NCAA Says UCLA Recruit Is Ineligible

Prized UCLA basketball recruit Schea Cotton has been declared academically ineligible after a review of his June SAT test by the NCAA, Cotton’s parents confirmed to The Times on Saturday.

Cotton’s parents said they have been told by a school official that Cotton cannot receive a scholarship at UCLA, and that his status as an incoming freshman is in limbo, pending a possible appeal of the NCAA ruling. Classes at UCLA begin Thursday.

“Schea will be crushed by this because of what being at UCLA meant to him,� said his mother, Gaynell, who added that Schea was in Seattle with his older brother, SuperSonic rookie James Cotton, over the weekend, and would not learn of the NCAA decision until he returned home late Saturday.

“We just don’t understand how any of this is happening. It’s just wrong.�

Rich Herczog, UCLA’s director of compliance, informed the Cottons on Friday about the ruling. According to the parents, UCLA wants to appeal the ruling, and has asked that Schea come to campus Monday to sign the appeal letter.

“I haven’t spoken to all the parties involved, so it’s not appropriate for me to have a comment at this time,� UCLA Coach Steve Lavin said Saturday night.

The Cottons said Saturday that they are not sure whether they will pursue an appeal.

Cotton’s parents have not ruled out legal action against the NCAA after this ruling and an unrelated summer-long investigation into the financing of the Ford Explorer that Schea is currently driving and the family’s relationship with local basketball figure Pat Barrett.

“We’re just in disbelief that this has happened,� said Schea’s father, James Cotton Sr. “All my son has done is worked hard to get into UCLA.

“And now they’re trying to take it away from him. This whole thing is all about the fact they couldn’t find anything wrong with his truck. Then they went after his radio and everything else and they couldn’t find anything wrong, so this is how they’re trying to get us.�

At issue for the NCAA Eligibility Clearinghouse: Cotton’s receiving “special circumstances� from the testing service, including more time to finish and bigger and clearer print on the questionnaires.

By NCAA rules, only students with recognized learning disabilities can receive such accommodations.

Gaynell Cotton said that in March 1996 her son had a meeting with a state-licensed clinical psychologist, who said that because of Schea’s anxiety over taking standardized tests, any test-taking procedural assistance he could receive from the administrator, Princeton-based Educational Testing Services, would be beneficial.

His parents say that after receiving the special permission from ETS, Cotton took the SAT twice--in October 1996 and March 1997--before receiving an NCAA-qualifying score of 900 the third time he took the test, June 11.

“If this was a problem, why didn’t somebody say something to us the first time he took the test and failed it, or the second time he took the test and failed it?� Gaynell Cotton said. “This only became an issue once Schea passed the test.

“He didn’t cheat, he didn’t do anything wrong. And what they’re doing to him is just wrong to do to anyone’s child. I promise you that nobody else’s family and nobody else’s child will ever go through anything like this again with the NCAA.�

The parents apparently tried to reach NCAA officials after learning about the ruling, but were told that it is not policy to discuss eligibility matters with parents.

The 6-foot-5 Cotton was released from a letter of intent he signed with Long Beach State after his brother left the school a year early to jump to the NBA. Schea Cotton committed to UCLA in late-April, days before heralded point guard Baron Davis also committed to UCLA.

Cotton missed almost all of his junior season at Bellflower St. John Bosco and all of his senior season because of injuries after being named the section’s Division I player of the year his sophomore season while attending Santa Ana Mater Dei.