Changing the recruitment game (Part 1)

Recruitment is everything in college basketball. It’s true all over the globe. Very rarely will you see a poor recruiting team finishing on top at the end of the season. This is why Ateneo has ruled the UAAP in the last five years, and San Beda has dominated the NCAA in six of the last seven seasons. If not for the 2009 defeat to San Sebastian, the Red Lions would have already set a league record seven straight titles by 2012. But the Golden Stags entered 2009 with new recruits Calvin Abueva, Ian Sanggalang and Ronald Pascual, a trio that instantly wreaked havoc across the league in their rookie season to help Baste spoil San Beda’s four-peat aspirations. So again, recruitment did the trick.

This is the reality in modern day college ball.

Almost two decades ago, a film called “Blue Chips” was made to tell the story about college recruitment in basketball in the United States. It starred no less than award-winning actor Nick Nolte, who portrayed a desperate NCAA Division 1 coach named Pete Bell. Bell agreed to cooperate with an alumni booster’s “forbidden” means of recruiting top prospects by offering ridiculous financial perks. Upon signing-up three “blue chips” (two of them portrayed by then Orlando Magic teammates Shaquille O’Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway), his team immediately rose from the cellar and even shocked top college team Indiana University of legendary coach Bobby Knight in a featured NCAA game. But after that game, Bell had become so consumed by his guilt that he revealed in the press conference the “dirty” practice his team had engaged in to secure the prospects, and resigned as coach. The two recruits played by O’Neal and Hardaway eventually made it to the NBA. The film was based on a true story.

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Nothing has changed since that film was released. In fact, the practice has become acceptable as a necessary means to keep the basketball program competitive. For as long as nobody gets hurt in the process, it’s considerably ok. And in this country especially, the recipients of such ridiculous offers have undoubtedly improved their families’ lives.

And so today’s college teams should either keep up or be left behind. It’s today’s reality, whether we like it or not.

It’s no secret that the best recruiting college teams today are Ateneo, San Beda, La Salle and National University, all of which enjoy the backing of the country’s top business tycoons. But since not all teams are blessed with the same privilege, they just have to be creative in order to remain competitive. Far Eastern University, for example, is one of the best in discovering future stars hailing from the provinces. It found the likes of Arwind Santos, Jeff Chan, Mark Barroca, RR Garcia, and now top high school prospect Jerie Pinggoy.

Understandably though, it’s so tough competing with teams that have bigger treasure chests. Ateneo and La Salle have been, for so many years now, the biggest recruiters of Metro Manila prospects. Most of the top junior players from the UAAP and NCAA usually end up donning the colors of the Blue Eagles or Green Archers. Even San Beda has had difficulty competing with these two schools, losing many of its star high school players to them through the years. This has largely contributed to the Red Lions’ 28-year title drought in the NCAA.

San Beda discovered a way to offset this debacle and instantly became a powerhouse in all of college basketball. It added in its roster an imposing athlete from Nigeria by the name of Samuel Ekwe. Since the NCAA at that time didn’t discriminate against foreign students, allowing even up to 40% of the roster to be foreigners, Ekwe became eligible to play for the Red Lions and even bagged the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in 2006, the year San Beda ended the 28-year dry spell.

The entry of Ekwe started a trend in the college basketball scene and now, most schools have foreign recruits. But San Beda still holds the distinction of bringing in the best “imports” after Ekwe, 2008 NCAA MVP American Sudan Daniel, and current recruit 6’8” Nigerian Olaide Adeogun. That distinction however will be seriously threatened by La Salle when Cameroonian sensation Ben Mbala gets to see action for the Archers in the UAAP after his residency period.

Fast forward to today. Both the NCAA and UAAP have approved rule changes in order to regulate college recruitment in their respective backyards, and “protect the interest of member schools.”

The NCAA has approved the total ban on foreign student-athletes starting next year. From having 40% of the team's roster as foreign athletes to reducing that number to just two imports three years ago (and only one import at a time on the playing court), the majority of NCAA members voted for the total ban on foreign players in all events. This means that member schools can only recruit and enroll foreign players up to December 2013. Once enrolled, they can still play in the league until they reach the age limit or maximum playing years. But the 2013 batch will be the last breed of foreign players in the NCAA. So if an 18-year old African athlete enrolls in an NCAA school next school year, he needs to complete the two-year residency to be eligible to play in 2015. He can still play up to five years for as long as he is not over 25 years old on his last year. This means that by 2020, the NCAA will be import-less, unless the league amends the rule again some years from now.

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Now all NCAA schools (including those who voted for the ban on foreign athletes), except for the rule’s main proponent Letran and San Sebastian, are reportedly scampering to find imports to beat the deadline.
According to the league, this ban on imports will “level the playing field,” obviously referring to the Red Lions’ conquest of the men’s basketball event from 2006 to 2008, and again from 2010 to 2012, which were mostly attributed to San Beda’s foreign recruits.

But will it really achieve that purpose?

If the best local players would rather go to the top college basketball programs like Ateneo, La Salle and NU in the UAAP, and San Beda in the NCAA, how does the ban on imports level the playing field? Would this not benefit San Beda even more? On the other hand, if let’s say Emilio Aguinaldo College gets lucky in recruiting an import in the mold of Mbala, who by the way was originally discovered by Cebu-based Southwestern University, would this not make the Generals instant title contenders?

In the end, this new rule could result to the exact opposite of what it was made for.

Now, the UAAP refuses to be outdone by the NCAA. Just last week, its Policy Board approved a recommendation to impose a two-year residency on high school players transferring for college in another UAAP member school. It’s an extension of the “anti-piracy rule” to prevent member schools from snatching homegrown talents from each other. Initially, the rule required a high school player just a one-year residency if he opts to play college in another UAAP school. But if his original school releases him unconditionally, he can play outright for his new team in his first year in college.

Under the new rule, there is no waiving of the two-year residency, whether the player is willingly released by his original school or not.

The NCAA’s ban on foreign student-athletes borders on racial discrimination. The UAAP’s so-called “anti-piracy rule” is just plain absurd.

Both leagues came up with ridiculous rules in order to restrain the recruitment game that is currently favoring the stronger basketball programs.

But this could backfire on both leagues eventually.

(First of two parts)