'04 Academic Casualties and why team rankings can be deceiving

[stxbuck]

God made me sleep through English class....it's his plan...Good Lord, haven't these people heard of the concept of "free will"

[CleveBucks]

Four gone at Arkansas. That's about the norm for the SEC.

Four fail to qualify academically for Arkansas

Associated Press

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Four members of the 2004 recruiting class signed by Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt and his assistants will be heading for junior colleges or prep schools in the fall instead of donning Razorback uniforms.

The four -- including three from Arkansas high schools -- have not qualified academically to attend the university.

In announcing his signees in February, Nutt said he expected that at least seven Razorback recruits would have to attend a junior college or prep school in the fall, instead of enrolling at Fayetteville.

Texarkana defensive lineman Freddie Barnett failed to make a high enough score in his last attempt on the ACT. The 6-foot-1, 300-pound Barnett, who runs 40 yards in 5 seconds, will enroll at either Trinity Valley (Texas) Junior College or Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy.

Linebacker Fred Fairchild, signed from Little Rock Central, is heading for Hargrave. At 6-3 and 190, Fairchild runs the 40 in 4.6 seconds.

Fayetteville quarterback Woody Wilson also came up short on the ACT, and plans to enroll at Coffeyville (Kan.) Junior College. The 6-1, 180 pound Wilson's time in the 40 is 4.62 seconds.

Waco (Texas) University High School graduate Ryan Young, an offensive lineman, will attend an unspecified junior college.

Players attending a prep school like Hargrave can keep four years of eligibility intact for a four-year college, but junior-college attendance can use up one or two years of eligibility, depending on whether the player red-shirts for a year.

[The KSB]

Originally Posted by stxbuck

God made me sleep through English class....it's his plan...Good Lord, haven't these people heard of the concept of "free will"

God didn't make me sleep through English, Beowolf did

[tundra1]

Just remember when we're talking about non-qualifiers that we should all wish the best to Dennis Kennedy.


I know his circumstances are different from most of the others--but many of those non-qualifiers, no matter which school they signed their LOI with, really were trying to qualify, and some of them, including our own DK, probably just faced some issues that weren't easy to overcome.

[coxew]

I thought helpinghand said Kennedy finally made it through the clearinghouse and was waiting to be cleared through admissions. Has anything been finalzied with DK?

[LordJeffBuck]

God didn't make me sleep through English, Beowolf did

Great line! (even though I actually liked Beowulf).

[Buckskin86]

free insiders

Insiders article discussing the incoming prep school class at Hargrave. Alot of familiar names (Olu Hall, Lorenzo Washington, Willie Young). More indication that there might be good reasons for players dropping off the tOSU radar.

NCST might want to start looking into Hargrave as a branch campus (Willie Young, Andre Brown in '04 and guys like Tory Holt in years past, Anthony Hill, Darrell Blackmon in '03. NCST has a coach designated to recruit Hargrave Academy

[ntd]

Hargrave sounds like it must have one hell of a good football team

I must admit, some of these guys certainly deserve what they got...they've been given schollies to good schools so they can get an education and make something out of themselves, but they just won't buckle down and do what is required of them. If they put half of the effort they put into the weightroom into their academics, all of these kids would be gearing up for fall classes.

[LordJeffBuck]

I wonder if guys like Hall and Young, who had OSU in their final three, would reconsider the Bucks. OSU recruit Alphonso Townsend didn't qualify and went to FUMA, and he ended up signing with Michigan State after a year of prep school.

[Buckskin86]

Rivals free list of '04 academic casualties

Demonte Bolden - defensive lineman from Chattanooga, Tenn., was expected to provide depth along the defensive front for Tennessee.

Nikita Stover - Hartselle, Ala., wide-out was slated to compete for a receiver spot at Alabama.

McIntosh Nicolas - defensive back from Immokalee, Fla., the Florida commitment missed a qualifying test score.

Big 12 loses expected contributors

Nick Patton - Winfield, Kan., passer may be conference's most significant loss, the quarterback was expected to compete for playing time at Kansas State.

Chris Patterson - linebacker from Chicago who was headed to Oklahoma was the highest ranked prospect that failed to qualify after being rated as the No. 15 player in the class of 2004.

Brandon Braxton - an offensive lineman from Youngstown, Ohio, and another Sooners' commitment, also missed the mark.

McIntosh Nicolas didn't make the grade at Florida.
Other programs lose notable recruits

Olu Hall - defensive end who signed with Virginia missed qualifying earlier this summer and will not make it to Charlottesville.

Andre Brown - running back with gaudy numbers at Greenville (N.C.) Rose High, failed to qualify at N.C. State.

Emmanuel Dunbar - Expected Florida State defensive lineman will be off campus.

Dwayne Jones - Rutgers commitment missed making grades to qualify.

Brandon Barrett - Star high school receiver wanted to be a Mountaineer, but has been put on hold until his appeal is decided by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Some schools took a major hit

Washington State leads the group, losing a whopping seven potential contributors.

Ole Miss lost six players, including running back Lavarus Giles, who might have seen immediate playing time following the suspension of starter Jamal Pittman.

South Carolina had four come up short. Another Gamecock, fullback/linebacker Antonio Lamar, is awaiting awaiting word from the NCAA academic clearinghouse.

Alabama also lost five freshman, two of whom will re-sign in February, with the other three prospects headed to Junior College.

Mississippi State lost four expected freshman, with two barely scraping by with qualifying ACT scores in their final examination attempt in June.

Notable prospects in new locations

Nick Patton - Headed to Dodge City (Kan.) Community College

Randy Estes - One-time Rivals100 top-10 member failed to qualify, costing him a Washington State scholarship. He's now at Long Beach (Calif.) Community College

Demonte Bolden -expected to attend Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy

McIntosh Nicolas - expected at Dodge City Community College with Patton

Nikita Stover - the Alabama commitment enrolled at Itawamba (Miss.) Junior College

Quite a few guys that tOSU was recruiting.

[stxbuck]

Tressel has really, really, really tried to steer away from academic casualties. I think he would rather pass on a kid who would wind up at Hargrave or Fork Union, rather than place them there and wait a year. Andy Geiger has really tightened the screws academically-either you make it-with a low GPA and ACT perhaps-but make it cleanly-or you don't. If things start to look shaky-an OSU recruit better learn to say "Go Spartans".

[jenkinswoody]

Originally Posted by LordJeffBuck

Great line! (even though I actually liked Beowulf).

Me too! Grendel kicked ass......

[Xevious]

Was Olu Hall declined admission from UVa, or was he just academically ineligible to play? If UVa was going to admit a "student" that can't even qualify to participate in football, then Thomas Jefferson is rolling over in his grave. Sorry if I''m being an academic geek , but I can't believe a top notch school would drop their standards that much for a football player. I guess they were trying to prepare for the new ACC.

Here's the stats of average UVa freshmen from the Princeton Review. I would guess Hall fits right in there somewhere.


Average SAT: 1324
SAT I - Verbal Range (25-75%): 600-710
SAT I - Math Range (25-75%): 630-720
Average Verbal SAT: 654
SAT II Test: Required
ACT Composite Range (25-75%): 26-31
Average ACT: 28
Average High School GPA: 4.00
Students in top 10% of HS class: 85%
Students in top 50% of HS class: 99%

[BuckStocksHere]

If I was a borderline school I would take a few more chances on borderline kids to get to that next level. If I'm a powerhouse, I don't. jmo.

[BuckNutty]

http://www.iowa.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=322229

Kyle Williams, the LB out of Illinois that signed with Iowa in February is headed to JC after he failed to make it through the clearing house.