Academics Now Name of the Game for Athletes : Education: High school students will have to maintain a C-plus grade average to be eligible to play college sports beginning in the fall of 1995.

At the start of each practice, Huntington Beach High School athletic director David VanHoorebeke gives his athletes a pep talk. But since the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. announced its stricter academic requirements last month, his talk sounds more like it was written by Jaime Escalante than Knute Rockne.

VanHoorebeke and his fellow coaches at Huntington Beach High have been warning their student athletes that now more than ever, they will have to hit the books as consistently as they hit the jump shot if they hope to play college sports.

Last month, the NCAA ruled that beginning in the 1995-96 academic year, the minimum grade-point average for student athletes to maintain their eligibility to play sports will be raised from 2.0 to 2.5.

Since then, educators, coaches, players and boosters have been pondering the implications of the change and its possible effect in Orange County, where high schools have long been a training ground for top-notch college players and more than a few professionals.

Some say the change in eligibility requirements will unfairly prevent gifted athletes from getting into colleges that otherwise may have accepted them. In fact, some say, some student athletes may become so discouraged by the new requirements that they may simply abandon high school sports if the possibility of getting into college is diminished.

But others say there is no reason why gifted student athletes can’t also be just plain gifted students. With more tutoring, extra help and early warning about the new grade-point average requirement, they predict that high school athletes will be pushed toward succeeding more academically.

“The last time (the NCAA) put new regulations on the grade-point average, some people argued that it would push kids out of high school,” said John F. Dean, superintendent of the Orange County Department of Education. “But the students came around. The desire to play was even stronger. I don’t think a C-plus (average) is an unrealistic demand. We’re constantly attempting to help kids stretch themselves. Why don’t we let the kids prove to themselves that they can achieve?”

One who disagrees with this assessment is Stan Thomas, commissioner of the California Interscholastic Federation’s Southern Section, which oversees one-third of the state’s high school teams. Thomas says the new requirement puts undue pressure on student athletes.

“This is going to create a monster,” Thomas said. “There are some youngsters who do not do well in academics. How about these kids who are really working hard to maintain a 2.0? Now they up the ante to 2.5. This will have a dramatic impact.”

To play college sports in schools in the NCAA’s Division I--the organization’s top classification--entering college freshmen will had to have maintained a 2.5 grade-point average in core high school courses like English and science, which are considered college preparatory classes.

Graduating high school seniors who fail to meet the grade-point average requirement will be ineligible to play as freshmen in NCAA colleges unless they score higher than 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.

California requires high school athletes to maintain a 2.0, or C, average to be eligible to play sports in college. But some high schools have established higher standards of their own.

At Century High School in Santa Ana, all students are required to take core curriculum classes, said principal Gerald Arriola. The school has only a handful of classes that are not considered college preparatory.

“Our student athletes already have that so-called burden on themselves and they are doing extremely well,” Arriola said.

As of Friday, Century High School’s basketball team had a record of 14 wins and 7 losses. The team’s grade-point average is 3.1, said coach Greg Katz.

“Once the rules have been set, the student athletes are going to adjust to them,” Katz said. “Those who are going to goof off will goof off. Those who want to get to college and play sports, they are going to make it no matter what.”

Katz also brushes aside talk that the new rules will be especially discriminatory against ethnic minorities. After the NCAA made its decision, some athletic directors and educators criticized the upgrade, saying that 70% of the athletes likely to be denied eligibility under the new standards will be black.

“That’s a lot of hay,” said Katz, who coaches in a school that is 94% ethnic minority. “These people must look at (predominantly) minority schools and think we are a bunch of dummies. That kind of reasoning is an insult to minority students. The students just need to know the rules and they’ll adjust to it.”

One such student is Ronald Aristondo, a strapping 16-year-old basketball player at Century High. The sophomore is the starting forward on his team and his coaches say he’s got great potential, both athletically and academically.

With a 3.2 grade-point average in hand, Ronald has no fear of the stricter NCAA’s standards.

“People who play sports should be athletic and smart,” Ronald said. “Two-point-five is not hard to get.”

Nancy Sutherland, vice president of the booster club at San Clemente High School, says that many parents approve of the raised grade-point average requirement. Her son, Steve, 15, plays varsity football and keeps his grade-point average high enough to remain eligible to continue on the team, Sutherland said.

“We’re not doing them any favors by keeping the GPA low,” Sutherland said. “Only 1% of the athletes go on to professional sports. What happens to the other 99% who have not been encouraged in the academics or haven’t been prepared for life? They are left crippled.”

Sutherland says that the booster club and teachers already have tutoring programs in place to increase their grades.

In Orange County, coaches and athletic directors say they began spreading the news about the new eligibility rules as soon as the NCAA’s largest schools adopted the rules in January.

“Everybody has to be educated on what the new rules are,” Huntington Beach High coach VanHoorebeke said. “We want to make sure our students understand the requirements. And if they don’t understand, we want their parents to understand. We don’t want someone who ends up being a late bloomer missing out just because his or her grades were lousy in the beginning.”

VanHoorebeke said there is a possibility that the school will set up a program for student athletes who might need more tutoring to get better grades and SAT scores.

Bill Reynolds, a guidance counselor at Bolsa Grande High School in Garden Grove and the men’s basketball coach at Southern California College in Costa Mesa, said counselors will also warn junior high students about the new requirements. Because students have to pre-register for classes when they are in eighth grade, counselors can track and monitor the youngsters and make sure they take the proper college preparatory courses if they want to participate in sports, Reynolds said.

“In the long run, a student is going to have to take more responsibility,” Reynolds said. “If an athlete knows he needs a higher grade-point average to play college sports, he’s going to work toward achieving that goal. As counselors, we have to monitor them to make sure they are aware of what they have to do.”

But Thomas of the CIF warned that students may feel overwhelmed and may end up choosing between sports and academics.

“The students will have to decide whether they want to go full-blown athletics or full-blown academics,” Thomas said. “They have to curtail their outside activities and practices to get the 2.5 GPA. Doggone, I’m opposed to it. But nobody came from the NCAA and talked to us.”

Even with the most intensive tutoring, not all students can reach a 2.5 grade-point average, said James McNaught, athletic director at San Clemente High School. McNaught coaches basketball and track.

Coaches and counselors, who have been cut because of budget woes in many districts, will now have to play an even bigger role to make sure athletes do not falter in their grades, McNaught said.

“C-plus is awfully challenging for some students, especially in the core subjects,” McNaught said. “This will affect student commitment to sports. A C-plus in core subjects requires a lot of studying. These kids are already devoting much time in practice. The talented kid who excels in the classroom and in sports is going to make it. But those who are struggling as it is are going to need help.”

But Wayne Mickaelian, principal at Laguna Hills High School, asserts that students can do well in both academics and sports. He says that schools will work hard to help those who may need extra help in the classroom.

Mickaelian said the new rules can be an incentive for athletes.