Checks and Balances: Examining Equitable Recruiting Admission Practices and NCAA Regulation for Prospective Student Athletes

• In Event: Equitable, Indifferent, or Unjust? College Access and Ascendance via Sport

Abstract

The college admission process for student-athletes is complex and demanding, containing a variety of moving parts. Many individuals are involved in the recruitment process, from the initial recruitment stage to the point of enrollment. With a limited number of roster spots available for NCAA competition, the recruiting process for prospective student-athletes vary greatly from non-athletes. From admission officers to coaches, there are often several points of contact that play an important role in a prospective student-athlete’s journey to enrollment. Among this group, athletic coaches play a significant role as validating agents (Rendón, 1994) and are among the most influential mentors (Croft, 2008; Gabert et al., 1999; Letawsky et al., 2003; Pauline, 2010) that drive student athletes’ college choice decisions. Weaknesses in the admission process were clearly exposed in 2019, when the largest college admission scandal in U.S. History was uncovered, known as “Operation Varsity Blues” (OVB). Over the span of 8 years, college admission consultant Rick Singer created fraudulent athletic credentials for his clients and bribed university administrators and coaches to help them gain admission to several colleges and universities (Rosen et al. 2019).

NCAA legislation requires that an individual may not participate in NCAA competition unless the university admitted the student as a enrolled, degree-seeking student that has met the university’s published entrance requirements. (NCAA, 2021). However, the NCAA’s Special Admission exception permits institutions to admit prospective student-athletes at their own discretion, to those who do not satisfy the university’s admissions requirements (NCAA, 2021). Throughout the admission process, there are buffers built in that are put in place to ensure that the applicant gets fair consideration into the class. OVB was able to exploit those buffers, making way for the need to reinforce the admission process in order to keep the applicant evaluation process, a fair and honest one.

Guided by Jayakumar and Page’s (2021) opportunity model of exceptional performance, the presenter will discuss academic and extracurricular metrics used within the admissions process of selective and non-selective NCAA institutions, for envisioning equitable admissions metrics, valuing community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005). Academic and extracurricular metrics will prove useful in examining the advantages and disadvantages to varying populations of prospective student athletes. Current literature shows that throughout the admission process, signs of inequality have benefited certain populations, while excluding others (Bastedo & Bowman, 2017; Sackett et al., 2012). This session will examine the admission process, from recruitment to enrollment, and give recommendations on how coaches and admission professionals can work together to ensure equity in the selection process of prospective student athletes. Recommendations on the institutional need to do a closer examination and discussion of every recruited student-athlete applicant and the need to revamp NCAA’s special admission exception, will be provided.

Author

• Carlos E. Vega, Massachusetts Institute of Technology