From the Sports Desk

with Carey Phillips: 04/19/01

The transferring of high school students primarily for athletic purposes is no longer on the back burner. It is clearly front and center.

Athletes transferring schools is nothing new and is certainly not limited to WNC. If school district rules are followed, there's nothing illegal about. In fact some school systems encourage such movement with open transfer policies.

The problem now is that allegations of recruiting are rumbling through the mountains. Recruiting is prohibited by the N.C. High School Athletic but it seems no one in the Chapel Hill office can remember when anyone was sanctioned for recruiting.

That's not to say recruiting isn't going on. It's just not been proven and/or no one wants to go to the trouble of filing a complaint and following through with the process.

Transfers occur in virtually every sport. Ground zero for the current complaints is the women's basketball program at East Henderson. The Lady Eagles won the state 3-A championship in 2000 and placed second in the region this year.

East has developed a powerhouse under Coach Mike Pryor, but some of his players have not come up through the East Henderson feeder program. Other coaches say many of those who have transferred to the East Flat Rock school have played for East assistant coach Joe Carrington in his highly successful AAU program.

This is not to say that anything illegal, or even unethical, has occurred. The transfers may all be above board. However, it's easy to see why eyebrows are being raised over this issue.

In a recent op-ed piece in a regional newspaper, a couple acknowledged they were moving from Asheville to Henderson County so their daughter could play for East Henderson. She had played AAU basketball for Carrington.

It's troubling that parents would uproot a 13-year-old child from lifelong friends so she can play basketball at a particular high school. Then again, they are her parents so if they feel it's best for their daughter so be it. Still I have to wonder what happens if Mr. Pryor and/or Mr. Carrington leave East before this young lady graduates. Will the parents take her elsewhere and again uproot her from friends?

Even if no recruiting is involved, the possible end result is troubling. Schools could develop superpowers in various sports ending any semblance of competitive balance in high school athletics.

The NCHSAA has indicated open transfer policies will be addressed at its spring meeting. There's not much the organization can do other than express concern. Those policies are left up to local school districts.

We've heard much about schools of choice and magnet schools as ways to improve academics. What proponents of such schools have failed to realize is the "choice" or "magnet" may be athletics leaving high schools kids open to recruiting.

Some school systems force students to sit out athletics for a year if they transfer. An often used loophole is the sit out rule does not apply if the student transfers before making the varsity in a particular sport. In other words, if you get them early enough they can play with no penalty.

Most all schools have had transfers that did not move into the district with their families. Smoky Mountain is no exception so we must be careful to not be hypocritical.

We basically have an open transfer policy in Jackson County. Many students have transferred to Smoky Mountain from Blue Ridge but few have had athletics as the primary motive. Some have had a major impact on SM athletics. Others would have been better off staying at Blue Ridge from an athletic standpoint but the benefits they sought from a wider selection of academic courses was worth the change.

Smoky Mountain has also felt the impact of some athletes leaving for what was perceived as greener pastures. None of the departures have been devastating, and some may even have been positive by providing better chemistry.

On the national scene, one of the biggest challenges facing high school athletics is AAU basketball for men. Recruiting of high profile players is generally done through the AAU coach rather than the high school coach.

In our area, AAU basketball, Classic soccer, club volleyball and similar programs provide a different challenge. Players form a relationship with the coach in these out-of-season programs and want to follow him if he is involved with a high school team.

Solutions have ranged from doing nothing to barring players from participating in athletics for a year if they transfer for any reason, even if their parents make a legitimate move due to a job change.

Let's hope it never gets to that point, but we are headed in that direction. One solution would force a player to sit out a year if he transfers to a school that is affiliated with his out-of-season program coach.

At the very least, the NCHSAA must address recruiting at regional meetings next fall. Just getting the issue in the open could put schools remotely associated with recruiting on notice that they are being watched and force them to back off.

The bottom line is transfers have been around forever and will continue to be. Recruiting is a different story and must be stopped for the good of student-athletes everywhere.

Back to Sports: 04/19/01.