Basketball Dropouts: A Problem for Division 2 Colleges

When freshman Marty Ward quit the Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s basketball team two days before Thanksgiving, it left Coach Dave Yanai without the power forward he thought his team needed to be a contender in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

It’s not that the 6-foot-5 Ward, who left for religious reasons, was considered the greatest gift to a basketball program. But his rebounding ability was expected to complement three returning starters on a level where there are no Danny Mannings or Patrick Ewings.

Ward’s sudden departure two games into the season is not an uncommon occurence in the CCAA and at other Division 2 colleges, coaches say.

“Lots of kids on this level . . . say ‘to heck with it’ and quit,” UC Riverside Coach John Masi said.

As the 1988-89 season began at CCAA schools: Cal State Los Angeles lost seven players from its previous roster, Cal Poly Pomona five, including two who surrendered scholarships, UC Riverside four and Cal State Northridge two--both on scholarships. Cal State Bakersfield, last year’s CCAA champion, welcomed back just one of three starters eligible to return. Only Cal Poly San Luis Obispo returned everyone it expected to.

The basketball program at Dominguez Hills is considered by coaches to be one of the most fundamentally sound on the Division 2 level. Still, Ward is one of seven players to quit the basketball program there in the last three seasons. And a starter on this year’s team says he is certain he will quit at the end of this season and transfer to a school that has more to offer in his major, physical therapy.

Players have a variety of reasons why they do not return or quit in mid-season. In the case of Dominguez Hills, two players quit for physical reasons, two for religious reasons, one failed to keep his grades up after marital problems, another resigned early this year because he was not playing and one transferred to a Division 1 basketball program.

Coaches say the Dominguez Hills situation shows the frustrations they encounter when recruiting players to play on the Division 2 level.

“If they can’t play for Yanai, then they can’t play for anyone,” said Coach Dave Holmquist of Biola University, an NAIA power considering a jump to the Division 2 level.

Division 2 coaches point to four reasons why the retention rates of their programs are a problem:

Lack of prestige at Division 2--Ward, a Jehovah’s Witness, said his sudden decision to drop out of school to preach would have been “much more difficult” if he were at a Division 1 school. Explained Cal Poly Pomona Coach Dave Bollwinkle: “It’s a lot more difficult to quit the program at, say, Kentucky, and then go home and tell your friends about it, than it is to tell them you quit the team at Cal Poly Pomona.” Added Coach Henry Dyer of Cal State Los Angeles: “Most kids don’t realize they are Division 2 players, most kids would rather be (sitting on the bench) at a Division 1 school.”

Less incentive to play--Small crowds and less newspaper exposure make it easier for bench warmers to leave. Explained Cal State Northridge assistant Rusty Smith, a former star at El Camino College near Torrance: “It takes a year or so for (high school) players to come in here and make an impact. They don’t realize how really far behind they are . . . They become disenchanted.” Others quit, then resurface at other schools. “The kids that jump ship from here to there are kids that usually have had problems,” Yanai said. With less to play for, basketball can become secondary. Said Holmquist: “As you get older, you tend to be not as excited to play basketball. You decide not to play anymore and to concentrate on other things (like friends and getting a job).”

Funding--At privately funded Chapman College, which is considering a drop to Division 3, a scholarship is worth about $14,000 a year. That is a lot of money, but consider that Cal State Dominguez Hills has less than $12,000 in its total recruiting and scholarship budget. Yanai provides funds for only certain athletes, and most of that money goes for books and tuition. In addition, coaches say, athletes are so busy with basketball and school work they seldom have a chance for part-time jobs. “We have a situation where . . . they are waiting from one scholarship grant check to the next,” Yanai said. “It’s a plight we are all in at Division 2s.”

Cream of the crop--Division 1 universities, with larger budgets and better facilities, have more to offer highly touted athletes. Bollwinkle put it succinctly: “We don’t have the pick of the crop.” Division 2 coaches have to be more selective with the leftovers, which, according to Yanai, means taking a player that might be “a little bit flawed. The kids we get we try to screen very closely because of attitude.” A lot of athletes make a mistake when they accept a scholarship to a Division 1 school because they attend that school thinking only about playing basketball, not an education, said Cal State L.A.’s Dyer. “It’s tough to convince the marginal Division 1 player that he should come here, play some basketball and have some fun.”

No Statistics Kept

How California fares in retention of athletes in comparison with Division 2 schools around the country is unclear. The NCAA does not keep statistics on Division 2 schools, or player dropout rates. Its most recent survey of nationwide trends in graduation revealed that only a third of Division 1 college freshman basketball players finish with a degree. CCAA coaches believe their rate of graduation is higher, and that is one of the benefits of playing on the Division 2 level, whether an athlete completes his eligibility or not.

“These kids (on Division 2 level) get an opportunity to get an education and participate in one of the great experiences for any young person, intercollegiate athletics,” Yanai said. “That doesn’t come to everyone.”

UC Riverside, which is rumored to be considering a move up to Division 1, has a large group of basketball dropouts still continuing their education, according to Masi.

“I have an entire team of former players out there,” he said. “They haven’t quit school, but they decided that basketball was not for them any longer.”

Future Recruiters

At Northridge, which will move up to Division 1 in 1990, Smith said it does a program no good if, once an athlete decides to leave, the coach loses contact with him.

“We want to be a help to kids because eventually they will recruit players for you,” he said. “We don’t want them to leave here with a bad taste in their mouths.”

Once it becomes obvious that a player’s future is limited, Northridge suggests they get some playing time at a community college, and hopefully, Smith said, the program and the player will part on friendly terms.

Of course, Yanai said, “there are players that are thick-skinned and repel correction. They feel like they are mistake-free. These are kids with good ability but with egos on the extra large size.”

Attitude Screening

Yanai says he screens players’ attitudes to see if they fit into his system of teamwork and hard work.

“Usually, I recruit on the average one out of six kids that I think would be questionable in attitude. I feel that our other kids are good enough and strong enough as human beings to help that person come around.”

So, Yanai is forced to take a chance once in a while on an athlete with potential, rather than recruit a recognized star.

“I don’t like to waste time,” he said. “In the end, the D-1s will get (the star). That is not time well spent. I would rather screen other kids that fit in.”

Bollwinkle, who was an assistant at three Division 1 schools before moving to Pomona last year, has already felt the dangers of recruiting on the Division 2 level.

“Many of them don’t have the work habits,” he said.

Some Have No Qualms

But Bollwinkle also said that on all levels there are unscrupulous coaches who get rid of marginal players when somebody else comes along to take their place.

“There are some guys that have no qualms about pushing kids out of a program,” he said.

Cal State Hayward Coach Gary Hulst, somewhat of a maverick in his methods, has nevertheless made a perennial power out of the Pioneers without having a scholarship to offer.

“The kids we get like to play,” he said. “They last because they like the game.”

And he has a suggestion for his counterparts in Southern California.

“I under-recruit. Basketball is a game of seven or eight guys. Some of these teams have 12 to 15 players. I owe it to my kids to let them play.”