Who Benefited From Challenging Eligibility Of Top 2016 Prospect?
Rashan Gary, the No. 1 player in the 2016 class, won his first big battle this season, and it came a few days before Paramus (N.J.) Catholic opens the season.
Gary was the subject of hearing at the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, the state's governing body for high school athletics, and more precisely, whether he was recruited by Paramus Catholic to leave Scotch Plains-Fanwood (N.J.) High before his junior season.
The NJSIAA ruled no recruitment went on, but it brings to light several issues.
First, the well being of a player.
Gary, a five-star defensive tackle with an offer list as impressive as his skill set, was in jeopardy of sitting out a year because Scotch Plains-Fanwood believed Paramus Catholic recruited him. Paramus Catholic was exonerated, and so Gary can play in the season opener this weekend against Baltimore Gilman on Saturday.
His offer list includes Ohio State, Alabama, Michigan, USC, Rutgers, Penn State, Florida, Florida State as well as a slew of others, so banning him would have little impact on recruiting.
So if he was denied, Gary misses a year of playing football, a year of working on a team and year of development not only as a player, but as a person when it comes to the trials and tribulations of playing in a season.
Second, what was Scotch Plains-Fanwood's goal? To punish a kid? And let's keep in mind, Gary is a kid. He's a high school junior, not a college junior and not a pro. If he and his family thought Paramus Catholic was the best place for him, so be it. They should get to choose that option, regardless of the circumstance.
This is about Gary's future. If the family thought Paramus Catholic was a better option, let Scotch Plains-Fanwood prove it school is a better option.
Third, the thought high schools across the country don't recruit is preposterous. Otherwise, there is an incredible coincidence so many Division I prospects congregate at private schools instead of public schools in every state.
If you look at Scout's Top 50 high school teams, it is dominated by private schools, and apparently all the kids go there out of coincidence, since there is no recruiting in high school football.
But what I can't get out of my mind is how a high school, in this case, Scotch Plains, would rather have a kid sit out for a season, for whatever reason, rather than voice its displeasure about what it perceived to have happen, and then leave it at that. The teams will never meet on the field.
Instead, the idea was to punish Gary, which, of course, fell through.
