We are well into the final recruitment period for JUCO players for University scholarships year 2011-12. To this point 19 scholarships(16 D-1) have been offered. Based on the approximate figure 1200 total California JUCO players playing this year, only 1.58% of these players have been offered a scholarship. The figures for Cal JUCO come from DR’s website which I have found to be the only up to date and accurate site available. http://www.angelfire.com/sports/jc/signings12.html
The spreadsheet above shows, by final ranking of the Cal JUCO teams for 2011-12, the teams have placed their student athletes in universities with scholarships. To date Antelope Valley College, ranked 10th in the State and in the State Tournament final 4, leads all teams in D-1 scholarships and total scholarships.
Surprisingly to some, two teams that were in the state tournament final 4, Citrus and state champion Fresno State has not placed a player with a University scholarship. Both of these teams have been very successful in the unique style of basketball called “Dribble Drive” or “Dunken and 3” based on a generally guard based team.
I expect that the majority of D-1 scholarships for 2011-12 players have been offered. However, I believe that D-2 and NAIA scholarships will be increasing in the next few weeks as soon as these schools complete their recruitment of D-1 kickbacks and grade issue high school players.
Finally, there seems to be an interesting discrepancy in JUCO player talent evaluation between University and JUCO coaches. You would expect that the 1st team state players voted on by the JUCO coaches would have high correlation with university scholarships offered. As you can see there is little or none. Could it be that the JUCO coaches criteria for 1st team state players is based more on political criteria than basketball talent? Just a thought.
I will keep you informed on the scholarships offered as they change.
Add to your list that VC has had their 2 starting sophomores sign D-1 scholarships. There have been a lot of offers that have not gone announced for one reason or another. Also there are a lot of D-1 holdouts that will sign late with D-2 once they realize that they are not getting any D-1 sniffs.
The way that all state team is picked is first that conference MVP’s are generally put on all state, then the conference champion gets some guys on state (SBVC, Mt Jac and Cuesta) D-1 colleges generally pick “potential and gene pool” over someone who plays really hard and is tough but may be lacking in size or athleticism. D-1 sports are a business. Junior college does not generate enough money to even be considered a viable money maker at all.
I would rather see a player or a team that plays extremely hard any day over some so called “prospect or potential”. We have NBA Television for that.
Thanks for the info Dave. Could you give me the info on the names of the two sophomores and the schools they have signed with. Interesting view on all-state team picks. Bet there are 20 different views on how the players are picked which means there is no criteria ie. politics.
You have to realize that most of the juco schools in California have young players for the 2011-2012 season so they will not be offered scholarships yet. The players that made the all-state team made it for their skill level and production not because of political reasons. Most of the time, coaching, maturity and experience lead teams to victories over talent.
Thanks for your view.