The Southern Highland Reader

CULLOWHEE–Western Carolina University was recently criticized for its initial refusal to release a young student athlete from her commitment to play womens basketball at the school.

Last week the university released the player, Kelsey Evans, from her national letter of intent. She will play this year for conference rival Elon.

In a column in today’s Asheville Citizen-Times, WCU faculty member and athletics committee member Justin Menickelli takes us for a tour of the National Letter of Intent.

An excerpt:

Critics of the NLI are many. Some call the NLI a “contract of adhesion,” because it heavily favors athletic departments over recruits. Because of NCAA signing periods, issues surrounding the NLI are most prevalent in college basketball. A lot can change from the time a recruit signs an NLI in November of their senior year of high school and when they arrive on a college campus 10 months later. The fairness of the NLI is most often called into question when the head coach leaves for another school. In these cases, the recruit is locked in to play for a new coach. This happens often in the coaching carousel that has become NCAA basketball.

Another:

Of course, signing an NLI before the senior year of high school can benefit the recruit. If athletes do not perform well as seniors or become injured, they have a sort-of safety net. Some student-athletes report playing their senior year under less stress because they have committed to an institution. Competing in high school with a signed NLI also prevents other schools from recruiting a student-athlete: the equivalent of an NCAA “do not call list.”

Read the column here.

CULLOWHEE–The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that WCU has released womens basketball recruit Kelsey Evans from the national letter of intent she signed to play at Western.

The school’s earlier refusal to do so had ignited controversy.

Here is the story from the Citizen-Times.

Here’s our previous post on the subject.

Here is WCU’s statement on the matter:

“Western Carolina University this afternoon delivered to Kelsey Evans a letter releasing her from the obligations she assumed when she and her mother signed on November 12, 2008 a National Letter of Intent whereby Kelsey agreed to play basketball under scholarship at WCU. She is now free to attend and play for another college or university.

“It is acknowledged that both the University and the Evans family entered into the National Letter of Intent with good and sincere intentions – to support the women’s basketball program at WCU and provide opportunities for Kelsey and the other student-athletes on the team to succeed. Kelsey and her parents have great respect for the WCU women’s basketball program; it was never their intent to impair the program or impair WCU’s ability to succeed. However, after Coach Harper’s departure, Kelsey and her parents came to believe that exploring Kelsey’s athletic interests at another institution to be in Kelsey’s best interest. While he understood the reasons for the Evans’s decision, WCU Athletic Director Chip Smith believed it was important to support WCU coaches and student-athletes and maintain the continuity of the WCU women’s basketball program.

“WCU’s decision to release Kelsey from the National Letter of Intent resolves the legal dispute between the Evanses and WCU. WCU, Kelsey and her parents have agreed to issue this joint statement to achieve common ground and reflect their respect for each other and their goals, neither party will issue further statements.”

2009-07-23 - At Raleigh Wakefield, reports the Burlington Times News, Kelsey Evans was a member of teams with a four-year record of 108-8. As a senior, she averaged 18.5 points and 10 rebounds per game and was selected as the CAP-7 Conference Player of the Year. She signed with Kellie Harper at Western, but when Harper moved on, so did Evans. She’s now enrolled at SoCon rival Elon, but is still trying to work out a release from Western. Apparently that may or may not happen, and nobody at Western has commented.

• After a 21-12 campaign that ended with a Southern Conference tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament, Western Carolina’s womens basketball team pulled down further accolades recently by finishing in the national academic top-25 for the third straight year. The team’s combined GPA during the 2009 academic year was 3.428.

• On a different note, first-year coach Karen Middleton released Western’s schedule for the 2009-2010 campaign. In addition to a full SoCon slate, the Catamounts will tackle a lineup that includes an appearance at the Great Alaska Shootout as well as matchups with Richmond, East Carolina, James Madison, Charlotte, Western Kentucky and Florida State.