April 16
I really hope the NCAA considers changing the rule regarding the national letter of intent.

It's time to amend this rule, because kids are being hurt. What happened to caring about these young student-athletes? I don't bear any animosity or ill will toward a coach who takes another job to better himself. That's the American way, baby! Nobody should deny a coach the opportunity to fulfill a dream, as Roy Williams did when he went to North Carolina.

	Williams

	Padgett

Having said that, what happens to recruits who commit to a college early?

I would suggest that a recruit should be free to go elsewhere if he never suited up for a coach who leaves for another school.

I hope the NCAA takes a serious look at the comments of Peter Padgett, the father of 7-foot Kansas recruit David Padgett, who told the Associated Press that he was "more than upset about" how Williams left Kansas, never to coach his McDonald's All-American son.

So many young men are hurt by the news that the coach who recruited them, the coach they planned to play for, decided to go elsewhere. Don't tell me that a youngster doesn't pick a college because of the relationship he's developed with a head coach! Please, you can't be serious. When a coach sells a prospect on a team's style of play and the potential amount of playing time, he's wooed at least in part by the coach's personality.

David Padgett said he chose between Kansas and North Carolina as his top choices, picking the Jayhawks because of Roy Williams. He was THE reason. Williams' persuasive personality and his ability to sell what he's done in 15 years in Lawrence caused Padgett to commit.

Now Williams is gone and Padgett is devastated. You can understand why.

A recruit should be free to go elsewhere if he never suited up for a coach who leaves for another school.

In my opinion, if a coach moves on, allow the recruit to be re-recruited by the new coach for two weeks. If the new coach can't convince him after that two-week period, allow the youngster to go elsewhere without penalty -- but not to the school the original coach went to. If the recruit were allowed to go with that coach, it would create an unfair, package-deal situation, with lots of negative wheeling and dealing.

As the NCAA rule stands now, if a recruit gets a release from an institution, he still must sit out a year unless he wins an appeal. Many fans don't understand that there is such a penalty.

If Padgett got a qualified release from Kansas, he would have to sit out a year. How is that fair? He hasn't even been a student at Kansas yet. Coaches get new deals and mega-dollar contracts. They go to press conferences where they are saluted like royalty. Meanwhile, the recruit feels hurt and betrayed as he watches his coach move on.

Let's get real. Maybe because of the visibility of the Kansas situation, the NCAA will look at amending this rule. It's totally unfair.