ED EYESTONE THROWS SERIOUS SHADE AT SUDBURY, GAUSON, AND SMITH FOR INTERNATIONAL RECRUITING

Why?

The root of all of this angst now is the influx of African distance runners. It makes people uncomfortable and there are many reasons for it: some objectionable (racism) to those that search for fairness.

Nobody seems to be complaining about sprinters from the Caribbean, or middle-distance runners from CA, UK or Ireland.

IMO, the first issue with the runners that come through a recruiting service is the cost. Not only are you paying the service for the athlete to come (and pay the athlete), but you are also paying much more tuition if you are a state school, especially those where funding of 'fulls' is based on in-state tuition values. That just dominates your budget.

Doping. This has to be considered since 'kids' have been caught. I am not sure how a service that supplied student athletes caught doping would survive, but hey, winning is the only thing that matters! There is also a very obvious doping issue in Kenya, so it cannot be ignored.

Transcripts. As someone who worked in D1 and D3 college athletics at one point, this is rampant everywhere. I have personal evidence of doctored or fake transcripts from Eastern Europe and even the US (disguised as homeschooled when the SA actually went to a physical school up until about a month away from when they supposedly graduated a year early with 6 additional courses completed). To think this is not happening is foolish. Our head coach did not enroll these students, but he also did not fight their eligibility when they enrolled at nearby conference opponents (D1). Coaches hate pointing fingers at other coaches for fear of being blackballed and if it can slip past compliance and the NCAA then what can you do?

Age. Verifiable ages. Birth certificates are tough in some of these countries and subject to forgery. Not all of the time, but we know it is happening. Not everyone was born on Dec 31. ;). Yes, some of this can be solved with the 5-for-5 or other ideas expressed on here, but the NCAA dropped that for at least a year due to so many lawsuits currently out there, including the Diego Pavia ruling.

Damage to your alumni base. When you start to work with a transient population as is beginning to happen with the influx of foreign talent and the transfer portal and don't build a team, you probably won't have much down the road as far as alumni support when the school decides it wants to cut the program.

At the end of the day, how many schools win it all? One. Does your AD really care that you made NCAAs and made the top-5, 10 or 20?

I also find it funny about how some coaches have been quoted re: the situation of recruiting foreigners and the benefits but in recent talks with club coaches and parents during recruiting said the exact opposite this fall. Yes, I had a coach say this to me.

The bottom line is some coaches want to win at all costs and will do everything they can in the short term. Others will be forced to play the game to some extent to 'keep their jobs' unless some changes are made.

Ed had an average of 24 year or something for his last year NCAA winning team, lead by a 26 year old. I won't throw stones in glass houses.

What is the point of this post? Is it intended to be sarcasm?

The Mormon church still doesn't allow women to be priests or presidents.

The new Mormon president recently said that a gay couple getting married is a "devilish perversion." Plenty of bigotry still remains in the church today.

It's not even just bad for the sport, it's bad for developing that specific countries school system.

Re: Age Limits

D2 and D3 XC have been lionized for their purity of competition and spirit on these boards for years. Age limits have been a big part of...oh wait.

To add to the “older vs. two years off” discussion, Conner Mantz has all of his training online.

He was in 17:30 5k shape at the end of his mission, having gained 30 pounds during the trip. He hit an all-time high in weekly mileage two months after returning, ran 4 miles at 4:49 pace in Provo four months after returning, and was back to his peak high school track fitness 5 months after returning.

Obviously this is just one example and not necessarily indicative of every runner who takes a mission

JHFC?? What in God's great name does that mean?

So 2 years and 5 months after graduating high school, Connor was in the same shape he was in… in high school. I ask again, where’s the advantage? This simply shows that from a beginning baseline at his high school fitness level, he then competed for four years.

What you,me and people on this message board have no say on what the NCAA is or does. There mission is not going to change. They even have commercials about NCAA student in going pro in something else. People can use their time in school to develop into pro athletes. If that was the purpose of the organization it would let down almost everyone that competes for their school.

I highly doubt that Conner Mantz would have had trouble running 5:29 pace for 5k and I highly doubt that he gained 30 pounds. Anyone can write down words as concrete proof, but I suspect it was a major exaggeration.

Let's say Mormons don't run at all on missions. You would still rather have four years of eligibility from 20 to 24 than 18-22, right?

It’s pretty obvious that 24-25 year-old seniors (redshirt, mission, COVID) are far different than 28 year old professionals from Kenya who come in as freshmen.

I’m mostly having fun with this. As a non LSD that grew up in LSD country… it’s pretty bananas. I’ve blocked many an attempted conversion but it did get me some knowledge on the teachings. I do admire the community part of Mormonism.

Eyestone is a fantastic coach. He would obviously be good anywhere. Everyone coach thinks the rules are against them but I do think BYU has a ton of advantages in this sport.

The internationals are here to stay, let’s enjoy the sport before football creates the super league and kills the ncaa

NCAA Research from 2023 on International Athlete Participation: https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/research/demographics/2023RES_ISATrendsDivSprt.pdf

BYU has had what I have always called "Legalized Cheating". BYU has always been able to use 7 years to compete 4 seasons. They have Legally Cheated for Decades and Decades!!!

Now Ed is complaining that somebody else can "legally cheat" like he and BYU have done for Decades???? Ed you are a Joke!

And all you BYU cheaters can kiss my A**! Bottom line, If BYU didn't have the mission system they would Suck!! Lmao!!

Ed should shame himself, if he's trying to shame other coaches!!

Tell me what the rules are, and I'll play by them. That is exactly what every coach in the NCAA is doing right now, and Ed is being a little Biotch about it.

Look what Eyestone got from Mantz. When he was 22, he ran 3:45 1500. When he was 24, he ran 3:37. BYU certainly preferred the 24yo 3:37 guy than the 22 yo 3:45 guy.

What Coach Eyestone leaves unsaid is fact that most of these highly developed runners are coming from a country with a rampant doping problem. No other country is even close for distance running. What if we substituted East Germany for Kenya when the Soviet bloc was at the height its doping program?

As been said on here countless times, the solution is simple. Impose a sensible age cap and implement a rigorous testing program for the top runners in each conference. And let football/basketball pay for it lol