What I don't get is the NCAA Clearinghouse some sort of secret society? Shouldn't they have lists of core courses needed, ACT or SAT scores needed. Grades and scores needed in each to qualify. If the schools he attended are credentialed institutions of learning why all the guess work?
Shouldn't RU know all this before hand and be able to add everything up to determine if he's qualified or not? Why is the NCAA Clearinghouse so secretive? It shouldn't be that way at all, they should be totally transparent. There should be advisors readily available to guide you through this process. It shouldn't be a shock if you qualify or not.
- While there are lots of steps - and the are multiple section online questionnaires can be completed - it is not rocket science - and there is no 'mystery'
- a lot of answers can be found here:
http://www.ncaa.org/student-athletes/play-division-i-sports
- there is a section where you identify your high school (by checking a box - they already have the school listed in the system & have assigned it an ID number) you the do a basic check - check -check for all of the core courses (they have most of the possible courses - with the NCAA's ID number for the course for your school also loaded into the system - but they do not always have all of them - and don't have the unique ones) that you have taken - this is only preliminary - since it is intended that you initially register during your sophomore year - then the official recognizing of your courses starts to happen when you have your school submits your preliminary official transcript - that formally logs your courses taken into the system - this is during junior year - a preliminary eligibility is determined (plays a role in recruiting process - gotta be legit to get an official trip) For D1 you have to earn at least a 2.3 GPA in your core courses. But there is also a sliding scale composite score GPA & (SAT / ACT) that you need to hit so a higher GPA may take some SAT / ACT pressure off - it can be found in the link above
To be eligible to compete in NCAA sports during your first year at a Division I school, you must graduate high school and meet
ALL the following requirements:
- Complete 16 core courses:
- Four years of English
- Three years of math (Algebra 1 or higher) - - (no basic arithmetic)
- Two years of natural/physical science (including one year of lab science if your high school offers it)
- One additional year of English, math or natural/physical science
- Two years of social science
- Four additional years of English, math, natural/physical science, social science, foreign language, comparative religion or philosophy
- Complete 10 core courses, including seven in English, math or natural/physical science, before your seventh semester
There are pages and pages and page of questions regarding amateurism - and where and when you participated in sports outside of the high school experience -
RU can help - and hopefully knows virtually everything - and has helped to make sure everything is in order - but fundamentally this is the Athlete's process - and really only the athlete and their high school(s) - and potentially their outside teams or organizations will be involved in an official manner. Right now Rutgers is sort of an outsider - only serving as a support for the athlete.
So, where do things get murky?
1. If some classes that the athlete is using to meet the 'core requirement' have non-standard names it can cause scrutiny - and then they have to read the course description - contact the school - and it can become a bit of a bureaucratic mess - especially if the NCAA has the High School on the "watch list"
2. If some of the timing is off ... or if the kid has changed schools ( kids with 4 high schools in 4 years can be touch & go) .. or if the High School is just lousy at responding - all can slow - derail process
3. If the Amateurism stuff is fuzzy / fishy - the NCAA claws into that - mostly impacts international athletes who may have been traveling on teams with close interaction with professionals - navigating all that is an art form.