The University will see a slight decrease in the number of student-athletes recruited over the next four years, after a recent policy change for Ivy League universities instituted recruiting limits that affect all 33 "Ivy Championship" sports.
The change in policy was approved by the Council of Ivy League Presidents at its 2003 annual spring meeting, according to the council's executive director, Jeffrey Orleans. The Class of 2008 is the first affected by the change.
Compared to the University's previous recruiting trends, the new limits will reduce the number of recruits by about 24 students over a four-year period, breaking down to about six fewer recruits per year, according to Director of Admission Michael Goldberger.
The new policy imposed restrictions on all 33 "Ivy Championship" men's and women's sports. The decision also increased "the minimum qualifications for admission to any Ivy institution, as measured by secondary school rank and standardized test scores" for athletic recruits, according to the Council's June 2003 press release detailing the changes. "Ivy Championship" sports are those in which five or more Ivy League universities field a team, and 90 percent of athletes in the league participate in them, according to the press release.
Football, men's basketball and men's ice hockey were the only sports governed by formal recruiting guidelines prior to the change, said Associate Athletic Director for Academic Support Services Robert Kenneally.
Orleans said football, which came under new restrictions in 2002, will continue to be governed under different rules. Men's basketball and men's ice hockey now operate under the same system as other sports.
The entire system will likely be re-evaluated in 2005, Orleans said. Based on reaction to changes in the past year, there is a strong indication that men's basketball and men's ice hockey might return to a separate system governing their recruits, he said.
"I think most coaches react with some concern when they feel they are being limited," Orleans said. The challenges prompted by these new recruiting limits are compounded by the league's rigid admission standards and absence of athletic scholarships, he said.
Kenneally said the change was probably not a response to any blatant abuse of the recruiting process, but instead served to standardize the recruiting system across the league.
"I think it was to regulate the number of student-athletes on each campus and to make sure that the student-athletes were representative of the entire university," Kenneally said.
Orleans said the council had been discussing the policy for many years but had not formally acted on instituting recruiting limits for most sports.
The June 2003 decision gave the council "a little bit more control" over both the number and academic-caliber of athletic recruits, Orleans said.
Goldberger said he does not believe the decrease will be significant enough to diminish the University's athletic competitiveness.
And because this new policy applies to all Ivy League schools, he said it is highly unlikely that these new rules will change Brown's standing in league competition.
Goldberger said the limits affect all sports similarly.
"I think it's basically an all-around thing," he said. "We want to be fair to all of our coaches and all of our kids and not put a coach in a position where he or she can't compete."
An individual coach's recruiting practices has more bearing on a team's performance than any change in Ivy League policy, Goldberger said.
To recruit efficiently, coaches must target students who will not only benefit the athletic program but are also academically qualified for acceptance to Brown, Goldberger said.
Although the Office of Admission does not follow specific guidelines when dealing with athletic recruits, Goldberger said a coach's expressed interest in a prospective student does become a factor in the admissions process. But he added that the influence of this interest is no greater than the interest expressed by professors in, for example, music and fine arts programs.
"In this office, we're going to take the kids that are going to be best for Brown," he said.
Herald staff writer Robbie Corey-Boulet '07 can be reached at rcorey-boulet@browndailyherald.com.
