Foreigh Athletes in the NCAA

I don't see the issue unless they are given preferential treatment in some way. I'd be less inclined to support it if they weren't "hired guns" (i.e., they were selected because of nationality rather than accomplishment or ability). It is too bad that swimming scholarships are so hard to come by but the solution shouldn't include giving them to less accomplished athletes.

Foreign athlete here who "stole" a scholarship from an American -- We had our swim workout at LMU this Sunday -Loyola Marymount is a private school in Los Angeles - I am guessing $30,000+ per year. They had the roster of the Men's and Women's tennis teams listed - of the 18 players 11 were foreign born. Not sure how many scholarships LMU tennis gives out - but I know that no European student would consider paying this much money for school - so I am guessing they all get full rides. That just makes no sense to me - not sure what to do about it, but I said before, a cap in terms of scholarships could be a good start.

There may be billions of dollars of unclaimed scholarships of all types - including adademic. I just don't believe there are billions of dollars of unclaimed athletic scholarships. There are some nuances to this issue by the way. If you are a resident of Texas - you can attend Texas or A&M for about $24K a year. A fractional swimming scholarship isn't really worth much money. I spoke to a Texas swimmer (a Big 12 champion) recently who for many semesters just earned book money. A&M's 2nd fastest 50 free guy (19.6?) was a walk-on. But these guys were Texas residents and $24K wasn't a big deal for those particular families. Look at Eddie Reese's roster this fall. It is huge. Most of the guys must be 100% walkons. A fractional scholarship to Stanford is worth a lot more. And a fractional scholarship is worth a lot more to out of state and foreign students.

Lets use the Euro professional sports model....maximum of two foreign swimmers per team and they or their federation pay for the costs leaving what little scholorship dollars do exist to develop our own talent. And for the record....only a little over 2% of the general student body (according to the article) is foriegn born (not counting illegal aliens of course) so the diversity argument doesn't fly. I think the article made it quite obvious that diversity was not the goal. Says Saum, the NCAA's director of amateur certification, "It's all about winning and losing. … We're always looking for an edge athletically, and there are only so many (players) at a certain position. If I need a 6-10 guy, there are only so many 6-10 guys around." When people go cuckoo crazy over college sports, getting tattoos of their school 20+ years after graduation as an example..wink wink, schools are going to pull out the stops to win. If that means bringing in an even greater number of overseas athletes, then so be it. It's all about the win, after all.

There are billions of unclaimed scholarships dollars every year so stop pulling facts out of your FastSkin. "Billions in unclaimed scholarships" sounds like a fact pulled out of a fastskin. Ah, yes, thanks to Google: www.nelnet.com/financial_aid_advice.aspx My friend says that you should have to compete internationally for whatever country you compete for in college (in swimming, athletics, basketball, volleyball, etc.).

I've read about the billions, may or may not be true. The point is there is plenty of money out there for people to go to school That sounds like a myth bought into by people who are well off so they can tell themselves that anyone who doesn't go to college could have gone for free if they were just willing to google "unclaimed scholarships". In fact, if you do that you're likely to find tons of sites, almost all of them ready to try to screw you out of what little cash you have.

I got curious and thought I would check the rosters of some of the top ranked men's swimming programs. Arizona has 34 on its roster which includes 10 swimmers from Arizona and 7 international swimmers. Auburn (located in Alabama) has 25 on its roster which includes 1 swimmer from Alabama and 6 international swimmers. I have to admit that it bothers me somewhat that there are more international swimmers on Auburn's team than swimmers from Alabama. Keep in mind that Auburn is a state school and we have several outstanding USA teams in the state - Huntsville Swim Association, Birmingham Swim League, Hoover Blue Thunder, Auburn Aquatics are just a few of the good teams we have here. I sure would like to see more than one Alabama swimmer on the roster.

I really don't know about Hill Taylor. Whatever the case, it sends a bad signal to have just 1 kid on the team from the state. I don't know how much longer this will be allowed to go on. You have to somewhat understand the politics in this state, but sooner or later somebody with influence is going to get mad that his kid got snubbed. I very much like the coaches at Auburn. First rate people. I would like to see them have a pattern that is closer to that of Alabama. Alabama has 28 swimmers on their team with 7 being from Alabama and 5 being international. I would like to see the Auburn coaches aggressively recruit kids from this state that have NCAA "B" cuts or are close to them. They should have faith enough in their coaching to trust that they can make an NCAA finalist out of such a swimmer.

I guess in Alabama people from out of the country and out of the state are considered 'foreigners.'

I guess in Alabama people from out of the country and out of the state are considered 'foreigners.' As long as somebody is from one of the states in the SEC, then he/she is not considered a foreigner. ;)