Hutton: Some high school sports myths

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Kouts' Andrew Lovall and Bowman's Stephan Hawkins go after the loose ball in the fourth quarter Friday night during the sectional semifinal at Bowman Academy in Gary March 4, 2011. | Jeffrey D. Nicholls~Sun-Times Media

Updated: January 12, 2012 8:38AM

I can’t muster outrage against the Indiana High School Athletic Association for its inconsistent enforcement of the transfer rule for athletic purposes.

There are so many reasons kids switch schools — family situations, they really do move for athletic purposes but they do it legitimately, for academic reasons and for legitimate reasons that appear not to be legitimate from the outside — that I just officially gave up trying to figure it out.

It’s endemic to our educational system. Kids and their parents get to choose where they want to play ball and study. That’s just the way it is. Deal with it.

The IHSAA could hire an army of investigators to patrol the transfer beat and still not be able to sort out truth from fiction.

With basketball season in full swing, this topic never seems to go away with angry readers. Just wanted to stay in front of it.

Exploring some other myths about the unseemly side of high school sports ...

Myth No. 1: The IHSAA (or substitute NCAA) should be abolished.

I usually hear that with contempt and derision after someone’s kid has been ruled ineligible for transferring or suspended for breaking a rule. It’s a ludicrous, ridiculous position to take.

Unfortunately, the governing body of high school sports is in the news most often when controversy pops up. Most of the time they get it right. The humdrum part of their job is to administer state tournaments, promote high school sports in Indiana and play the role of cop.

There has to be a governing body and a commissioner. Complete deregulation leads to utter chaos and it would be the end of high school sports as we know it. Every sport — professional, college and high school — has a ruling branch.

Myth No. 2: Recruiting is rampantly out of control in football and basketball. I just don’t believe there is enough fact-based evidence to make that claim. And I hear it all the time from coaches, readers and fans. It does happen, but rarely is it documented. And even when it is, it can be difficult to define.

For instance, when Stephan Hawkins transferred from River Forest to Bowman, the Eagles were reprimanded by the IHSAA for letting him attend open practice during the summer. Is that an instance of recruiting or had Hawkins already made his decision to attend Bowman and was he just playing with his future teammates? It’s impossible to sort out.

Myth No. 3: The parochial schools — Andrean in baseball in particular and Bishop Noll in basketball — recruit.

Don’t believe it for a second. I have never seen or heard credible evidence that players get tuition breaks or are wooed to play sports. The baseball and basketball programs sell themselves to savvy parents of good baseball and basketball players. They send their kids there, legitimately, because they want them to play for Drew Trost or Dave Pishkur.

It’s also starting to happen with Andrean basketball.

Myth No. 4: AAU has had a negative effect on high school basketball.

It certainly has exposed kids to different kinds of players, different kinds of play and different coaches. But my anecdotal opinion is AAU has increased the overall pool of good players everywhere.

It’s true that some players develop bad habits playing a limitless amount of summer basketball, but now they can do it in a semi-organized way inside a gym instead of outside at the playground.

High School coaches don’t like AAU because they lose a degree of control over their players. The best coaches figure out a way to work hand-in-hand with AAU coaches.

Myth No. 5: It’s more demanding than ever to be a high school basketball or football coach.

This is true. Former Merrillville coach Jim East once told me he didn’t recruit his own players. Many coaches do have to recruit their own players in their own schools to a certain extent. The threat of them leaving for a better “opportunity” is very real. That means they have to work year-around at connecting and coaching them. It’s just the way it is now.

Myth No. 6: Little schools, with fewer resources and a small pool of students to draw from, get hurt the most by the movement of players.

This is absolutely true. Class warfare dribbles down to basketball. River Forest has lost good players to Lake Station and Bowman over the last few seasons.