NOT OPEN AND SHUT

Al Bennett prizes loyalty in his athletes, so it’s understandable he takes a dim view of the rash of transfers brought on by open enrollment in recent years.

Bennett, boys’ basketball coach at Birmingham High, advocates stricter transfer rules and the abolishment of open enrollment, which he believes has opened the door for widespread recruiting of high-profile athletes.

But Bennett and other coaches who share his opinion might be fighting a losing battle.

With transfer restrictions becoming far less rigid in the last several years, a question begs: Can legalized recruiting be far off?

In light of a recent Tennessee judicial ruling which exonerated a school of recruiting charges, City Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege believes rules that prohibit undue influence could be repealed.

“Do I see [recruiting legalized] in the future? I think I do,” Fiege said. “Do I agree with it? That’s a different question. . . . There has to be a set of rules to maintain competitive equity among schools.”

Last week, a U.S. district judge in Tennessee ruled in favor of a high school that sued the state’s athletic board after the school was found guilty of recruiting violations.

District Judge Todd Campbell wrote: “It is simply not the business of the state to stifle competition among schools for students, whether those students are athletes, musical prodigies or math geniuses.”

The ruling could have a far-reaching effect, Fiege said.

“It’s very interesting, to say the least,” she said. “That case could become precedent setting.”

In California, the CIF prohibits schools from recruiting under its undue influence rule. Enforcing the rule, however, has become increasingly difficult, particularly in the expansive City Section.

City athletes can compete for any school in the summer, a long-standing policy that has been under closer scrutiny since state-mandated open enrollment went into effect in 1994, Fiege said.

“Prior to open enrollment, we didn’t have the movement, so kids wouldn’t have the need to play for another school,” Fiege said.

Still, many coaches believe giving athletes the freedom to compete for other schools during the summer gives coaches license to recruit.

“It allows people to cheat if they want to cheat,” Bennett said.

And he is not alone in his concern.

“When you can play for any school you want to in the summer, you don’t think those coaches are saying, ‘Hey, come to our school,’ ” said Mark Drucker, Taft’s basketball coach.

Proving undue influence is difficult, Fiege said, but that doesn’t stop coaches from pointing fingers when a talented athlete transfers. Disgruntled coaches, though, declined to criticize their peers on the record.

Sylmar Coach Bort Escoto drew criticism by allowing Gilbert Arenas, an all-star guard for Grant the last two seasons, to play for the Spartans this summer, fueling rumors that Arenas will transfer to Sylmar in the fall.

Escoto, who in four years transformed a losing program into the City 3-A champion last season, said he is under scrutiny because he has one of the best teams in the region.

“My first two years here [when Sylmar was 7-34], everybody loved me,” Escoto said. “[Other coaches] were patting me on the back and saying, ‘Hey, hang in there. You’re doing a good job.’

“And as soon as I started winning it was, ‘You no-good, low-down dirty [cheater].’ ”

Escoto says every player on the Sylmar varsity and junior varsity lives within the school’s residence boundaries except senior Jeremiah Turner, who has moved to North Hollywood since his enrollment as a freshman, and senior George Wrighster, who transferred from Buckley.

Escoto is one of a handful of City basketball coaches in the region who favor open enrollment and has helped unhappy players transfer.

After Turner’s freshman season at Sylmar--a dismal 5-15 campaign--he told Escoto he wanted to transfer to Canoga Park, which reached the 3-A title game that season.

Escoto contacted Canoga Park Coach Ralph Turner, a friend, and advised Jeremiah Turner how to apply for an open-enrollment transfer.

“I talked to Coach Turner about it and told Jeremiah if he would be happier some place else, let’s get him where he wants to go,” Escoto said. “I don’t want kids playing for me if they’re not happy. I don’t want to win that bad.”

Although Turner and Brandon Jacobs filled out open-enrollment forms to transfer to Canoga Park, both stayed at Sylmar.

“I think because Jeremiah and I had a good relationship, [he stayed],” Escoto said. “He knew I wanted to win as bad as he did. We just didn’t have the horses then.”

Former Cleveland Coach Andre Chevalier, recently hired as an assistant at Cal State Northridge, took the same approach when Cavalier guard Jonathan Townsend considered transferring to Canoga Park after last season.

“Andre evaluated [Townsend’s] situation and said his style of game matched ours a little better than Cleveland’s,” Ralph Turner said.

Townsend played for Canoga Park this summer and will begin classes there next month.

Ralph Turner, who has gained at least four key players through open enrollment in four years, said he would help any of his own players who wanted to transfer.

“I like open enrollment,” he said. “It gives the kids a chance to make a decision. Since we are in it for the kids, we try to help them get into a situation that’s best for them.

“I haven’t lost any players, so it’s easy for me to say that.”

Chatsworth basketball Coach Fluke Fluker has lost at least two players to open enrollment, but maintains the same philosophy as friends Turner and Escoto.

“That’s the whole purpose of open enrollment, to give kids the opportunity to go where they want to,” Fluker said. “As a coach, I look at it if you have a great program, kids aren’t going to want to leave. But that puts pressure on you to have a good program.”

Fluker said athletes should shop around for a school “conducive to their skills” just as a student would who wanted a certain type of curriculum.

“I can’t see why a coach who only has a three-month program, has the right to moan and groan about a kid wanting to go to a 12-month program,” Fluker said.

Fiege believes open enrollment has fostered a shop-around attitude.

“The kids are doing more shopping [for schools] than the coaches are doing for athletes,” Fiege said. “That’s my opinion based on the phone calls and inquiries I get here.”

Bennett, who has coached at Birmingham for nine years, considers these practices deplorable.

“When you shop around for athletics, it’s about competing with each other,” Bennett said. “If you want to go for academics, you’re not competing against anybody but yourself.

“There is a difference between academics and athletics.”