross recurits. We all know that when boyd was at Berkmar they recruited. Peachree ridge,Parkview, and Brookwood all have recruited…NO one is gonna do anything to stop it.
By DawgWith2Knots
June 23, 2007 11:43 AM | Link to this
If you think Valdosta won all those state championships playing kids born and raised in Valdosta I have some beach front property in Macon I want to sell you. Valdosta recruited all over the southeastern U.S. The big lure back then was a nice home to live in and a good paying job for the parents. Todays lure for the football factory schools is the scolly to the football factory college’s that put the kid on the fast tract to pro athletics and who wants to be a millionaire!
By AD
June 23, 2007 10:39 PM | Link to this
As an AD in Metro Atlanta, I can tell you that recruiting does occur. However, it happens more in basketball, baseball, and soccer than it does in football. Not only I have seen it happen, I have seen it directly impact the school’s performance, but more importantly the kid. I have seen kids get turned down by the GHSA for being truthful and honestly seeking a transfer for the right reasons, while other students and parents lie and get approved with or without the GHSA knowing the full story. What do we teach our kids by breaking the rules? I do not necessarily agree with the rules in place, but they are the rules nonetheless. Truth be told, only a few schools and coaches seem privy to getting approved and most are in Gwinnett and some are in Cobb.
By red
June 23, 2007 11:50 PM | Link to this
Hey, AD don’t fotget Dekalb. I heard about at least three or four schools in Dekalb. Hint the either won state this year or last year. The kids that are moving for the right reasons are denied. Just look at the rosters and transfers this year. It happens more in basketball than football. GHSA is letting this happen. They don’t care just like Dekalb officials.
By what a joke
June 26, 2007 9:04 AM | Link to this
I find it interesting that right after this article came out a basketball player transferred to Wheeler for the express purpose of playing basketball. The dad flat out states that in the article. Of course nothing will be said or done about this but something should be.
By The Truth
June 26, 2007 9:05 AM | Link to this
Recruiting does occur on many levels throughout high school athletics. However, I believe the process begins as early as middle school. In basketball and baseball, you have kids that play on travel/AAU teams that, in most cases, are “coached” by someone affiliated with a particular school. Between the “coaches” and some players on these teams, they have a big influence on other kids on the team. Most of these kids are more loyal to their respective travel teams than they are to their own school team. Case in point is the kid transferring from Central Gwinnett. He is already a 4 star recruit. How much more will his stock rise by transferring to Wheeler? Why do you need a national schedule to play high school basketball? These kids already play a national AAU schedule, and I guarantee that is where this kid was first noticed. If anyone is to blame for kids hopping from one school to another, it is the parents. Just ask North Hall. They do it in all sports.
By silky slim
June 26, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this
ALL THE BIG SCHOOLS IN NORTHERN PART OF THE STATE RECRUIT PLAYERS TO MAKE THIER TEAM BETTER. SOMETIMES IT HELP SOMETIMES IT DON’T BUT DOWN HERE IN THE SOUTH YOU WIN WITH WHAT YOU GOT. AT RANDOLPH CLAY WE WIN WITH WHAT WE GOT AN WE CAN HOLD OUR OWN WITH ANY OF THE BIG SCHOOLS IN THE STATE