Standards aren't standard
By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer
Fiddle with time and imagine that the Western Athletic Conference's best football player — San Jose State running back Deonce Whitaker — is a high school senior.
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As a non-qualifier who has not earned an SAT score needed to play as an NCAA freshman, Whitaker would not be recruited by the University of Hawai'i and, even, not be permitted to take a recruiting visit to Southern Methodist.
Coach June Jones said UH's administration has been helpful with athletes with borderline grades and test scores.
But Whitaker could enroll at Fresno State, which has 15 non-qualifiers on this year's roster, including five starters on defense.
As much as operating budgets, admission requirements have created a chasm in the Western Athletic Conference.
"You hope the playing field is even for everyone," UH coach June Jones said. "But I go by what I'm dealt. I can't complain about it. It's something I have to live with."
Still, UH's tougher standards impact recruiting. Incoming freshman at UH are required to earn at least a C grade in Algebra II in high school; the NCAA, and the other nine WAC schools, do not require Algebra II for admission.
UH also does not accept C-minus grades from students transferring from another college; most of the other schools accept Ds.
"It makes our job harder," Jones said.
The NCAA determines freshman eligibility using a sliding scale ranging from the combination of a 2.0 grade-point average in high school and 1,010 SAT score to a 2.05 GPA and 820 SAT score. A partial-qualifier — 2.52 GPA and 820 SAT to 2.75 GPA and 720 SAT — can receive a scholarship and practice, but not play as a freshman. A non-qualifier cannot receive an athletic scholarship, practice or play as a freshman.
Fresno State, which was predicted to win the WAC in the media poll, accepts as many as 10 non-qualifiers and partial-qualifiers each year. In the past 10 years, the UH football team has admitted three non-qualifiers and one partial-qualifier.
Jones said school administrators have been helpful in accepting students with borderline grades and test scores. But each case, Jones said, "has to be a special situation. If I go to bat for somebody, my reputation is on the line. I'll make sure he's the right kind of kid before I do that."
Two of the non-qualifiers, running back Afatia Thompson and linebacker Pisa Tino-isamoa, were deemed special cases. (The third, Robbie Robinson, enrolled at UH without the administration's assistance.)
Thompson, whose grades slipped in high school after the death of his brother, was granted a special admission by former UH president Kenneth Mortimer.
Careful recruiting
Tinoisamoa did not qualify because the NCAA Clearinghouse ruled that one of his high school math classes was not considered to be a "core subject." Tinoisamoa did not play as a freshman in 1999. Later, an NCAA committee ruled that each high school could determine which classes are considered to be core subjects. Under that interpretation, Tinoi-samoa's math class should have counted.
This week, it was announced that linebacker Tyrone Brown will enroll at UH as a partial-qualifier. Brown, a 2000 graduate of Highland High in California, was granted admission only after attending a junior college last academic year. A school official said Brown's grades in junior college demonstrated he could handle the curriculum at UH.
Jones also said he has his own policy of not over-recruiting. Many football programs, knowing several recruits are at risk of not qualifying, offer more than the annual limit of 25 new scholarships. Jones waited until two recruits were declared ineligible before recently offering scholarships to wide receiver Frank Rivers of St. Louis School and running back Brian Daniels of Mililani High.
"I know a lot of schools (over-recruit), but I don't ever want to get into a situation where I have to pull back an offer," Jones said. "I don't want to call somebody and say, 'Just kidding.'"
