Simon should be looking over his shoulder, to be sure. But if memory serves me correctly, the Clark/Simon transition occurred just about at the time that Stanford had upgraded the academic eligibility requirements for all its athletes. Frankly, none of Stanford's men's athletic teams are comparable (relatively speaking) to what they were in the 90's, and earlier.
And yet they still won the Athletic Directors’ Cup (formerly the Sears Cup) and won NCAA titles in men’s golf and women’s cross country with several other Top Ten finishes in other non-revenue sports, for both genders. http://nacda.cstv.com/ (Last year's standings are on the right) Not saying you’re wrong, just pointing out that many of the other non-rev programs at Stanford are still getting it done on the field despite the tougher academic standards. I mean, Stanford didn't win that title because of what their hoops and football teams did.
I don't suppose there's any chance that someone at THE Ohio State University will wake up and notice that John Bluem is a clown? The AD likes to point to all the players OSU has sent to MLS recently as proof of what a fine job he's doing. I prefer to point to all the players OSU has sent to MLS recently as proof of why he needs to go: he clearly has talent, so why can't he win anything? There may be hope on the horizon though: if there's one thing Ohio State can't stomach it's having another school in-state be better than they are at something,and Caleb Porter is leaving Bluem in th dust. How long OSU can/will tolerate playing second fiddle to Akron is an open question.
But, to keep it in context, points are awarded regardless of team size, number of scholarships, financial committment, etc. So, while 100 points in Women's Golf is the same as 100 points for winning the NCAA B'ball tournament - it isn't the same. National prominence in athletics does have a bit to do with being prominent in the major sports, which is more of what I was referring to.
I will throw Mike Tracy from Wright State University into the mixer. The A.D. at WSU has put all coaches on notice. He wants them to start producing so that the students can have some pride in their athletics. I'm thinking that 2 wins all year isn't going to be a point of pride for the student body.
Not to digress, but he's already in here. Always good to get a hands on perspective of what's going on, tho.
Kind of feel sorry for Stanford and their recruiting as I was told they cannot recruit anyone under a 3.8 GPA. Is this true? If so, that's hard to find. Maybe 2-3 players per club team will have over that. Didn't they just recruit 2-3 MNT players also? Saw them down at CSL Premier fields this weekend scouting.
I have no idea, but if it is, it's going to be VERY difficult for them to return to elite status when competing against programs with less-strict entrance requirements. If this is true, it certainly changes the calculus for which Simon is evaluated. I mean, factor in the cost of Stanford, the low scholarship limits, even for a fully funded program (which I assume Stanford is), and the GPA issue and it's a very finite player pool from which Simon is recruiting.
Not quite that high but close (I think). The biggest issue (my opinion) is that they cannot tell a kid if he can get in or not until late in the process (middle of senior HS year like an early decision process or later). Most schools - duke, st Johns, wake etc- can at least take a kid to the admission office and get an early answer or an early 'probability'. Stanford has no such luck here. The GPA thing isn't that high from what I have been told, but it is around 3.5+.
Jeff Gettler at Richmond should be on the hot seat. He returned 10 starters from a team that lost only one A-10 game last year and has one of the top goalies in the country. Richmond has underperformed this year. Doubt anything will happen, though. He's been there forever leading mediocre teams each year. Nicest guy in the world, but Richmond needs to move on to progress.
UNCG does have a zero tolerance policy, meaning if you fail a drug test as a student-athlete there you can forget about playing athletics at UNCG again. UNCG does not hand out second chances to student-athletes who fails a drug tests there. The player in question was cleared by the NCAA and the school before he was even admitted in to the university. Give me a break.
If you fail a drug test AT UNCG, you are done. Again, if the player hadn't been cleared by the NCAA or admitted to the school, initially, then there is no way he finds a way on the UNCG mens soccer roster. No double standard here, maybe you are just looking for another reason to speak out and against the G. It's okay if you don't like the Spartans, not everybody does.
Start a drug policy thread. You are on the coaches hot seat thread. Unless coaches on the hot seat are doing drugs you are at the wrong site?
Sorry, but I didn't start anything regarding drug testing or drug policies in college soccer. I first made a comment regarding the coach at Davidson and some his players having off the field issues, which was and is relevant to the thread subject, since then, I have had to defend my own institution. Sandon and zhosereh have taken this off course, not me. Going after the wrong person here.
Strange as they were recruting my son, and in emails received, he was told their criteria for admissions is a 3.8, and stated unfortunately, their athletic department cannot help because it is/was an academic admission policy. I know some of the potential recruits they are looking at now all have over a 3.8 if not a 4.0, so that would make sense. Like I said, hard for them to recruit when they're stuck with some of their policies.
Washington Huskies with a 4-8 record, in last place. We are not amused. Dean Wurzeburger...time to go? http://washingtonpremiersoccer.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6619
I'm not that plugged into college soccer, but a few Rutgers people I know think this might be the year Reasso gets asked to resign. The Rutgers AD has been cleaning house in many other Olympic sports with long-tenured, underachieving coaches the past couple summers, so it might be time for soccer. The guy's teams have been mediocre for basically a decade now, and it seems like tactically the game might have passed him by. Also, I don't think he has much, if any, pull the major local youth clubs anymore. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, it will probably come down to what can be resolved with the camp situation.
The last couple of years Rutgers seems to just resorted to recruiting by size and speed with little regard to whether the athlete is actually a top soccer player. Trying to out muscle and out run teams in the Big East every game is bound to result in poor seasons year after year. They used to be successful by bringing in top technical and tactical players but no longer seem able or willing to do the scouting work required to find the top soccer players. Of course their downward slide could also be partially due to other Big East programs becoming better.