• Just wow...
      • What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/14/2017 9:20PM
      • Just wow...
      • Seems like a simple strategy to crush everyone else at XC. Are there any rules against such an approach? Is it cost prohibitive? Are there too few scholarships to allow it to work? Is XC just too irrelevant in collegiate sports to make it worthwhile? It looks like Alabama was trying something like that. My thought is that most schools would not go this approach simply because it would take the joy and challenge of coaching and developing kids to the get to next level out of the equation, but that may be a bit naive. I certainly don't think guys like Mark Wetmore or Chris Fox would want to just inherit a bunch of 13:30 Kenyans.
    • uh, ever hear of UTEP.
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/14/2017 9:22PM - in reply to Just wow...
      • uh, ever hear of UTEP.
      • Uh, ever hear of UTEP.
    • Just wow...
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/14/2017 9:40PM - in reply to uh, ever hear of UTEP.
      • Just wow...
      • If they did it right, they'd be NCAA champs every year. There are dozens of guys in Kenya that fast or faster who would be eligible, right? Has any NCAA XC team roster had five or more sub 13:40 guys in the same season? It sounds very doable with good recruiting.
    • ThunderLoad
    • Coaching for Free in the NCAA
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/14/2017 9:55PM - in reply to Just wow...
      • Coaching for Free in the NCAA
      • We tried to recruit Japanese preps but they are used to living in a civilized
        country free to be out and about walking around on campus and in town 24 hours and day 7 days a week
    • Just wow...
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/14/2017 9:58PM - in reply to Coaching for Free in the NCAA
      • Just wow...
      • Sadly funny...
        Coaching for Free in the NCAA wrote:
        We tried to recruit Japanese preps but they are used to living in a civilized
        country free to be out and about walking around on campus and in town 24 hours and day 7 days a week
    • atohitotsu
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/14/2017 9:59PM - in reply to Just wow...
      • atohitotsu
      • Fast college age Kenyans are going to Japan, where they are stars running on national TV in ekiden season, and can run for corporate teams and get paid an actual salary, after graduation.
    • Just wow...
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/14/2017 10:03PM - in reply to atohitotsu
      • Just wow...
      • Ah, so!
        atohitotsu wrote:
        Fast college age Kenyans are going to Japan, where they are stars running on national TV in ekiden season, and can run for corporate teams and get paid an actual salary, after graduation.
    • dude what
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 12:27AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • dude what
      • What's to stop American college kids from running 13:20-13:50?
    • areusure?
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 12:42AM - in reply to dude what
      • areusure?
      • dude what wrote:
        What's to stop American college kids from running 13:20-13:50?
        Hard work.
        American privilege.
    • not happening
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 12:46AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • not happening
      • Because those types of guys have already made money and are no longer amateurs. They also can actually make money rather stay amateurs for another 4-5 yrs.
    • This happened
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 12:51AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • This happened
      • Strategy is simple, but the execution is difficult.

        News flash, 13:20 - 13:50 college aged athlete from Kenya or anywhere else in the world doesn't want to goto the same school.
    • Boogieman
      registered
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 2:52AM - in reply to uh, ever hear of UTEP.
      • Boogieman
        registered
      • uh, ever hear of UTEP. wrote:
        Uh, ever hear of UTEP.
        UTEP is pretty much 800 and milers. They run XC and excel (for the most part) because they're that good. Kenyans running 13:20 and college eligible age would just go pro
    • Mkenya Daima
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 4:24AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • Mkenya Daima
      • Just wow... wrote:
        Seems like a simple strategy to crush everyone else at XC. Are there any rules against such an approach? Is it cost prohibitive? Are there too few scholarships to allow it to work? Is XC just too irrelevant in collegiate sports to make it worthwhile? It looks like Alabama was trying something like that. My thought is that most schools would not go this approach simply because it would take the joy and challenge of coaching and developing kids to the get to next level out of the equation, but that may be a bit naive. I certainly don't think guys like Mark Wetmore or Chris Fox would want to just inherit a bunch of 13:30 Kenyans.
        The TOEFL, SATs, US Embassy, Common App, and many other things you've never heard of!

        Most Kenyans who crush the SATs are not even close to being in any sporting shape, while almost every Kenyan who can run that fast cannot handle the arduous process of getting admission into a US college. The TOEFL is the first such barrier (Test of English as a foreign language, which is offered either in far away Nairobi or online, both of which are inaccessible to folks deep in the Rift Valley).

