Article:SEC coaches on the 'Billy' Rule

**orange+white=heaven** · 07-17-2008, 07:38 AM

Morning hoops reading from the TFP's Darren Epps...

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Asked about the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ urging of members to stop offering scholarships to prospects not yet in their junior years of high school, Vanderbilt’s Kevin Stallings couldn’t resist a joke.

“Doggone Billy,” he cracked.

And the reaction of Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury?

“Is this the Billy Rule or what?” he joked.

Billy, in this case, is Kentucky’s Billy Gillispie. The NABC formally asked its members last month to stop the early offers not long after Gillispie received commitments from eighth-grader Michael Avery and ninth-grader Vinny Zollo.

But the “Billy Rule” now can reference a different Billy — Florida coach Billy Donovan. Two weeks after the NABC’s announcement, Donovan promptly accepted a commitment from Austin Rivers, a member of the 2011 class. Rivers is the son of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers.
Offering scholarships to prospects too young for a driver’s license isn’t a novel idea — Bobby Knight pegged Damon Bailey as a future star in the mid-1980s and accepted a commitment his sophomore year — but it’s certainly more prevalent in recent years.

Last year, Southern Cal’s Tim Floyd accepted a verbal commitment from guard Ryan Boatright before he even picked a high school. Taylor King committed to UCLA after his eighth-grade season in 2003, then signed with Duke and now attends Villanova.

And Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl offered a scholarship to Cordell Passley, then a rising high school sophomore, three years ago. Passley never signed with the Vols and now attends Vincennes University in Indiana.

“The academic and athletic profiles of these younger students are still very much works in progress,” said former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, now with Minnesota and on the NABC’s board of directors. “Coaches and athletes need to respect the process and allow development to occur in both areas prior to making commitments.”

The NABC cannot enforce the rule, only make a suggestion. NABC Executive Director Jim Haney said he hopes to pass legislation making such recruiting a violation of NCAA rules starting in 2010.

The proposed rule is drawing the ire of Pearl and Donovan, who also accepted commitments from Teddy Dupay, Mike Miller and Nick Calathes before their junior years of high school. All three were or, in the case of Calathes, are productive players.

“I, quite frankly, don’t understand it,” Pearl said. “I would prefer to see the NABC spending their time with issues with greater effect like coaches’ lack of job security and the NCAA rules as it relates to how we can recruit and our inability to communicate, like having one phone call a month and not being able to text. There are other problems. I just don’t understand this.”

Per NCAA rules, Donovan cannot comment on his recruitment of Rivers. But he said the situation was much different and not intended to mock the NABC.

Donovan and Doc Rivers are longtime friends. Austin Rivers’ sister, Callie, plays volleyball for Florida. And Austin Rivers attended Florida’s summer camps the last three years.

“It was based upon the best interests of the young man and the University of Florida by way of relationship,” Donovan said. “It’s a completely different situation. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.

“I will say this: One of the things going on that the NABC needs to be clearer on is there are a lot of these seventh- and eighth-grade camps going on. And college coaches are working them. They’re seeing the best seventh- and eighth-graders play.”

Most coaches said the NABC’s proposal isn’t going to change recruiting until the NCAA passes legislation. The problem, several said, is enforcing the rule.

No one can stop a 14-year-old kid from telling media outlets that he’s committing to a school. Rules already exist preventing coaches from contacting high school freshmen, but those prospects can initiate contact with the coach.

“We’re supposed to be doing the best job we can,” said Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy, who claimed he can tell, in a camp of 100 ninth- and tenth-graders, who will be the stars. “If a kid wants to go to a school and make a commitment, he should be able to do so.”

And the namesake of the so-called Billy Rule? Expect Gillispie to live up to the name.

“I haven’t changed my opinion at all,” he said. “I’m a company man, but I’m not going to get beat up as far as competing. I will always try to do what the coaches organization asks. But I’m not going to let the competition get ahead of me.”

TreeGreen · 07-17-2008, 02:15 PM

I guess I don't understand why it is such a problem to recruit younger players. It seems to me that the NABC has a few members experiencing sour grapes because they are getting beat to the best talent very early by some very high profile coaches. I can maybe see issues with undo influence because of such early contact with the young men, but that is part of the recruiting game no matter what period of time you initiate or receive contact.

TennesseeFan07 · 07-17-2008, 03:51 PM

Give it 3 or 4 years then everyone will be praising Billy for wrapping them up while he could

BigPapaVol · 07-17-2008, 05:11 PM

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Originally Posted by TennesseeFan07

Give it 3 or 4 years then everyone will be praising Billy for wrapping them up while he could

everyone is just as likely to be laughing at him. 4 years is an awfully long time

hmanvolfan · 07-17-2008, 05:54 PM

If coaches can get commitments from such young players, then they should be obligated to designate a scholarship to them that is non transferrable. Seems fair to me.

**hatvol96** · 07-18-2008, 05:21 PM

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Originally Posted by BigPapaVol

everyone is just as likely to be laughing at him.

No, they aren't. Andy Kennedy was right in what he said during the SEC teleconference Wednesday. Guys who can really evaluate talent can walk into a gym full of 8th graders and figure out in short order the guys who are going to be D-I quality players.

**hatvol96** · 07-18-2008, 05:23 PM

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Originally Posted by hmanvolfan

If coaches can get commitments from such young players, then they should be obligated to designate a scholarship to them that is non transferrable. Seems fair to me.

BCG has already said he will honor any commitments he makes, regardless of what happens in the ensuing time.

DowntownVol · 07-18-2008, 05:50 PM

Credit to BCG for being willing to honor those commitments, and I see where Andy Kennedy's coming from about being able to evaluate talent in a gym for of 8th graders, but it seems like a whole lot can happen in that 4-year-span, in terms of a kid's motivation, desire, and drive to improve and develop his skills. Not to mention the kid's actual physical development in terms of size and strength, which can be difficult to predict. Seems like a high-risk move, committing a scholly to an 8th-grader, but otherwise I see nothing wrong with it if a coach is willing to take that risk.

**hatvol96** · 07-18-2008, 09:32 PM

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Originally Posted by DowntownVol

Credit to BCG for being willing to honor those commitments, and I see where Andy Kennedy's coming from about being able to evaluate talent in a gym for of 8th graders, but it seems like a whole lot can happen in that 4-year-span, in terms of a kid's motivation, desire, and drive to improve and develop his skills. Not to mention the kid's actual physical development in terms of size and strength, which can be difficult to predict. Seems like a high-risk move, committing a scholly to an 8th-grader, but otherwise I see nothing wrong with it if a coach is willing to take that risk.

My favorite personal anecdote on this subject: I was sitting with a well known coach at the Junior Olympics. There was a pudgy kid on one of the 12 year old teams. I said he looked like the love child of Nell Carter and Fred "Rerun" Berry. The coach looked at me and said, "In six years, that pudgy kid will be my power forward." The player went on to be two time conference player of the year and play a decade in the NBA. The great evaluators see it before anyone else. It's what makes them great.