Courtney Paris has the size, talent and ambition to become the best women’s college basketball player in the country. And the sophomore center at Oklahoma has found just the man to help her realize those dreams, fellow OU student Jesse Greadington.
“The average girl rec player in the gym can’t compete with us. The guys are much better. They help us a lot,” Paris said of going against an all-male team during practice. “Jesse is my size. He’s really athletic. Half my success is because of going against him.”
Colorado State coach Jen Warden also believes having her team practice against men helps the Rams improve, but if an NCAA committee gets its way, there will be no more male gym rats pushing women’s teams.
The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) submitted a position paper in December suggesting the practice should be banned because of inequity under Title IX. Asked to explain their action, members of the CWA deferred comment, saying the committee has made its position known.
To most women’s coaches, however, it’s Title IX run amok.
“The guys love a chance to be in a more competitive and intense environment than rec ball,” Warden said. “The players love it because they are going against stronger, faster players to raise their intensity level.”
One of CSU’s male practice players, Scott Shepard, a 6-foot-2 former starting forward for Fort Collins High School, said, “The only people it will hurt are the girls. We’re supposed to make them better.”
But the CWA doesn’t see it that way. In its review, the committee stated that men are taking away practice time from women who are on scholarship, and there are no proven benefits to the practice, which is widespread throughout women’s basketball.
“To have talented, capable female student-athletes stand on the sidelines during official practice while the team’s stars practice against ‘more talented men’ is a lost opportunity,” according to the committee’s statement. “To have them sitting out of practice while a full ‘scout team’ of men practices is costing them opportunity for growth and betterment that they were promised during recruiting.”
The CWA has been reviewing the practice since before the 2004-05 season. During the NCAA convention in January, Division III officials proposed legislation to limit the use of men’s practice teams. After much debate, the proposal was tabled for further review.
Beth Bass, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association CEO, said her group had talks two years ago with the NCAA committee and thought the concerns had been addressed. But last spring Bass said it came up again and it “went into this adrenaline rush and ignited discussion. We were like, ‘What’s going on here?’ Then in August was the first time we heard Division III had proposed legislation on books without dialogue. It was astounding.”
Bass, whose group is against any legislation on the topic, felt the fight against men’s squads has been based on “low research, high emotion.”
“We fought for 30 years to compete on the same level, now we have to fight to improve,” Bass said.
CU associate athletic director and former coach Ceal Barry said teams “took guys off the streets” to practice against when she started coaching. Later on, “layer upon layer of legislation” was added to what women’s coaches could do.
The NCAA first ruled teams could practice against only paid male managers. Then the NCAA legislated male practice squad players had to go through Clearinghouse academic certification and maintain the same academic eligibility as all student- athletes. And for their time they can receive only T-shirts and other gear. CSU’s Shepard said using the training room for a sprained ankle was another bonus.
“As a coach I would use them,” said Barry, who was also an assistant for the 1996 U.S. Olympic team, which practiced against males. “As an administrator now, I can understand where they are coming from in terms of opportunities for women. I’m glad I’m not making any final decisions. There are bigger fish to fry.”
Some coaches of women’s teams use male practice players to help hone individual skills of their players. Others, such as at Wyoming, use the males strictly in a scout team capacity. Rather than have his players practice on the scout team in a system he doesn’t use, Wyoming coach Joe Legerski finds it better to run all of his players against a male scout team.
“We do not press,” Legerski said. “I teach the (men) practice players to press and teach my team to attack the press.”
He recruits male practice players by word of mouth in the intramural gyms.
Oklahoma coach Sherri Coale, in a recent blog entry, said Greadington will someday be able to say “he helped make Courtney Paris one of, if not THE greatest women’s basketball players ever to play the game.”
Warden said using a male scout team “lets your team solely focus on our plan for offense and defense.”
CU coach Kathy McConnell- Miller uses just a handful of male practice players, mostly for individual drills. Having six players taller than 6-3 on the roster lessens the need for help from the men, forward Jackie McFarland said.
“It’s an edge guys have because they are so much taller,” she said. “They make you alter your shot.”
McConnell-Miller said she understands the intent of abolishing the men’s squads but feels it would be a mistake.
Denver coach Pam Tanner doesn’t use male practice squads because DU’s trimester schedule has too long of a break after Thanksgiving, she said, but knows of several Sun Belt coaches who do use them.
“It’s definitely a competitive advantage,” Tanner said. “If it takes away opportunity for women, I’m not sure of the answer.”
Coaches admit the system is open to abuse by a coach too intent on running the team’s top rotation against a male squad and in turn having backup players forgo practice time.
“The system needs to trust that coaches make ethical decisions,” Warden said.
Barry said it won’t set women’s basketball back if men’s practice squads are cut. But if they are banned, she knows the best players will continue to seek out tougher competition.
“Women would still play against the guys from April 1 to Oct. 15,” Barry said.
Staff writer David Krause contributed to this report.
Staff writer Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
Practice problem
AT ISSUE: Women’s college basketball teams scrimmaging against all-male teams during practice time.
NCAA RULE: There are no limits to the number of men’s players a school can use or the amount of time allotted in practice. A practice player must be a full-time student, go through the NCAA Clearinghouse and use eligibility standards under normal NCAA guidelines.
CWA STAND: The 15-person Committee on Women’s Athletics recently completed a position paper calling for the ban of men’s practice teams.
WBCA STAND: The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association has another round of surveys out to its members, but is against any measure to limit or ban the practice.
NCAA CHATTER: At the NCAA convention in January, Division III officials had legislation to limit practice against men’s teams once a week and the number of men to half the number of a starting lineup (two in basketball), but it was tabled for further review. Currently there are surveys out to every NCAA school to get feedback from the coaches and administrators.
