Recruiting

Greg Sankey, associate commissioner
Southeastern Conference
Miami Herald

Discussing a recently created NCAA task force to examine recruiting rules in the wake of highly publicized allegations of abuse:

"The natural reaction is for institutions to go back and make sure we establish some expectations on certain behavior that is not appropriate and that there are certain places a student-athlete should not be on these recruiting weekends. That being said, young people are going to make their own decisions."

James Duderstadt, former president
University of Michigan
Miami Herald

"These parties (at which strippers are present) are a major problem. I can't say for certain, but I think they are a problem at a number of universities, mainly because these are high-school kids away from home and there is a total lack of supervision and structure. I was shocked when I heard about how they were handled. They basically turn these kids loose and hope things work out."

Melvin Bratton, former student-athlete
University of Miami (Florida)
Miami Herald

Discussing the differences in recruiting now as opposed to when he was recruited in 1982:

"I'm hearing stories now where they put girls on you at bars, and stuff like that, but we didn't have that. I had hostesses show me around, but they weren't Hooters girls by any means. They were just nice, sweet girls. Nothing sexual.

"We got taken to frat parties. (During one visit) I spent most of the night playing cards in a guy's dorm room. But times are different, and in a city like Miami, you'd be stupid not to sell South Beach. It's the hottest mecca of celebrities. It's like Hollywood. If a kid has a chance to see J-Lo or P.Diddy, that's big. You're telling this kid, 'You can be part of this.' I don't necessarily agree a 17-year-old whose parents send him on a campus visit should be drinking at clubs, but walking around South Beach, seeing gorgeous women in every shade should definitely be part of a UM visit. If all you showed him was museums and video arcades, the kid would go somewhere else."

Mark Womack, associate commissioner
Southeastern Conference
Scripps Howard News Service

"Nobody has any set answers as to how to deal with (recruiting issues). But you have to review your rules as an institution, as a conference, and as a national organization. These things are a concern to everybody at every level, but it's hard to have a quick fix because you don't have control of people 24 hours a day.

"In fact, we've tried to get away from that kind of control. The tone set at the national level was to have the student-athlete become more like regular students, which meant elimination of athletics dorms and few controls over their lives. The context has been to make the student-athlete more like the student, but in fact student-athletes are held accountable for far more than the regular student."

NFL draft

Harvey Araton, columnist
New York Times

"There are no absolutes in big-time college sports, or magic cures, but serious reform begins with more options, with pressure applied to the professional leagues long on the developmental dole. The NFL and NBA for too long have hid behind collective-bargaining agreements, behind oh-so-sincere contentions that they really, truly don't want to damage the college product.

"Good for (NCAA President) Myles Brand, then, for leaving no doubt on where he stands, for having the courage to say that college is not for everyone, including those who blitz and dunk. Of course, we want to educate as many as possible but it can't be forced on someone and certainly not along with the full-time job of being a Division I athlete."

Bobby Ross, head football coach
U.S. Military Academy
Baltimore Sun

Discussing the virtues of going to college instead of a developmental league as a route to the NFL:

"For starters, the level of competition will be less in those leagues. And if they're in those leagues, they're not making a whole lot more money than they would be making in college. Sure, you don't make money in college, but you do have a scholarship, and that's contributing to something much greater.

"There's a maturity level a young man has to reach to play in the NFL. Kids (that age) are just nowhere near where they have to be in the NFL. The systems they have to handle are so involved. They're better off staying in college and playing than they are sitting on the bench somewhere.

"If (athletes who skip college are going to be successful), it might be easier for a running back or a defensive back, particularly a corner, maybe. But when you get into line play, it becomes a totally different thing. ...

"I'd have been less apt to look at a kid who only had one year in college. It could be almost a disaster from that young man's standpoint because of the confidence factor. You'd be putting him out there against grown men and possibly ruining his career."

Ozzie Newsome, general manager
Baltimore Ravens
Duluth News Tribune

"In high school, you play against maybe one or two guys who are good enough to play Division I college football. To go from that to the NFL? No way. Everything about being a pro is different. From the way you have to carry yourself, to how you live off the field, to the mental preparation that goes into it. It's totally different. I mean, one NFL training camp is probably the equivalent of an entire high-school season."

Jeff Pash, executive vice-president
National Football League
Kansas City Star

"The people hurt most by the ruling are not NFL clubs. Whether they're juniors, seniors or sophomores, we will be able to coach them to play the NFL game. We'll be able to send them to NFL Europe. People who will be hurt are players, who for one reason or another, lose their only opportunity at a college education because they'll lose the college and they'll lose their opportunity to play in the NFL as an NFL-quality player.

"We will not be the ultimate losers here. It's not a good thing for us, but there are other people who will be affected more and in a more adverse way."

Floyd Reese, general manager
Tennessee Titans
USA Today

"I went to UCLA, so I'll use that as an example. I send my kid to UCLA to get a heck of an education, and he gets mad at some coach and decides he wants to go in the NFL, and he goes in the NFL and bombs out. Now I've got a kid without an education, without a career, and I'm mad at somebody, and now I'm probably going to start blaming UCLA."

College sports spending

David Larimore, professor/former athletics director
Tennessee Tech University
USA Today

"Education and athletics are linked in this country. That's the way our society is organized. It projects an image, and people come to expect that if a school has a major sports franchise, they also have a major institution attached. So if you want to become invisible, downgrade (athletics) or get out of it."

Tom Jurich, athletics director
University of Louisville
USA Today

"We all need to be under one umbrella. Because when we take the field, our uniforms say University of Louisville. They don't say Louisville Incorporated."

Joel Cohen, professor
University of Maryland, College Park
USA Today

"On one hand, (the faculty is) telling athletics directors we don't want them to cost (the academic side) so much money, but at the same time we're telling them not to accept too much commercial money. I admit it's a mixed message."