Very few people ever see their high school transcript. Consequently, very few people would know if something important – like a completed course, for instance – were omitted.
Like Kansas University freshman basketball player Sereeta Jones.
Jones, a 6-foot forward from Rancho Buena Vista High in Vista, Calif., signed a national basketball letter of intent with KU last year believing she was fully qualified under NCAA rules.
She wasn’t. The NCAA Clearinghouse in Iowa City, Iowa, looked at her transcript and discovered a discrepancy. She had changed high schools during her freshman year and a core course had gone unrecorded.
“Unfortunately, that’s not unusual,” said Janelle Martin, the KU associate athletic director in charge of compliance. “How many people look at their transcript?”
So even though Jones had graduated from high school, she could not enroll at Kansas University because she had to re-enroll in high school in order to take that phantom course again.
“It was,” Jones said, “a learning experience for me.”
In more ways than one, of course.
Jones eventually was cleared to enroll at Kansas, but not until three weeks had elapsed in the spring semester. Way behind, she had to put her study habits into overdrive.
“I had a lot of help from the coaches and tutors,” Jones said.
Yes, but it wasn’t the tutors and coaches who compiled the 3.62 GPA. It was Jones.
When she arrived on campus last February, there was some talk about putting her into uniform right away because the Jayhawks, well on their way to a last-place conference finish, clearly needed help.
But that would have put her on a path where she would have only one semester of eligibility during her senior season.
“That was the rumor, but I wasn’t going to play,” she said. “I wanted to red-shirt and become accustomed to school, and have four full years.”
If she had been classified as a partial qualifier she would have been granted only three years of NCAA eligibility.
“Technically, she is a qualifier,” Martin said, “because she didn’t enroll before it was caught.”
No doubt Jones would have helped the Jayhawks had she decided to suit up last February, but the die had been cast and she watched helplessly as the Jayhawks failed to win a single game after she arrived.
“For the most part,” she said, “I was frustrated that I couldn’t get in and help.”
Where she will fit into this year’s scheme is anybody’s guess. Coach Marian Wash-ington has so many new faces it’s possible all five starters will be first-year players, and one of them could be Jones, whose strength is rebounding and defense.
“We fit together quite well,” Jones said when asked about how the new faces were blending. “We all help each other. If one falls, we all fall.”
Washington has praised Jones for her toughness, calling her the most aggressive player on the roster. That’s the way Jones plays, she says, because that’s the way she is.
“I just like to get the job done,” Jones said. “If you give it 50-50 you never know what could be done.
