We've received too many calls/emails over the past week or so similar to this general scenario:
Athlete (baseball, softball, football, etc. and often, but not always, a walk-on) arrives on campus and classes have started or getting ready to start.
At the last minute, they're told "you won't be able to be eligible this year." "You don't have the necessary 16 core courses." OR "You don't have enough transferable hours from the JUCO to meet the transfer requirements."
Try to prevent your athlete or a friend or family member from being in this position. Know what the requirements are to be eligible as an incoming freshman or as a JUCO transfer. And, don't just trust coaches to know what those rules are.
Just had a call this morning from a baseball athlete who was told by an NCAA coach it was OK as a JUCO transfer that he didn't need to finish up his Associates Degree at the JUCO before he enrolled at the four-year university. That he instead could enroll this Fall to practice with the NCAA team while finishing his AA degree. NO! NO! NO! (That makes me so angry when I hear something like that.)
Bottom line - request a written or emailed confirmation from the university's athletic compliance office BEFORE you start attending classes that you satisfy all of the NCAA academic eligibility and transfer requirements to be eligible.
At the very least, if that ends up not being true, you at least have some documentation that can perhaps be submitted with a waiver that you were given incorrect information by somebody who should know the NCAA rules. Or, you may have time to adjust your plan. In the case of that call this morning, if that athlete had been told - even at the last minute - that he must have his AA degree in order to be eligible at his university this year, he could have returned to the JUCO this Fall to complete the requirements for the Associates Degree. But now he has enrolled and started classes at the college as a full-time enrolled student, and the only option for him to be eligible is for the school to admit fault and request a waiver from the NCAA.
Hoping my rant helps someone in the future so they don't end up in this situation.
