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This is unreal.
This is unreal.
End of May, down in Florida, 14 SEC men's basketball coaches sat in a room at a plush resort and discussed for hours how to improve the league ... both on the court and in terms of its perception. They bounced around ideas. Some coaches were more vocal than others. And, I'm told, there was no simple or consensus answer, though sources said non-league scheduling was identified as an obvious issue that should be addressed.
Either way, there's another thing multiple SEC coaches told me hinder improvement.
It's a little-known recruiting restriction exclusive to the SEC.
It has, on some level, created an uneven playing field.
"Jae Crowder is a perfect example," said Georgia coach Mark Fox. "He's a Georgia kid. So I get the job [at Georgia in April 2009], and he's at Howard JUCO [in Texas], and I've got a good contact over there. But he wasn't eligible for us to recruit."
That's because Crowder started his career at South Georgia Technical College, which is also a JUCO. He then transferred to Howard County Junior College for his sophomore year and thus became ineligible for SEC programs because -- Did you even realize this? -- the SEC does not allow its member institutions to sign and enroll prospects who do not spend at least three semesters at the junior college from which they graduated.
Every other power-conference does.
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