        The second one is the SAT, which just like the TOEFL, is prohibitively expensive and inaccessible to most of the best runners.

        And then comes the effin Common App, which is a crazy thing to go through if you are stuck in the middle of nowhere with not even a 2G connection, which is the case in most rural places - certainly the case where I grew up, and we have a bunch of Olympians and World Junior and Youth champs.

        And even if somehow someone manages to get through all these, one has to go through the US embassy and convince them to let one into the US. Getting an appointment at the US embassy is also super expensive ($200) and they try all manner of things to prevent folks from getting visas. You have no idea how difficult it is to get to the US even when you are an accomplished and academically-gifted person in Kenya.

        A few generous Americans have done some work helping Kenyans get to top American colleges through such programs as the Kenya Scholar-Athlete Project, KenSAP - www.kensap.org, but none of these programs have yielded any significant, Chez-type runners at the D1 schools. They actually have had only three D1 runners out of 160 students over the 10 years of operations, and all of them were mediocre even at their respective Conference championships. Harldy any could make a final.
    • Subway Surfers Addiction
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 5:04AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • Subway Surfers Addiction
      • Um, ever heard of Donald Trump?
    • the letter why
      registered
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 6:01AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • the letter why
        registered
      • I don't know if you've been paying attention, but Kenya sucks at the 5K these days.

        More seriously, I think you're vastly overstating how many 13:30 Kenyans there are waiting around for a scholarship:
    • Diamonds and chainz2
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 6:38AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • Diamonds and chainz2
      • A lot of Kenyans are a flash in the pan. They can go from a 1330 guy to an also ran at NCAAs pretty easily. A lot do not adapt well to the lifestyle change. Plus many are just happy to escape poverty and get a free ride, so they start drinking all the time and not taking training seriously anymore. A lot can not replicate performances living away from altitude. Look at the Olympic silver medallist in marathon, now being dusted by the top Americans after being given a free pass into the US and lifestyle opportunity he's never seen before. When you have nothing, you are desperate and will do anything. When you are given things, you will not be as hard working or appreciate the little things as much. It can be a big difference.
    • the letter why
      registered
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 7:14AM - in reply to Diamonds and chainz2
      • the letter why
        registered
      • Diamonds and chainz2 wrote:

        A lot of Kenyans are a flash in the pan. They can go from a 1330 guy to an also ran at NCAAs pretty easily. A lot do not adapt well to the lifestyle change. Plus many are just happy to escape poverty and get a free ride, so they start drinking all the time and not taking training seriously anymore. A lot can not replicate performances living away from altitude. Look at the Olympic silver medallist in marathon, now being dusted by the top Americans after being given a free pass into the US and lifestyle opportunity he's never seen before. When you have nothing, you are desperate and will do anything. When you are given things, you will not be as hard working or appreciate the little things as much. It can be a big difference.
        There is no evidence that being given opportunities makes someone lazy, no matter how much you'd like to believe it.
    • Harry the Harrier
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 7:16AM - in reply to Boogieman
      • Harry the Harrier
      • 'Just wow...' and 'Boogieman',

        Before asking why the concept of recruiting a squad of foreign athletes (specifically Kenyan) to win at XC has never been used- and then belittling the poster 'uh, ever heard of UTEP' by saying the Miners are only "pretty much 800 and milers" please review the history of the sport.

        UTEP program was won NCAA's a total of eight times- 1969, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980,1981 and 1983 with runner-up finishes in 1973 and 1977. Officially the 1983 title was vacated due to infractions. The 1981 squad tallied 17 points which is the lowest in championship history. Here is that roster:

        1 Mathews Motshwarateu
        2 Michael Musyoki
        3 Gabriel Kamau
        5 Suleiman Nyambui
        6 Gidamis Shahanga

        (19) Sam Ngatia
        (20) Thomas Mawan

        While there are other programs with a similar recruiting philosophy during that time span only Western Kentucky (England) and Providence (Ireland, England) had success.
    • Work hard and be rewarded
      • RE: What's to stop a college team from recruiting a team of 13:20-13:50 guys from Kenya? 10/15/2017 7:29AM - in reply to Just wow...
      • Work hard and be rewarded
      • Because it isn't the right thing to do.