What happened to Jamal Geathers? He signed with USC but I havent seen him on the roster on USC website, nor has he played this year. Did he get redshirted or hurt?

So does no one know where he went? Surely he is playing somewhere...

Post under the boys forum.

Maybe he is with Carmen San Diego or with Waldo....

FWIW, my understanding is that Jamal got caught up in the NCAA Clearinghouse snafu and will be at USC in the Spring of 2007.

Best of luck to Jamal as he is a great young man and a tremendous talent. I had the pleasure to coach against him the last couple of years and have him camp this past summer as well as being around him at the North-South Soccer Classic last June. He'll be a success at USC!

I had similar problems. I took English 1 in middle school and 2,3, and 4 in high school. My senior year I took an extra math class instead of the unnecessary 5th English. Clearinghouse got me for not having "Four credits of English taken in high school".

"One of these days they'll build a stick with a nail in it so big it will destroy them all!!!"

-Kodo & Zoto

W&E... was it corrected or is it required to take in school?

I know of some players who take HS credit courses in 7&8th grade. Would they be in the same predicament?

If you take HS credit courses in 7th or 8th grade, then you must "make that up" at the HS level. For example:

If a student takes English I in the 8th grade, when he gets to HS, he will need to take four years of English per the NCAA Clearinghouse criteria. Thus he could take English II (9th), English III (10th), English IV (11th), and then have to have a fourth English at some point such as Drama or some other approved English credit course.

This often happens with "high achievers" that take HS credit courses at the middle school level. You just have to pay attention to the criteria as your progress through HS. It's beneficial to have a proactive Guidance Department as well.

That seems a bit ridiculous given the fact that they are pushing everything to earlier grades. My son will complete middle school with 5 Carnegie units. Since we don't want him graduating early (as is, he will only be 17 when he finished HS), we were hoping he would get the opportunity to attend the Fine Arts Center or take classes he was interested in.

I'm sorry carnegie units? What is he studying to be a steel mill?

The Carnegie Unit: What is it?



Definition
The unit was developed in 1906 as a measure of the amount of time a student has studied a subject. For example, a total of 120 hours in one subject -- meeting 4 or 5 times a week for 40 to 60 minutes, for 36 to 40 weeks each year -- earns the student one "unit" of high school credit. Fourteen units were deemed to constitute the minimum amount of preparation that may be interpreted as "four years of academic or high school preparation".

Definition taken from www.carnegiefoundation.org

In South Carolina, a student must earn 24 Carnegie units to graduate.

He's at Clayton State!

http://athletics.clayton.edu/msoc/2006/2006_Roster.htm

Wow—just saw this! My daughter has been having the same fight with the NCAA, again about English! This is a mess and should be corrected. She was also in Advanced classes—that seems to be the problem the NCAA has. . .

Also hilarious to see a discussion of Carnegie Units on scsoccer.com. Sad to note we are STILL using concepts from a CENTURY ago! Wonder what is wrong with education? Look no further than the politicos and bureaucrats who have maintained the status quo for a HUNDRED years. . .

No Child Left Behind comes to mind!

If anyone cares—All this increased accountability is HURTING our schools; I bet it is also hurting our athletes. See the research below:

http://nationsreportcard.gov/hsts_2005/

http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n18/

The NCAA and their evil relationship with the SAT are not helping ensure better student-athletes. Red-tape doesn't equal quality, eh?

For the record... March 24 should host an interesting game at the graveyard...

USC v. Clayton State @ 4:00.

If nothing else...this should be extremely entertaining for not having an admission price.

Interesting e-mail I received today -- this is an interpreted version.

Jamal Geathers is currently at Clayton State College and it is uncertain if he will be at the University of South Carolina next fall. He did run into some problems with the NCAA Clearinghouse -- this was known prior to and upon his arrival at USC in 2006 -- concerning some core course work.

It seems that the education system somewhat forces "advanced classes" on 8th Grade students, but that can be somewhat of an albatross for a potential collegiate student-athlete, because this type of course requires the University/College to file an exemption on behalf of that student-athlete.

Therefore, if you were in 8th Grade and took a high school level English course and then if you completed three more years (through your Junior year) of the same subject matter and not take something of "like substance" during the senior campaign that is considered erroneous and a red flag is raised by the NCAA.

However, a good test score and solid grade point average would alleviate those raised eyebrows and the exemption would allow that student-athlete to "qualify".

Per P&Y's comment -- I totally agree! In any case, a sharp Guidance Department and other school personnel should be able to guide those student-athletes to the correct curriculum!

I would be careful with that analysis since the 4 English courses and 14 (I think) total cores MUST be accepted by NCAA; and they are not helpful on this.

A good and sharp guidance dept at your HS can make a BIG difference!

FYI....

For the class of 2008, Division I, the required core courses will be 16.

4 English
3 Math
2 Science
1 Additional Eng., Math, or Sci.
2 Social Studies
4 Additional Core Courses

https://www.ncaaclearinghouse.net/NCAA/common/index.html

Jamal Geathers grades were low in high school. To receive credit you have to actually pass the course.

You are anonymously posting an untruth. Although I do not know Jamal nor have I coached him, I am a teacher at his rival high school (Aiken) and know that it was not failing courses from colleagues at his school that kept him ineligible. I also was told that it was not low grades either but a problem with the courses taken. Jealousy, fear, or ignorance must motivate someone like you to post this.

Ron Johnson
Aiken High School girls soccer

Well said Coach Johnson. Jamal is in college and playing soccer... that should be the end of discussion... the rest is simply speculation.

Spoken as only you would Coach Johnson.

You trash a high school kid with no factual information, get called on it, and then try (I stress the try) to trash Ron Johnson. I played at South Aiken and had two brothers that went through the system. You're an embarrassment for the whole area.

http://www.scsoccer.com/forum/showflat.p...=true#Post79692

He is a JV supporter for South Aiken girls, yet thrashes one of his own. Shameful.

from what i heard.....he is now playing at a smaller school in Georgia coached by Justin Rhodes, i forgot the name.

I'm sure he will transfer to USC as soon as he can. Then become an all-american like Dane Richards with that lightning speed.

Jamal is at Clayton State right now. He is supposed to be going to USC in the Fall of 2008. and the reason he couldnt go to USC when he was supposed to was because he couldnt get through the NCAA clearing house in time

He's at Stone Stadium today watching Lincoln HS. He'll be playing at Clayton State next fall.

Jamal Gathers is definatly over rated hes a good player. But it seems as if he is not quite rite in his mind to go for it all he is supposivly working at a Mc'donalds in aiken. I want him to make me a big mac...

somebody else logged in on my name but i really think he is a great player.

Riiiiiiiiight.

You might try changing your password, chode...if that is your REAL name, indeed.

My guess is he had too much to drink, saw what he wrote, couldn't edit it, so he tried to cover his tracks. Either that or had a sleep over and his buddy made the post. Either way, he knows who made it.

Jamal was obviously one of the better players in the state in club and high school; he and Eric were incredibly effective working together. It's telling the kind of impact he had in that folks are still talking about him. In addition to all of the soccer stuff, he's also a great kid.

This summer he will be playing with CESA U-19.

Eric and him were great. And he is a pretty decent kid too.