MYAS 17 D1 Spring Championship

Let's just start with player eligibility (which has been posted on our web site since January)

The 17U/11th Grade division - open to any player who is in the 11th grade and is born on or after Sept. 1, 1990.

Age Exception #1 - A player who is born on or after Sept. 1, 1991

Age Exception #2 - Players must still have high school eligibility remaining or have been accepted for admission to a Prep School

Progression of events: It was reported that one team utilized ineligible players (seniors) in their first round game. After investigation, this was proven to be true and that team subsequently had to forfeit that first game.

All of this delayed some games as things were being handled. The semi-final games began play and it was then reported that another team was using an ineligible player. As this was found out to be true near half time of that semi-final game, we agreed to allow the game to finish. That team had to forfeit their semi-final win. Some will ask why their win in the first game would count? When an eligibility situation arises we can only go back to the last game played (which was the semi-final). If we had known about the ineligible player before the start of the 2nd game, the team would have forfeited the first game.

There is one other player who has been questioned and yes, he is a senior but he was born in October of 1991. Go to Age Exception #1. Because he is born on or after Sept. 1, 1991 he is eligible to play in the 17U division.

There are young "Seniors" but if they have birthdays in June, July or August they are not eligible for the 17U division unless they meet Age Exception #2

Frustrating is the fact that we, the MYAS, take the abuse when all we do is enforce the rules that everyone is asked to follow. Ignorance of the rules is not an excuse. Just because some national tournament or AAU tournament doesn't verify the eligibility of the players and teams, doesn't mean we should run our program that way.

As an FYI to all, emails were sent out and phone conversations were had with teams in this division this week.

If you know as a coach that you have seniors on your roster, why are you playing in the 17U division. Check it out, we have a separate 19U Spring Championship being played this weekend. You should have just signed up and played in that tournament. I'm sorry for the players who were affected by all of this. It all could have been avoided if coaches would read the information available and follow the rules of our events.

Rich Penick

MYAS Senior Program Director

Click here for the final championship bracket

Why TNL Is Home For April

New coaches bear brunt of bad rule


by Jeff Goodman
Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com. He can be reached at GoodmanonFOX@aol.com or check out his blog, Good 'N Plenty.

This was usually the time of year that new head coaches were able to rely on to help restock their roster.

They faced a dilemma whether to head to an AAU tournament in Pittsburgh or Arkansas where they were able to get a look at 30 or so kids that were still searching for a college destination.

Not anymore.

Now coaches like Georgia's Mark Fox, High Point's Scott Cherry, Arizona's coach Sean Miller and others have their work cut out for them.

The NCAA instituted a ridiculous and baffling rule recently in which college coaches are no longer able to watch players at AAU events in April.

It was done with the intention to try and limit the amount of school days missed by student-athletes and also to attempt to shift the "power" back from the AAU coaches to the high school coaches.

But it'll backfire.

It will result in coaches having to now take someone else's word, making determinations off watching videotape and thus will lead to an increase in transfers.

"That's a hard way to make a living," said Cherry, who was an assistant at South Carolina last season. "Especially on your first coaching job. It makes it challenging and really difficult."

It certainly won't be helping cut costs either. Instead of sending coaches to one spot per weekend — such as Pittsburgh or Arkansas — they now are zig-zagging the country in an effort to see as many individual kids as possible. Take one spot in the northeast on Friday morning when there were three head coaches and five assistants.

Fox, the former head coach at Nevada, got his gig about two weeks ago and has a couple of scholarships to fill. Sure, he's recruited the southeast before and had a pair of kids from North Carolina on his roster, but he's not yet plugged into the area.

So instead of hitting the ground running and getting an opportunity to see 50 or so available players over the next two weekends, as has been the case until this year, he's forced to try and make quick decisions.

"All year long, people were talking that the coaches who were going to be affected the most were the ones who took a new job that needed some rebuilding," Fox said. "Now I'm in that situation, but you just have to deal with the cards you are dealt and be efficient."

The first day Fox was allowed to go on the road was a week ago Thursday at noon. He went to Alabama and Florida to see a couple of kids at their school (that's all coaches are allowed to do in this period) and then flew to Texas that night.

On Friday, he saw a couple of kids in the Lone Star State before getting back to Athens around 4 a.m. on Saturday morning.

The NCAA also allowed coaches to see kids over the weekend, but there was NO one to see. Most of the kids were out playing at AAU tournaments and the rest were home with their families for Easter.

Since Sunday, the NCAA hasn't allowed coaches to go on the road to watch kids at all. They were permitted to go back out this morning, but most of the players are headed to AAU tournaments this weekend — even though coaches won't be allowed to watch.

The bottom line is that kids are going to continue to play — and miss part of school on Friday — whether coaches are watching or not. Especially because Division 2 and Division 3 coaches are allowed to be out this weekend and next weekend.

