Three SDSU Recruits Ruled Ineligible for 1987 Season

Three San Diego State freshman football recruits failed to meet National Collegiate Athletic Assn. eligibility standards and will not play for the Aztecs this season, SDSU Coach Denny Stolz said Sunday.

The three players are Arlondo Hill, a linebacker from Point Loma High School; Doug Blanchard, a linebacker from Edison High School in Huntington Beach, and Pio Sagapolutele, a defensive lineman from Maryknoll High School in Honolulu.

Stolz said Hill also has failed to meet university admission standards and will not attend SDSU. He said that he was unsure of Hill’s plans but that he might attend a junior college.

Hill, a member of The Times’ All-San Diego County team, played in the Lions College Prep All-Star Football Game Saturday at the Aztec Bowl.

Point Loma Coach Bennie Edens said he had spoken to Hill recently and that Hill had taken the Scholastic Aptitude Test for a second time in June in hopes of meeting the NCAA requirement. He said he had been unaware that Hill would not be admitted to SDSU.

“I really feel for Arlondo because he’s worked hard,” Edens said. “He really thought he could do better the second time.”

Hill, who is 6-feet, 2-inches tall and weighs 220 pounds, could not be reached for comment.

Stolz made the announcement Sunday afternoon after the other 13 freshman recruits, four junior-college transfers, walk-ons and Daryl Crawford, a running back from Chula Vista High School, reported for the start of preseason camp. Crawford was the only SDSU player who sat out last season because he failed to meet the NCAA freshman requirements.

Practice for these players begins today at 9:30 a.m. The rest of the team reports Thursday and begins practice Saturday.

Stolz said the three recruits failed to meet the two-year-old NCAA requirement known as Proposition 48. Freshmen who obtain a 2.0 average in a group of core courses must obtain either a 700 on the SAT or a 15 on the American College Test to be eligible to play sports as a freshman. Those who fail to meet the requirement may accept an athletic scholarship, but they cannot play or practice as freshmen, and they lose one of their four years of athletic eligibility.

Stolz said the university hadn’t decided whether to admit Blanchard and Sagapolutele.

Blanchard, 6-4 and 245 pounds, is a member of The Times’ All-Orange County team. His brother Brett was a wide receiver last season on the Aztecs’ Western Athletic Conference championship team.

Sagapolutele, 6-6 and 245 pounds, was an all-state football and basketball player in Hawaii as a senior.