Newspaper: 397 Freshmen Ineligible Due to Prop. 48

Proposition 48, which sets academic standards for college athletes, already has rendered 397 athletes ineligible to compete in their freshman seasons, the Philadelphia Daily News reported Tuesday.

The number, which includes 224 football player, 120 basketball players and 53 other athletes, is expected to increase when more schools disclose their data.

Fourteen of the 47 players on the Parade magazine All-America football team are ineligible and fifteen of the consensus top 50 basketball players failed to qualify.

Some coaches think the proposition will protect the players; others say it robs players of tremendous opportunities, the Daily News reported.

John Chaney, head basketball coach at Temple University, objects to the stipulation, which requires incoming freshmen to have a 2.0 grade point average in high school and a 700 score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test out of a maximum of 1600 or a 15 out of 36 on the American College Test.

“A Penn State can’t be hurt by this,” Chaney said. “They’re not going to lose the kids we lose.”

Temple’s prized recruit, Ernest Pollard, from Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, will be ineligible to play this season.

La Salle basketball Coach Bill (Speedy) Morris, who has not lost any recruits, supports the proposition.

“We have to make the young people aware that there is work to be done academically,” he said.

All La Salle, Pennsylvania, Villanova and Drexel recruits have qualified to play, the Daily News reported.

A St. Joseph’s recruit, Ivan Brown, from Monsignor Bonner High School in Philadelphia, said he failed to qualify not because of a lack of intelligence.

“I just lacked skill in taking that test,” he said.

Ineligible athletes are blocked from participating in team functions. They can play once they attain at least a 2.0 GPA in college and are pronounced college-ready by university officials.

Some athletes, such as Pollard at Temple and Brown at St. Joseph’s, will accept their athletic scholarships but forfeit the first of their four years of eligibility and concentrate exclusively on academics, the Daily News reported.