"It's very difficult now," said Sean Miller, who went from Xavier to Arizona this offseason. "Everybody knows the most important way to build a program is to bring in the right players. It's hard when we don't have the opportunity to see them. ...

"We only had a couple of days last week, which allows us to see no more than eight to 10 kids at their schools."

"You have to make the most of the limited days you have," added Tony Bennett, who went from Washington State across the country to Virginia. "We can't see the mass quantity anymore, so you have to make the most of the weekdays going to the schools."

But it's far more difficult to judge a 6-foot-9 big man in a high school practice when he doesn't go up against another D-1 players than it is over four weekend days in April (which is what the NCAA allowed prior to this year) when the elite players go up against one another.

"It's difficult to evaluate now," Miller said. "It means there'll be more mistakes made."

New Memphis coach Josh Pastner said maximizing time becomes more important. However, that's easier said than done when you've just taken over a job and have numerous other responsibilities.

"You need to try and assemble a staff, take care of your current team, try and re-recruit the recruits who had already committed to the program," Pastner said. "And try and recruit for the future. It's much harder to do now without the April period."

That's why the NCAA needs to bring it back.

NCAA Rules On April Period

NCAA Rules on April Period

The NCAA has ruled that college coaches cannot attend events in April this year. Vision Sports understands that this may effect your decision as to which events you will play in during the spring. Vision Sports has moved the dates of our Houston Kingwood Classic and our Dallas Spring Showcase to avoid conflicts with other national events. Also, moving an event to May allows you to extend your spring season. It is important to note that all Vision Sports events will be “Powered by MaxxAthlete.” College coaches WILL be able to view games from our events for evaluation purposes. Vision Sports games will be streamed live and will be available via video-on-demand to college coaches. Also, every player at a Vision Sports event will be profiled and will be part of MaxxAthlete’s college coaches network - MaxxInsight. NCAA Closes April Live Period to Coaches, Recruiters NCAA Votes to Change Prospect Age

#1 Tacks On Another Win

Henry Sibley’s Chris Halvorsen couldn’t protect the ball as he tried to pass while being pressured by Hopkins’ Trent Lockett. Photo by Jim Gehrz, Star Tribune

The Royals and their stellar lineup took this battle, but signs point to a March rematch in 4A. Lots of numbers came to mind before Hopkins played at Henry Sibley in a Friday night nonconference matchup of the top boys' basketball teams in Minnesota:

1: Hopkins' ranking in Class 4A;
2: Henry Sibley's ranking;
6: NCAA Division I signees in the starting lineups;
17-1: Teams' combined record. However, some other numbers hold more importance:
77-66: The final score in Hopkins' victory over the Warriors.
78: Days until the 4A state championship game is played at Target Center, when we could see a rematch.

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Friday's game had all the trappings of a lose-and-go-home postseason scenario. The 3,000-seat gym in Mendota Heights was packed to the rafters, ticket sales were stopped 45 minutes before tipoff, and about 500 fans who arrived after that were turned away. The intensity was feverish long before tipoff; the Henry Sibley student section booed the Hopkins players when they walked into the gym during the junior varsity game, 90 minutes before varsity tipoff.

CLICK HERE to read the full article. Courtesy: Star Tribune

TNL Lands1st International Player

Story to follow

The myth of the scholarship: A sliver of pie

Kevin Kray, with his parents, Dana and Ann, hoped to get a full-ride scholarship to play baseball at the University of Minnesota. But the former Osseo High School pitching star was surprised to find out the Gophers baseball program has only 11.7 scholarships available, which it splits up amoung up to 35 players.

Most scholarship athletes don't get full rides to college. In fact, many of them get just enough to cover their books and fees.
By JOHN MILLEA, Star Tribune

ESPN's Rise All Area Minnesota

College athletes studies guided toward 'major in eligibility'

Former Boise State safety Marty Tadman took the easiest classes when he was in school. "You're going to school so you can stay in sports," Tadman said. "You're not going for a degree. ... It's a joke."

By Jill Lieber Steeg, Jodi Upton, Patrick Bohn and Steve Berkowitz, USA TODAY

Steven Cline left Kansas State University last spring with memories of two years as a starting defensive lineman for a major-college football team. He left with a diploma, credits toward a master's degree and a place on the 2007 Big 12 Conference all-academic team.

He also left with regrets about accomplishing all of this by majoring in social sciences — a program that drew 34% of the football team's juniors and seniors last season, compared with about 4% of all juniors and seniors at Kansas State. Cline says he found not-so-demanding courses that helped him have success in the classroom and on the field but did little for his dream of becoming a veterinarian.

"I realize I just wasted all my efforts in high school and college to get a social science degree," says Cline, who adds he did poorly in biology as a freshman, then chose what an athletics academic adviser told him would be an easier path.

Read the entire story and more at http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/2008-11-18-majors-cover_N.htm