O'Neal one course short for fall semester eligibility

By Eric Boyum, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, August 27, 1998

A ruling by the National Collegiate Athletic Association will not allow projected starting basketball point guard, Charles O'Neal to become academically eligible for the fall semester. Long Beach State basketball coach Wayne Morgan announced Monday that O'Neal is one science lab course short of the necessary NCAA requirement required for eligibility.

I blame myself because I didn't take the responsibility to check things out,"

- Charles O'Neal

49er Point Guard

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O'Neal figured to begin the season as the starting point guard for the 49ers, an area that was a problem for the team last year due to injuries and lack of depth.

The recent blunder raises questions as to what went wrong with O'Neal's academic situation.

"It was a miscommunication between myself and my guidance counselors at Florida Community College. I blame myself because I didn't take the responsibility to check things out," O'Neal said.

The miscommunication that O'Neal is referring to is the NCAA rule that requires junior college transfers to graduate with an associate's degree before transferring to a Division I institution.

Assistant Athletic Director for Compliance and Student Services Mary Ann Tripodi explained the problem O'Neal is facing.

"If you are not an NCAA qualifier out of high school, you must earn an A.A. degree from a junior college to become eligible by NCAA standards to play at a Division I school," Tripodi said.

O'Neal, a prep from the Detroit area, failed to meet the NCAA standards out of high school by not taking the required Scholastic Aptitude Test or an American College Testing exam. Current NCAA standards call for a required score of 820 on the SAT or 68 on the ACT to become eligible as a freshman.

O'Neal instead played two years at Florida C.C. in Jacksonville, Fla., where he averaged over five assists a game as the team's point guard. O'Neal figures to join the 49er lineup for his first regular-season game against Northwestern University at Evanston, Ill. on Dec. 27, the last 49er non-conference game.

"I hate to see him negatively impacted by this, because Charles has done everything he has been asked to do over the last year to become academically eligible," said Morgan. "Charles has accepted this gracefully, and is doing what he has to do to be eligible as soon as possible. He has shown a great deal of poise and maturity."

Indeed O'Neal has successfully completed 19 units at Compton Community College over the course of last spring and summer semester.

He said he likes Southern California in general and has no plans to transfer to another four-year college.

"Technically he is supposed to graduate from Compton C.C. is my understanding," said Tripodi. "Every junior college is different form state to state and has their own different requirements. We have to find out for sure what he is lacking so he can get his A.A. from Compton."

O'Neal's ineligibility ruling has resulted in the reinstatement of Tommie Davis, former 49er. Davis did not play last season, but was recently reinstated by the coaching staff as a result of the need for depth at the point guard position. Davis has one year of eligibility remaining at The Beach.