Washington Post article - Kenyan NCAA imports

I think it’s pretty bold to openly tell everyone: yeah I was running professionally for two years before enrolling at Alabama. As a freshman. It really does drive home the point that no one fears the NCAA at all. Now, there’s a lot of context missing - did she actually make any money where she’d have to pay it back like Rupp had to? But at the very least in no way should she have been freshman eligible.

Non-paywall version: https://archive.ph/6sS9q

Colorado State coaches filed a protest that New Mexico's Kenyans were actually professional. The coaches told us that at least one of the UNM male athletes had to repay money and sit out meets. So it does happen everywhere with Kenyans.

In this article, It is reported that an NCAA bylaw exists to allow student-athletes to earn money in DL events.

thecrimsonwhite.com

Doris Lemngole’s ‘improbable’ journey

Theodore Fernandez

If you had told cross-country runner Doris Lemngole three years ago that she would be a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week destined for NCAA and Olympic glory, she would have started laughing. The concept is just so improbable...

Open link

Didn’t even bother to cite the actual Bylaw. That’s amazing journalism. Giving the benefit of the doubt: you can accept prize money to cover any expenses you have associated with the competition (travel, gear, etc). You can get quite creative with the accounting to show there was no actual money able to be kept. What isn’t addressed is: if you have enough competitions during your time from HS onward prior to enrolling at at institution - you can be docked seasons of eligibility. Doesn’t appear this happened. Now, maybe Alabama reported every race she ran and it was concluded it didn’t equal any need to dock her seasons, but I find that highly unlikely given some past examples where people have lost seasons. Again the really telling part to all of this is how there is simply no concern that the NCAA will do anything anymore. It’s just a free for all.

I’m all for allowing internationals to compete in the NCAA and I agree that the presence of internationals in the collegiate system has lifted up the level of competition and domestic talent as a whole over the long haul.

That said, there need to be some limits on this nonsense (e.g., <3 per program), first year: no competition and no possibility of transfer and other rules and limitations on eligibility.

Enough of this Wild West horse$4!+! This hired gun mentality is terrible.

Until they change the rules, this will only become more and more popular.

Iowa state’s team on paper this year is absurd. The Big 12 internationals for both genders are crazy crazy good.

But now do sprinters from Caribbean! Throwers from Europe! Tennis players from everywhere!

I am glad the Post spent the resources on the article but didn’t love the tone.

They tried to make it sound like this is a new phenomenon that is greatly linked to the NIL changes. Is that really true?

Anyone heard of Henry Rono? UTEP? Sally Kipyego? Kenyans have been coming to and dominating the NCAA for a long time

Like is the number of Kenyans really drastically up in the NCAA? I guess the NIL - which by the way is illegal for foreigners, correct? - changes have made it easier for people to let semi-pros in. No one seems to be sanctioning people who clearly were on pro deals before the NCAAs.

And I know they now let you pay for plane tickets and things above just the scholarship.

Kenyans were here before Rono, and Rono didn't really develop until 15 months after he arrived.

Thirty years ago, as a college senior I spent time teaching in Nyanza province Kenya and coaching the high school team at my school in Kisii. I toured many schools with Stephen Ole Morai (144.4 guy in the 80s) including the school that produced 1st, 2nd, and 9th at the national secondary school meet that year (1996). Stephen and I discussed the system in which European agents would exploit Kenya nationals for financial gain leaving the runners no better off.

We wanted a change for better opportunities. I sent many letters (snail mail) to college coaches with potential college running candidates (adequate grades and TOEFL scores) from Nyanza and Transmara. NOT ONE REPLY.

I was surrounded by many hard working students and runners. I am sure its still the case. We actually walked to our district xc meet (about 5 miles away). I am happy for Kenyan's who are finally getting a slice of the pie. Although now that the NCAA pie is all business , its not the same as we envisioned.

Note, I currently coach at a high school and had three of my runners on our local D1 college xc team in 2024 (SEC). Two of them were let go this spring to make room for international athletes ( and yes from Kenya). I have empathy for both sides. Life takes and gives.

Bahati Mzuri

Don't blame them... College coaches have to score points and win..... No one cares that you developed young Americans to almost score or almost make nationals. The only thing positive is it is forcing the Americans to step up if they want to be competitive.

The current landscape of the NCAA is the most competitive that it has been in history. Thanks to international kids making college running basically a professional league/competition.

If you want accolades this probably not the era to be in but if you want to say you competed against the best you can get all you want in the P4.

Rono seemed pretty developed when he won the ‘76 NCAA cross country meet in 28:06, a few months after arriving in Pullman.

He wasn't world class until 1978. No one at the 1976 NCAA cross was.

Hmmm.

Aren't you forgetting your old AW training buddy, one Craig Virgin?

Craig ran the Montreal Olympics 10,000 (while being quite sick) a few months prior.

And Samson Kimobwa, Rono's WSU teammate who finished 2nd between Rono & Virgin in that 1976 NCAA XC race, set the 10,000 WR 8 months later in June 1977.

Rono had injuries which forced him to sit out the 1977 track season, thus the delay until his unfathomable 1978 WR rampage year.

From my perspective on history, there were plenty of world class runners racing xc in Denton, TX back in November 1976.

Virgin wasn't world class in 1976, or 1977 or even 1978. Kimobwa obviously became world class in 1977 but not until June.

Rono certainly ran in both the 1977 indoor and outdoor season but was not yet world class. He was not injured at all. You just made that up. In fact he was 8s slower than me in the steeplechase

There were runners who developed into world class runners who ran the 1976 NCAA XC. World class means world ranked, not NCAA All-America..

G-day.

agree with the overall sentiment, the game is what it is and it does raise/has raised the standard imo

however, one point i'd love to see strictly codified and enforced is age limits - no more 25+ year olds allowed to run with and trounce college kids, particularly if/when on scholarship, would make this all much more palatable

Kenyans were here before Rono but there now seems to be many more of them.

I know that the NCAA holds athletic programs somewhat accountable for graduation rates and that sort of thing. I would like to see the standards increased. The Kenyan imports are being brought in for sole purpose of bolstering programs. That is fine but also make them meet standards in the classroom as well.

Its true that there are more Kenyans here than before because Kenya had a rapidly growing country back in the 70s. It literally has a much larger population now.

The first Kenyan in college that I knew of was a chemistry TA who conducted a lab class my freshman year. He didn't run at all. Just a grad student trying to further his education in America. I suspect that there are more of them (Mike Boit was one) than there are hired guns here to run.

Things don't have to be shaded by a nefarious intent.

Or maybe just enforce the existing rules. Rupp shouldn't have been allowed to run in college. It was a blatant breach of the rules. He was a professional runner straight out of high school. He was allowed to pay the money back to enroll at Oregon. As if his parents paid one dime back. Nike did that.

If anything how about fixing red shirt eligibility. You should get 4 years and that's it. If you get injured then too bad. Was it fair for me to have to compete against athletes in their 5th, 6th, or 7th year?