NCAA declares Cotton ineligible to play
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 25, 1997 9:00 p.m.
Friday, September 26, 1997
NCAA declares Cotton ineligible to play
INVESTIGATION: Recruit provided with special test-taking
circumstances
By Mark Shapiro
Daily Bruin Staff
One of the finest recruiting classes for the UCLA men’s
basketball team in recent years lost a cornerstone when the NCAA
declared prized newcomer Schea Cotton ineligible last week.
Cotton’s qualifying SAT score of 900 was invalidated by the NCAA
Eligibility Clearinghouse because the Educational Testing Service,
which administers the exam, provided "special circumstances" on his
third attempt at the test.
Cotton received extra time to complete the exam and his test
questions were written in larger type for easier reading. The NCAA
ruling stated that Cotton should not have received special
privileges from ETS because he does not have a recognized learning
disability.
UCLA officials have met with Cotton and his parents throughout
the week to discuss filing an appeal.
Cotton was one of the Southland’s top players coming out of
Bellflower’s St. John Bosco High School, even though an injury
caused him to he miss much of his junior and all his senior year.
As a ninth grader, he was featured in Sports Illustrated and
retained the spotlight as he bounced from St. John Bosco to Mater
Dei in Santa Ana and back to St. John Bosco.
The 6-foot-5 Cotton, along with highly touted point guard Baron
Davis, was expected to have an immediate impact on a team that lost
two starters to graduation.
Like Davis, whom the NCAA investigated about a car puchase
during the spring, Cotton was the subject of a summer-long NCAA
inquiry into the financing of his 1997 Ford Explorer, as well as
his relationship with Nike consultant Pat Barrett.
