By Christa Cardone and Dan Cardone
Contributor Dan Cardone, Athletic Director at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pa., and his daughter Christa Cardone, a recent graduate from the University of Kentucky, share their thoughts on a recent decision made by Kentucky Head Mens' Basketball Coach Billy Gillespie to offer a scholarship to an eighth grader.
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A Cat’s Eye View
By Christa Cardone
In 2004, when I announced to my friends and family in Pittsburgh that I would be attending the University of Kentucky in the fall, I received the same response from almost everyone. Besides mistaking the University’s location to be in Louisville, the only other relation people made to the school was through basketball. “You’re going to Kentucky? Great basketball program. Outstanding,” people would tell me. Coming from Western Pennsylvania, the only sport that ever seemed important was football, but I soon realized that I was entering a new arena of sports fans by venturing south to where fans claimed to “bleed Kentucky blue.”
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As a student, I came to understand that the only things that mattered to UK fans were wins from their beloved men’s basketball team. Basketball players were like celebrities on campus. Their giant bodies were followed with whispers and stares as they walked from the dining halls to classroom buildings. When the season started, I joined the rest of the student body in waiting in a two-hour lottery just to snag tickets for three games.
Former Kentucky Head Men’s Coach Tubby Smith’s 10 years at the helm of the Wildcats were filled with many ups and downs. His tenure began with a national championship in 1998, and eventually ended in 2007 shrouded in second guesses amid waning support from boosters and fans. That year, Smith chose to leave UK for the University of Minnesota. He left one of college basketball’s most storied powerhouses for a struggling program in the Twin Cities with relatively little tradition to speak of, but few could blame him.
There was little doubt that whoever took Tubby’s place in Lexington would be coming into a tough spot. That person would have to earn trust of players and fans, all while putting a winning product on the floor. When Billy Gillespie took Tubby’s position, I actually wondered why someone would accept a job with so many high, seeming unreachable, expectations.
After a season of ups and downs, Gillespie has brought controversy back to UK basketball. He has chosen a rigid and stern coaching style, much different than the team’s prior coach. His public image is not that of a father figure, but as a young coach not afraid to make risky decisions and have some fun while he’s at it. He fought through his first season, trying to earn some sort of respect from fans, players, and the media. And recently, he made a controversial, headline-hogging decision to recruit an eighth-grader with designs on having him suit up for the Wildcats in five years.
Gillespie’s latest move seems to have placed an exclamation point at the end of a tumultuous first year in Lexington. For Gillespie, replacing former head coach Tubby Smith came with a lot of expectations, but Gillespie didn’t try to mimic the beloved Smith. Instead, he came to Kentucky clearly aiming to establish his own identity.
Some think the recruit is too young, while others think his age is not a problem. Either way, it has everyone in the Bluegrass state worked up. For a coach who was criticized from the first whistle of the first game he coached, it seems to me that Gillespie is just trying to keep up. Coaching at UK is a game of pleasing a million people at once by juggling roles of coach, father figure, and community icon.
It is a never-ending uphill battle for coaches here. Honoring a tradition of excellence while working in a cut-throat field means that Gillespie will contradict himself and fail to please everyone. Recruiting is always a hot topic. The regulations and red tape that surround it are up for debate every day. A world where not making the Final Four is not an option and 're-building seasons' are unacceptable seems to be a breeding ground for controversy and rule-bending all for the sake of the 'W' that equals job security for coaches in Wildcat Country.
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An AD Weighs In
By Dan Cardone
A conversation in a California middle school homeroom between two eight graders on a Monday morning goes something like this: “How was your weekend?” “Pretty boring, nothing much happened. How about you?” The response to the question, “I was offered a basketball scholarship to the University of Kentucky.”
A month ago, no one knew the name Michael Avery. Avery is an eighth-grader who lives in California. Billy Gillispie, Kentucky’s basketball coach, saw Avery at the LeBron James’ travel team tournament in Ohio. Fearing USC might soon tempt him with a scholarship, Gillespie called Avery and offered first.
As a high school athletic director, these actions more than caught my attention. Coaches seem to put to the test whatever rules the NCAA imposes on recruiting. They bothered prospects over visits, so the NCAA had to limit the number of trips. They bombarded recruits with text messages, so the NCAA had to limit texting by the coaching staff.
Jeremiah Davis III, who is completing his ninth-grade year at Muncie Central High School in Indiana, was offered by Kentucky shortly thereafter. “I was honored,” Davis said about the offer. “I don't know if I'm going to take it yet. I'm still a freshman.”
Does this youngster seem to have more common sense than the adult who just turned his world upside down? With the cost of college tuition spiraling, can you blame a parent for not accepting a free ride?
But how do you live up to the expectations of every crowd you play in front of over the course of the next four years? Gillespie argues that the pressures on the athlete will be alleviated by his early decision. There will be no recruiting wars for the top athletes, and the college coach and family can interact without restrictions. The athletes can concentrate on their academics without interference. There are those who would say less effort might be forthcoming with a scholarship in hand.
This trend will most likely create a whole new playing field. Scholarships are just one-year tenders. So if they are not impact players, will the collegiate staff try to run them off by making their stay miserable? Will the high school athlete who commits early miss the attention that comes with recruiting? Simply put, a lot can happen in four or five years. Will Billy Gillespie still be the coach at Kentucky when they matriculate from high school?
College coaches who sign an impact player can lose them to professional basketball after one season. Add to that the trend of offering a scholarship to junior high schoolers. AAU basketball has become a recruiting ground for college coaches, but this recent development can change that connection.
For now, the AAU coach carries weight with the head basketball coach at a major program. According to Win Palmer, Athletic Director at Sewickley Academy in Pittsburgh, this may not be the case in the future. “AAU does not reach down as far as the lower level programs. As college coaches try to identify players at younger and younger ages, they are once again relying on the high school coach. They see and interact with talented basketball players in their program at the junior high level.” Who is to say that once signed, the high school player will opt not to play AAU basketball because he or she does not see the need for further exposure?
The actions of Billy Gillespie seem to reinforce the trend by parents to start kids earlier and earlier in competitive sports. A real problem with interscholastic athletics is the overzealous parent who wants to push too hard too young. Now these same folks may think their child may be the next in line to be offered a scholarship when they are in junior high school!
There is great trepidation on my part as we in high school athletics face still another challenge. Our goal is pure and simple—we try to utilize sport to grow young men and women. Is it not difficult enough for a 13- or 14-year old to adapt to the junior high school experience?
Dan Cardone is Athletic Director at North Hills High School in Pittsburgh, Pa. He is a frequent contributor to Athletic Management.
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