Hoops Elite Magazine
By Bridgette “Bree” King
What Does “Reclassification” Truly Mean?
With so many youth sports clubs pushing
for athletes to “reclassify”, it is truly an
interesting thing when it is determined
that many coaches, players and the
players’ parents do not have a true
understanding of what “reclassifying”
truly means. Many view reclassifying as
simply retaining a player in a grade for
an additional year in junior high in order
to be the biggest and strongest on the
court. Many think that reclassifying is
strictly for athletic purposes. However, the
reality of the matter is that reclassifying
is purely for academic reasons, but, has
been manipulated in reverse for athletes
to have a leg-up on the competition and
potentially earn Division I scholarships.
First, which athletes does reclassification
apply to? Reclassification can apply to
any student-athlete seeking to start
college early, however, as far as athletics is
concerned, reclassification-as it is applied
to athletes competing in youth sportsnormally only applies to those studentathletes seeking admission to compete
at a NCAA Division I college or university.
Now, let’s look at the definition.
4 | Issue 1 - Jan 2015
The definition of “Reclassifying” is an academic one and it is as follows: “Reclassifying
is deciding to change the date you graduate from high school and/or enter college
after you have started the ninth grade”
(“Reclassifying 101: Important Info To Consider Before Reclassifying”, 2001-2014).
When a student participates in athletics,
reclassification comes with some very
important deadlines and the major one is
as follows:
According to “Reclassifying 101: Important Info To Consider Before Reclassifying”
(2001-2014),” The most important academic consideration when reclassifying
is the NCAA’s core-curriculum time limitation, from Bylaw 14.3.1.2.1:
A prospective student-athlete must complete his or her core-curriculum requirements not later than the high school
graduation date of the prospective student-athlete’s class [as determined by
the first year of enrollment in high school
(ninth grade) or the international equivalent…]. Graduation from high school or
secondary school shall be based on the
prospective student-athlete’s prescribed
educational path in his or her country.
This generally means that a prospect must
have finished the NCAA’s 16 require core
courses by the time he or she finishes high
school. A prospect’s GPA is also more or
less locked in based on classes completed
before graduation (Academic Issues).
To summarize, reclassification means that
a high school student-athlete may apply
to reclassify to change the date that they
graduate and enter into a Division I college,
however, the student athlete must complete
their required NCAA 16 required courses
by the time their original class reaches
their graduation date. This requirement
does not apply to NCAA Division II and
non-NCAA colleges and universities. For
example, if there is a player on the roster
who graduates in the year 2020 and wants
to attend the University of Texas and play
the sport of Basketball, even if he or she
reclassifies, the student-athlete still only
has until 2020 to complete the NCAA 16
required core courses for eligibility to play