San Diego State Basketball Program Could Lose Special Admissions

On Thursday, nobody at San Diego State University was willing to talk about the impact of the most recent reported feud between the SDSU athletic and academic departments.

The feud between the administration and Aztec basketball Coach Smokey Gaines and Athletic Director Mary Alice Hill could have a considerable impact on the future of SDSU’s intercollegiate teams.

If the academic office cuts back on special admissions for athletes this year, particularly for the men’s basketball team, it could result in as many as seven of the nine incoming recruits not being admitted to the university.

All nine of the recruits have at least a 2.0 high school grade-point averages, and thereby qualify academically by NCAA standards. However, at SDSU, the recruits are considered “special admissions” because they do not meet the school’s higher minimum admissions requirements for student-athletes.

SDSU is implementing a get-tough admissions policy for student-athletes one year before the more stringent NCAA requirements are scheduled to go into effect.

The major question is whether the recruits, particularly the seven from out of state, will have strong enough academic records to qualify as special admissions.

“It’s all premature right now,” Gaines said Thursday night. “I don’t know how many recruits we’ll get. I have a meeting with Dan Nowak (SDSU vice president for student affairs) on Monday morning at 8:30.”

It is believed that SDSU President Dr. Thomas B. Day will address the media this morning on the situation. However, the press conference was not confirmed, and Day was unavailable for comment.

Gaines, one of the few principal figures to talk Thursday, did not deny a published statistic that since he became coach of the Aztecs in 1979, only three of his athletes have graduated.

“It’s not my fault if they don’t graduate,” Gaines said. “The normal student takes five years to graduate. I have kids that are still coming back. They leave, try and play pro, and come back. I’m giving everything. but what are they (administration) giving me? . . . And I definitely think those special admissions are unfair.”

Wilbert Frazier, a 6-foot 7-inch forward out of Wilbur Cross High School in New Haven, Conn., said Thursday he is aware of the situation and is behind Gaines “100%.”

“I’m waiting for the advisory board to go over the records and for Coach Gaines to give me a call back,” he said. “I know what’s going on, but I’m not supposed to discuss it right now.”

Frazier said he had no second thoughts about selecting SDSU, even though there is the possibility he won’t be accepted at this late date. He said he knows his high school GPA is better than 2.0.

“I just pray and hope for the best,” he said. “I based my decision on where I’ll get playing time and the best education. I have good feelings with Mr. Gaines.”

The mother of recruit Tracy Dildy of Martin Luther King High in Chicago, knew a lot less about the situation at SDSU.

“As far as I know, everything is fine,” she said Thursday night. “I think Tracy has a 2.6 in high school, and I don’t know what their problem would be. I don’t seem to know what’s going on.”

That was a common predicament at SDSU Thursday.

Amid a published report that Hill feared her phone was bugged and that she had fired her secretary and seven other members of her staff, nobody had any comment. Hill did not return phone calls, and Nowak was not available for comment.

Marilyn Hatcher, an assistant athletic director for student affairs, said she had been asked not to comment.

“I will say that the whole thing is being blown out of proportion,” she said.