HARTFORD, Conn. --
James Jackson assumed that when he was offered a full football scholarship to
Ohio State it meant that as long as he stayed out of trouble and kept up with his school work, the university would pay for his education for four years.
He later discovered, that's not always how it works.
Jackson, a wide receiver, says he was asked to transfer after last season, two years into his college career.
"They had an oversigning issue," Jackson said. "They had to free up a few scholarships, and coach [Jim] Tressel told me I probably wouldn't play and maybe Ohio State wasn't the place for me."
Jackson said he didn't understand when he was being recruited that all scholarships are only good for a year, subject to renewal at the discretion of the school. He was never told that he might be asked to transfer if he wasn't performing up to expectations and the school wanted his scholarship for someone else.
In response to cases similar to Jackson's, California and Connecticut have passed legislation that will require colleges in those states to disclose the fine print of athletic scholarships to student athletes.
Connecticut's law, which passed the state House by a vote of 140-3 and was unanimously approved by the Senate, will take effect on July 1. California's, signed into law in 2010, will be fully implemented in 2012. Other states are considering similar legislation.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith denies the school forced Jackson to transfer.
"Our policy is as
James Jackson stated: As long as a student-athlete maintains his/her academic standing, behaves appropriately, and handles his/her responsibilities, he or she will retain their scholarship. We have no proof of any conversation between he and former head coach Jim Tressel," he said in a statement to the Associated Press.
...
Quinnipiac University basketball coach Tom Moore said he doesn't believe the law will lead to many changes in the recruiting process. His school, and all others that he knows of, already make the details of scholarships available to recruits and their families, he said. And most families, he said, are savvy enough to ask the right questions anyhow.
He said while there is a perception that schools sometimes run off athletes to give a scholarship to a better player, more often the decision to transfer is initiated by the player, not the coach.
"With each passing generation of kids, you are getting kids who are less driven to work through things," Moore said. "You get a lot of kids who come in expecting success, without realizing the work you have to put in to achieve success. That's sometimes where the conflict comes in."
But Jackson said if he had known then what he knows now, he would not have gone to Ohio State, and believes disclosure laws can help others avoid similar mistakes.
"My main goal coming out of high school was to get a degree from a Division I program," said Jackson, who now attends Wayne State, a Division II school in Michigan. "If I had known they wouldn't keep me in school for four to five years, no matter what, I would have gone somewhere else.
"I don't necessarily feel used, and maybe coach Tressel was right, maybe Ohio State wasn't right for me," he said. "But this would have helped me out by maybe knowing that before."
Cont'd ...
