Reclassification Inquiry...

[MWes11]

A buddy of mine texted me yesterday, prompted by the Jamal Murray signing and reclassification, asking how high school b-ball players reclassify last minute. I could not give him a knowledgeable answer. How do high school basketball players reclassify so easily? Usually during their senior year they decide to move up a class. I never really understood this concept. You never see this in football or any other sport, for the most part. Is it as simple as ramping up the workload/summer school last minute? How does one go about doing this and when did this trend start? Could an average Joe Shmo high school student decide they want to reclassify and go to college early on an academic scholarship? Someone fill me in on this, please.

 

[LightningCats]

We had a couple of students in my graduating class "reclassify" nearly 30 years ago. They took a couple of correspondence courses, which when combined with the regular student load, gave them enough credits to graduate a year before their "natural" class. They were not athletes.

Not sure if these players reclassifying today is exactly the same, but the practice of graduating early is not new.

 

[mebeblue2]

if you notice most of the kids that reclassify are just joining the age group they should have already been in
so i would assume that they have just a small number of classes that they need

 

[1war]

Alot of these guys were held back a year in highschool for athletic purposes . they still got their academics for that year though, so they are ahead academically ,credit wise. Reclassifing to their orginal class is made easy because they are way ahead.

 

[Jamal Mercer]

Which buddy? Glessner?

I've actually always wondered if the guys that reclassify are all a year younger than the other incoming freshmen?

 

[MWes11]

Alot of these guys were held back a year in highschool for athletic purposes . they still got their academics for that year though, so they are ahead academically ,credit wise. Reclassifing to their orginal class is made easy because they are way ahead.

Yeah, this is what I am not understanding. I understand if your mom doesn't want to send you to pre-school right away and holds you back a year. But how do you get "held back" in highschool? Do you then get 5 years of high school eligibility to play sports?

 

[mrschwump]

Yeah, this is what I am not understanding. I understand if your mom doesn't want to send you to pre-school right away and holds you back a year. But how do you get "held back" in highschool? Do you then get 5 years of high school eligibility to play sports?

In a word no, they're not held back in HS. There was a time if a kid showed some ability they may be held back in middle school. Most states put a stop to that years ago. It probably has to do with age. States I know of will not allow kids to participate if they turn 19 by a certain date, don't recall what it is. As long as the student passes certain core classes they can move on. We're seeing more of that in football hence Dec grads entering college to go thru spring practice.

 

[MWes11]

In a word no, they're not held back in HS. There was a time if a kid showed some ability they may be held back in middle school. Most states put a stop to that years ago. It probably has to do with age. States I know of will not allow kids to participate if they turn 19 by a certain date, don't recall what it is. As long as the student passes certain core classes they can move on. We're seeing more of that in football hence Dec grads entering college to go thru spring practice.

Great point on football. Didn't even think of the early enrollment in Dec. to get ahead/get on campus. I appreciate that.

 

[TheTweak]

I'm not sure if other schools are different but at my high school you needed 24 credits to graduate. There were 7 class periods so if you did not fail any your first three years you started your senior year with 21 of those credits. Most students took there three classes in the morning and after lunch they left for co-op. I guess it wouldn't be that much more work to add those three credits onto your junior year or summer school.

 

[twocoach]

A buddy of mine texted me yesterday, prompted by the Jamal Murray signing and reclassification, asking how high school b-ball players reclassify last minute. I could not give him a knowledgeable answer. How do high school basketball players reclassify so easily? Usually during their senior year they decide to move up a class. I never really understood this concept. You never see this in football or any other sport, for the most part. Is it as simple as ramping up the workload/summer school last minute? How does one go about doing this and when did this trend start? Could an average Joe Shmo high school student decide they want to reclassify and go to college early on an academic scholarship? Someone fill me in on this, please.

Jamal Murray turned 18 in February of this year. Most people turn 18 during their senior year of high school so maybe he was doing an "extra" year of high school thanks to all of his moving around. Different schools have different class structures (7 classes a day versus 5, different semesters, etc...) He must have enough credits accumulated already to graduate from his current high school right now or after a few summer classes.

 

[MWes11]

Jamal Murray turned 18 in February of this year. Most people turn 18 during their senior year of high school so maybe he was doing an "extra" year of high school thanks to all of his moving around. Different schools have different class structures (7 classes a day versus 5, different semesters, etc...) He must have enough credits accumulated already to graduate from his current high school right now or after a few summer classes.

I appreciate that insight. So, it seems, as long as your complete the credit load required to enter college, you can reclass into a different graduating year.

 

[RickyRossi]

fgsdfgsd

 

[Supafuzz75]

Pretty sure Canadian students are ahead of American students at the same age.. I could be wrong though..

 

[mj2k10]

In a word no, they're not held back in HS. There was a time if a kid showed some ability they may be held back in middle school. Most states put a stop to that years ago. It probably has to do with age. States I know of will not allow kids to participate if they turn 19 by a certain date, don't recall what it is. As long as the student passes certain core classes they can move on. We're seeing more of that in football hence Dec grads entering college to go thru spring practice.

The 19 year old rule is only true for schools that are under those state's jurisdictions (and I don't think every state has that rule), but that's not the type of school where a lot of these kids play anyway. They play for prep schools that follow their own set of rules, and many of those schools are specifically designed to give kids a 5th year of HS to better prepare them for college.

Of the big recent reclass guys, Andre Drummond started at a normal school, transferred to a prep school, changed his eligibility mainly for academic reasons (from the class of 2011 to 2012) then changed back when it became obvious he had no need for that 5th year, academically or athletically. Exact same thing for Nerlens Noel and Dakari Johnson. Karl Towns was more the case of a kid who appears to have been held back purely for athletic reasons, to gain a little edge. By the time he was 17, it was obvious he didn't need that extra year of age. Wiggins and Murray were educated in Canada, until HS for Wiggins, through HS for Murray, and I think the Canadian equivalent of a full US HS education takes kids up to age 19. So it made sense that their initial graduation dates would have made them 19.

And a lot of this has to do with guaranteed admission to school. All these guys have to do is meet certain minimum requirements, which are realistically a lot less than the average student. Colleges discourage average students from doing this type of thing (either the last-minute change in graduation year, or the December school entry that so many football players use) except in special cases. 5 star recruits are clearly special cases.

 

[teach them linear]

It is common for parents to hold kids back for athletic reasons. Someone wrote a book about kids that have gotten ahead in sports and the majority had one thing in common; they were the oldest of their peer group. They looked at the age cut offs for entering school or for participating in little league etc. and found that the kids that fell in the first months of the 12 month cycle had more early success, earned more praise and support for their participation therefore had more success. I can't remember it may have been Glasser in "outliers" but they pointed out that some crazy statistic like over 80% on NHL players were born in the first three months of the age cut off. 12 month range in development for kids is a huge range and it makes sense that if one is successful they retain more interest and enthusiasm for their sport.