As a college sports fan, do you ever wonder where all the corruption, loss of integrity, and sometimes outright cheating originates? More specifically, I am talking about the stories about student athletes receiving improper benefits followed by extremely light penalties from the university? Alvin Kamara’s recruiting experience with the University of Alabama might just provide us with many of those interesting answers.
It should be noted that to date Kamara is still an uncommitted high school junior RB from Georgia and has done nothing wrong, nor has he been accused of any wrongdoings to my knowledge. Similarly, as bizarre as the story you are about to hear sounds, apparently Alabama has done nothing wrong yet, either.
It was reported today that Alabama is so incredibly interested in recruiting Kamara that they sent him 105 recruiting letters…in one day.
The Invincible College Recruit
Of course, in this day and age where amateur athletes receive many more valuable “gifts” than recruiting letters, this story seems at first to be nothing more than funny. Upon closer inspection, however, it becomes much easier to see where the future potential problems lie after this stunt, and how blurred the paradigm between university and student athlete has just become due to Alabama’s actions. Some might say this “genie” isn’t going back in the bottle anytime soon.
When student athletes are recruited to colleges there is a normal ego rush in learning that they are one of the select few to be chosen to play at the next level. The job of the coach, and athletic department at-large, is to entice the athlete to choose their school, and to do this they usually give the recruit the royal treatment. As you might expect, there are always potential problems during this process, most notably when the psychological paradigm between college and player shifts so dramatically that the player knows he actually calls all the shots. In these instances, the athlete becomes infallible, invincible, unstoppable, and inevitably “the man.”
Assuming Alabama lands Kamara, can you see how upside-down this relationship has already become — even before he has attended his first practice?? How do you say “no” to the kid you gushed over so badly that you sent him 105 letters in one day??? How do you maintain the same discipline measures for this player as you do the walk-on players, or even any of the other scholarship student athletes from the other teams at Alabama? This kid’s “different,” remember?
The Difficulties in Enforcing Discipline
If Kamara chooses Alabama and he eventually messes up, is it fair to hold him 100% responsible for his actions after his college treated him like Elvis during the recruiting process? After all, this young man has been developed into a superstar by Alabama’s letter writing campaign (amongst other things) — and when 18 year old student athletes feel like this, it’s pretty easy to see why they sometimes make really bad decisions based on their self-perceived invincible status.
For the institution (Alabama in this case), how will they play by the rules if Kamara chooses their school and then goes out and breaks rules and laws? How do you come down on a guy when this is the same guy you laid rose pedals at his door? He came because of the royal treatment you gave him, and now you want to discipline him?? You want him to play by the same rules as every other player, but you didn’t treat him like that during recruiting — so why now the change? You did everything you could to make him feel immortal, and now you want him to be held accountable and responsible?? I mean, you sent him over 100 letters in one day telling him that he could walk on water, eat fire, juggle chainsaws, and leap tall buildings in a single bound —- and now you want him to comply with those silly NCAA rules and regulations??? If I’m Kamara and this eventually happens, I want to know who changed the game?
Kamara and Alabama are not the only examples of this warped psychological paradigm that often develops. Letter writing campaigns like what was recently done at Alabama happen at other schools, too (or some other similar practice). The student athlete is given the keys to the castle, while the university sports administrators and coaches nearly break their collective necks trying so hard to not look or notice when rules are broken. I mean, how do you crack down on the new “money man” for your school?
How Does a Responsible Coach Really Act “Responsibly?”
Responsible coaches know the importance of playing by the rules and maintaining the integrity of the sport, but they also know that you don’t just roll up that red carpet you had out for the top recruit, throw it in the back of the van, and then all of a sudden crack down on him. No, it doesn’t work that way — remember, this kid can transfer so you better learn to become aloof and look the other way — it pays better if you do.
Coaches also know that if you don’t roll out the red carpet and surf & turf dinners, then you probably won’t land him, as there are hundreds of other coaches out there that will spoon feed his every need if it results in an eventual signing.
“Amateur” sports are really an impossibility when you think of them in these terms. In order to get the best kids you have to be over-the-top, outlandish, endearing, and full of promises. Some might even say you have to sell your soul to the devil. But after the young man signs, it is expected that you alter the landscape and coach-player dynamics 180 degrees, and “hold the young man accountable” for his actions. Then, when a kid screws up, society wants to blame him and hold him accountable — but the reality is he was never held accountable from the start of the recruiting process!
Unfortunately, this model simply doesn’t work, and it’s really obvious the reasons why.
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