SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Seniors: Can/Should They Play In
Post-Season Tournaments?--(May 31, 2001)

This question has come up more than once past month and in particular it has come up several times this past weekend at the various tournaments that took place in various venues around the country.  And we don't raise it here out of any malevolence nor because anyone questions the motives of any team that happened to play seniors in the class of 2001.  But there are a number of other reasons to raise the question, not the least of which is an apparent catch-22 contained in the NCAA Bylaws governing "all-star" play by seniors following the end of their season of sport prior to the time they graduate from high school, which ought to have everyone really scratching their heads.   Really, even though there has never, ever been any NCAA enforcement actions brought over this rule, this really is not an idle question, but one which ought to be very real to a number of players, and it could have implications beyond just the idle ruminations of those who don't enjoy being beaten in tournament play by teams with players who no longer have any high school eligibility.

We bring this up not to create any uproar, nor to cause any problems for anyone, and in fact, we hope we're misreading the rules.  But we doubt it. The NCAA Bylaws governing "All-Star" game participation seem clear enough.   And they seem to say that no one who is a senior who has concluded his basketball season can participate in any more than two "all-star competitions." 

"Hey, we already knew that," you say.  Ahhhh, but what exactly is "all-star" competition?  That's the tricky part. . .

And taking a look at the definition is more than a little scary, at least for any senior who wants to be eligible to play at the NCAA level as a freshman.  Why?  Well, the NCAA's definition of post-high school all-star events also includes "tournament play", and if read quite literally, any senior who plays in more than two tournament games may be considered to have exhausted his NCAA all-star game limit, and if he plays in any more than two such games, the player probably jeopardizes his freshman eligibility. At least that's a very literal reading of the rules. It may or may not be why you don't often see seniors who want to play D-I ball at the spring tournaments which really are intended for rising seniors (current juniors) and underclassmen.    And it's also why for the graduating seniors who have no more high school eligibility you have leagues like the Say No, or the Drew, or other such leagues. Of course, if a player is going to JUCO, or will play NAIA or is going to prep school, none of this will really matter.  But if a player intends to play as a freshman at the NCAA level, then it's something that all club coaches and players ought to concern themselves with.

The NCAA's rules defining "HS All Star Competition" can be found at Bylaw 30.2.1:

30.2.1 High School Football and Basketball

30.2.1.1 High-School All-Star Contest Defined

A high-school all-star contest is any contest in the sport of football or basketball that meets the following criteria:

(a) The teams participating in the contest involve individuals who have completed their high-school eligibility in the sport and have not yet enrolled in and attended classes during a regular term at a collegiate institution;

(b) The contest is scheduled and publicized in advance;

(c) The competition is sponsored and promoted by an individual, organization or agency; and

(d) The individuals are selected for participation in the contest on an invitational basis and have not competed together previously as members of a team that played a regular schedule of games in an organized recreation or interscholastic program.

Rule 30.2.1.1 then defines what is NOT an "All Star" Competition:

30.2.1.2 Contests Not Considered High-School All-Star Competition

Contests conducted under the criteria listed in Bylaw 30.2.1.1 shall not be considered all-star competition for purposes of Bylaw 14.6 if one or more of the following conditions is applicable:

(a) The contest occurs within a framework of a regularly scheduled recreational program involving solely participants from the community in which the sponsor is located;

(b) The competition is limited solely to participants from the community in which the sponsor is located and no revenue, including gate receipts, concessions, program sales or contributions, is generated from the contest;

(c) The competition is scheduled within the framework of an established cultural exchange program involving other educational activities; or

(d) The contest is scheduled in conjunction with developmental competition sponsored by the national governing body of amateur basketball (USA Basketball) or an active member thereof

Finally, for those seniors who want to continue to play in tournament play with travel teams after they have already exhausted their high school athletic eligibility in basketball, but before they graduate, Bylaw 30.2.1.3  ought to send a real chill down your spine.  It provides that each game in a tournament which doesn't meet the exemption from All-Star competition, is considered a separate "all-star game". . . any more than two such games, and you're out:

30.2.1.3 Multiple Competition (Tournaments)

Multiple competition (e.g., tournaments) involving more than one contest or two teams will be considered high-school all-star competition if the specific criteria in Bylaw 30.2.1.1 (subject to the conditions in Bylaw 30.2.1.2) are applicable. Each game conducted under such circumstances would be considered a high-school all-star contest

Each of these Bylaws is impacted by and used in connection with Bylaw 14.6. That rule provides:

14.6 HIGH-SCHOOL ALL-STAR GAMES, EFFECTS ON ELIGIBILITY

A student-athlete shall be denied the first year of intercollegiate athletics competition if, following completion of high-school eligibility in the student-athlete’s sport and prior to the student-athlete’s high-school graduation, the student-athlete competes in more than two all-star football contests or two all-star basketball contests. (See Bylaw 30.2.1.1 for definition of high-school all-star contest.)"

Now we hope that we're reading this incorrectly and that it doesn't mean what it seems to say, and maybe, as some have suggested to us, the key phrase is that players have to be "invited" to participate in the event, not simply be a member of a travel team, but that's not what the rule seems to suggest.  Indeed, the inclusion of the rule regarding tournament play would seem to be superfluous unless the drafters were referring to events such as the tournaments which took place all over the country this past Memorial Day, principally because most if not all "all-star" games really happen to be single-event showcases, and the inclusion of tournament play would really be meaningless in any other context.

Again, we hope that someone else will come up with a better reading of these rules than we have.  But if not, forewarned is forearmed, and don't say we didn't warn you.  

©Copyright SoCalHoops 1997-2001
All rights reserved
Contact: jegesq@SoCalHoops.com