Just wanted to point out that in the cases of Davon Dillard, Oscar Frayer, Tyson Jolly, and now Alec Hickman, academics was the reason for why they decomitted. I don't have the details on Ahmaad Rorie, but odds indicate that academics is probably why he decommitted as well. Though to be clear, I do not know that for sure.
The reason I'm brining this up is that a lot of times when a guy decommits, at least, in every case that I've been covering, there have been questions of as to whether or not academics played a factor. The article on Alec Hickman decommitting from Cal that I did provides a good window into how the admissions process works, what the UCs are looking for from student athletes, etc.
If a player commits to Cal and then decommits later, it's highly likely that he didn't clear admissions. I know this may seem obvious to some of you, but now that I have a strong pattern and history to go off of, I feel comfortable posting this.
In regards to how this applies to other recruits, in regards to academics, here is the best I can say about the following scenarios.
A recruit goes elsewhere and never commits to Cal: In this case, academics may or may not be a factor. Sometimes a player has a stronger relationship with a certain coaching staff and chooses to go there for those reasons. He may love the campus more, etc. We should not assume that a player who doesn't commit to Cal didn't have the grades. Vance Jackson and Jayce Johnson are examples of guys who went elsewhere because of the relationship they had with the coaching staffs at UConn and Utah respectively. Also, keep in mind that Charlie Moore originally chose Memphis and he had the grades for Cal all along.
Odds are good that if a player is being actively recruited by Cal, he has the grades or at least is expected to be able to get past admissions. The coaching staff does look at a player's transcripts before offering them a scholarship. E.g. Don Coleman. In the case of Alec Hickman, I think he's a guy who did not quite make the cut, but he was close enough that Cal felt confident in offering him.
A top player isn't being targeted by Cal: If a top player isn't being targeted by Cal it means one of three things: (A) The player is showing no interest in Cal, (B) Cal doesn't have any interest in the player in terms what he can bring to the court, (C) The player doesn't have the grades and thus is not worth pursuing. Trevon Duval likely does not have the grades, which is why the staff is not involved with him. I say "likely" only because I don't have a direct source to verify that academics is the specific reason for why he isn't being pursued by Cal. But I have to imagine that's the reason since he is one of the top point guards in the country.
Anyways, that's all I want to say, but I feel like such a post is warranted since there is always questions about academics and its role in a player's recruitment.
Note: A lot of this I'm sure applies to football as well, but since that isn't my area of expertise on here, I'm not gonna speak for the football side.
The reason I'm brining this up is that a lot of times when a guy decommits, at least, in every case that I've been covering, there have been questions of as to whether or not academics played a factor. The article on Alec Hickman decommitting from Cal that I did provides a good window into how the admissions process works, what the UCs are looking for from student athletes, etc.
If a player commits to Cal and then decommits later, it's highly likely that he didn't clear admissions. I know this may seem obvious to some of you, but now that I have a strong pattern and history to go off of, I feel comfortable posting this.
In regards to how this applies to other recruits, in regards to academics, here is the best I can say about the following scenarios.
A recruit goes elsewhere and never commits to Cal: In this case, academics may or may not be a factor. Sometimes a player has a stronger relationship with a certain coaching staff and chooses to go there for those reasons. He may love the campus more, etc. We should not assume that a player who doesn't commit to Cal didn't have the grades. Vance Jackson and Jayce Johnson are examples of guys who went elsewhere because of the relationship they had with the coaching staffs at UConn and Utah respectively. Also, keep in mind that Charlie Moore originally chose Memphis and he had the grades for Cal all along.
Odds are good that if a player is being actively recruited by Cal, he has the grades or at least is expected to be able to get past admissions. The coaching staff does look at a player's transcripts before offering them a scholarship. E.g. Don Coleman. In the case of Alec Hickman, I think he's a guy who did not quite make the cut, but he was close enough that Cal felt confident in offering him.
A top player isn't being targeted by Cal: If a top player isn't being targeted by Cal it means one of three things: (A) The player is showing no interest in Cal, (B) Cal doesn't have any interest in the player in terms what he can bring to the court, (C) The player doesn't have the grades and thus is not worth pursuing. Trevon Duval likely does not have the grades, which is why the staff is not involved with him. I say "likely" only because I don't have a direct source to verify that academics is the specific reason for why he isn't being pursued by Cal. But I have to imagine that's the reason since he is one of the top point guards in the country.
Anyways, that's all I want to say, but I feel like such a post is warranted since there is always questions about academics and its role in a player's recruitment.
Note: A lot of this I'm sure applies to football as well, but since that isn't my area of expertise on here, I'm not gonna speak for the football side.
