U.S. college admissions scam shows coaches in smaller sports can be big players

[rooster59]

U.S. college admissions scam shows coaches in smaller sports can be big players

By Gabriella Borter

 

FILE PHOTO: A sign is pictured on the grounds of University of Southern California in Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 13, 2019. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

 

(Reuters) - The biggest U.S. college admissions cheating scam highlights the power that coaches of low-profile sports such as sailing, crew and water polo can have on student recruitment.

 

Without the focus or funding enjoyed by the heads of top college football and basketball teams, these obscure influencers turned out to be major players in a scheme to sell admissions slots to the wealthy parents of children with no real sports credentials.

 

"The sports involved here were ones that really do fly under the radar," said Anna Ivey, who advises parents and students on how to get into top colleges. "There would probably be a lot more attention if someone were a recruited athlete for a big money-making team."

 

No figures are publicly available on how many slots college admissions offices reserve for athletic recruits each year, but they can add up to dozens at large universities, recruited athletes and college admissions advisers said in interviews this week.

 

"Most schools are usually closely guarded on this," said Mike Newcomer, founder of Bulldog Tutors, a college consulting and tutoring company in New Haven, Connecticut.

 

Parents and high school students have increasingly turned to athletic recruitment as an advantage in the admissions process over the past two decades, Newcomer said.

 

"This didn't exist 20 years ago in quite the same way," he said.

 

Some 50 people, including 33 parents, were charged with taking part in the scheme masterminded by William Singer, in which coaches took bribes to admit students they falsely identified as top prospects in crew, tennis and water polo, even if they had little to no experience in those sports and no intent to compete once they reached college.

 

Singer pleaded guilty on Tuesday. Hollywood actress Lori Loughlin was dropped by a TV network and her daughter lost a sponsorship deal on Thursday, while students sued prestigious universities in growing fallout from the massive scandal.

 

Stanford University, the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Texas and the University of Southern California this week fired or suspended coaches linked to the fraud scheme, while a top Yale University coach resigned late last year after he began cooperating with investigators.

 

A Wake Forest spokeswoman said the school only admits students which it believes will succeed academically.

Georgetown's policy allows coaches to recruit athletes who will help its teams, with approval by admissions staff. With Stanford, athletic abilities can help but cannot guarantee admission.

 

Yale, UCLA and the University of Texas did not respond to inquiries about their recruitment processes, and USC declined to comment.

 

Schools say they allow coaches to recruit athletes into lesser-watched sports such as tennis and sailing to ensure that their teams perform well and that they have well-rounded student bodies.

 

Particularly for sports without scholarships, such informal arrangements can provide a nudge over the line for a student who is close to meeting a school's admissions standards, according to recruited athletes.

 

Taylor Garcia, a 19-year-old freshman tennis player at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, said coaches from multiple schools approached her when she was a nationally ranked high school athlete.

 

"Tennis probably helped me in the admissions process, but I wouldn't say anyone ever promised me anything," Garcia said.

 

But bribes bought promises under Singer's scheme.

 

"What we do is we help the wealthiest families in the U.S. get their kids into school .... My families want a guarantee," Singer told one client in a wire-tapped conversation, according to court papers.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-16

[new2here]

What I’m interested to see is what will the impacted schools do with any current (or former for that matter) students who benefited from the alleged criminal actions.

I’m also intrigued as to what will be the eventual outcome of the students (who initially applied to, but ultimately weren’t admitted to one of the impacted schools) suit that effectively claims they were denied admission due to an unfair/rigged or process.

Sounds like the schools themselves didn’t gain financially -so unjust enrichment sounds off the table, but I could see the possible use of Title IX as a potential means to ends.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[lannarebirth]

Title IX effectively more than doubled the revenue stream of these scammers. No one watches girls sports because frankly they don't come close to men's proficiency. Still they get the same scholarships for so so athletes. No one would ever know if they were a real athlete or a fraud.

[zydeco]

And Webster University has the #1 ranked chess team. Yes, THAT Webster, with the branches in Thailand. Scary, ain't it?

[Ulic]

3 hours ago, lannarebirth said:

Title IX effectively more than doubled the revenue stream of these scammers. No one watches girls sports because frankly they don't come close to men's proficiency. Still they get the same scholarships for so so athletes. No one would ever know if they were a real athlete or a fraud.

Not really sure. Title IX is about ensuring that the same amount of money is spent on women's sports as men's sports. These scammers didn't receive scholarships or any discounts (that I am aware of) Many (like the Ivey League) schools don't give athletic scholarships just academic scholarships. However, they do like to do well in the sports that they participate in,(many obscure like sailing and fencing) so they give extra credit in the selection criteria to students that are supposed to excel in those sports, allowing them to get in slightly easier (or with this scam a whole lot easier). However, it should also be understood that these students have not received athletic scholarships and are under no obligation to participate in the sport at the collegiate level that may have helped them get into the school. Once admitted they are free to choose to participate in the school's athletic programs or not.

[Scott]

Troll post removed.