Cougs Up In Arms Over Transcripts Delay Crenshaw High School Recruit May Not Enroll For Fall Semester

Washington State recruit Tommy Johnson’s basketball eligibility will rest in the hands of the NCAA Clearinghouse.

That is if Crenshaw High in Los Angeles is ever able to furnish the Clearinghouse with all of the necessary information.

Cougar coach Paul Graham and his assistants have been furiously pressing Crenshaw to send Johnson’s transcripts to the Clearinghouse, but at each turn they have been blocked by what appears to be apathy from the high school staff.

“We can’t send Gary (assistant coach Gary Stewart) down there to get the stuff because that’s a violation,” said Graham “So we call every day over and over, but we get `Oh you’ve got to talk to Ms. Jones.’ or `She’s on vacation for the next two weeks.’

“And we send Tommy over there to get everything and really he’s a kid and all he’s interested in doing right now is playing at the park,” Graham continued. “So he comes back and tells us that the person wasn’t there.

“It’s frustrating.”

It’s doubly frustrating because Johnson, the L.A. City Player of the Year, has passed his SAT. All that needs to be checked out by the NCAA are his transcripts.

And the longer it takes the less likely Johnson is to show up in Pullman this fall.

“What we’re worried about right now is that the Clearinghouse is still trying to get football players through,” said Graham.

So Johnson, if his transcripts ever make it, might not be the NCAA’s highest priority. Washington State also encountered problems with the Clearinghouse last year and it cost Marcus Moore an entire semester. Moore’s high school, Centennial in LA, did not send an updated transcript to the Clearinghouse that reflected the classes he retook. Despite correcting the error, the Clearinghouse ruled it was too late for Moore to enroll in the fall.

“With Tommy we don’t know when he’s going to make it,” said Graham. “We are hoping and we are doing everything we can to get him here. We are counting on him being here.”

The Cougars may also count on getting swingman Mike Bush back in December. Bush, who was ruled academically ineligible for the fall, posted two As and a B during summer school and appears to be committed to picking his grades up.

“But when he does get back, he’s going to have to fight to get back in the lineup,” sad Graham.

That’s because Graham feels there will be strong competition among the guards and wings with the addition of junior college transfers Kindall Minor, Jerry McNair, Framecio Little and possibly Johnson.

“It’s not going to be like it was last year when a guy could look down the bench and see he was going to play 38 minutes no matter what,” the coach said. “These guys are going to have to compete to play.”

All of the players are expected to report back to campus Aug. 24.