Why Does Oklahoma State and Alabama Recruit Foreigners?

I would say the main reaason Okie State is recruiting foreigners is because of T. Boone Pickens.

After his $160M or so donation to OSU athletics last year he said, no excuses, every team should win now and if they don't, heads will roll.

If that was the edict and my job was at stake, I'd recruit Kenyans, too.

hahahahah wrote:

Oh and winning your conference title to make regionals doesn't mean anything. 3:47 doesn't score at the SEC meet.

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Yea I did win confrence titles, but I also qualified to regionals with times as well, something you rarely see by an American at Alabama.

I never claimed to be a top SEC runner, my only real valid point is that you rarely see Americans improve qualify for regionals/nationals at Alabama. So the question is, Why?

This topic is dumb in my opinion. NCAA track & field is a product of the best student-athletes facing off with hopes of being crowned team and/or individual champion...

It's simple... You recruit who the individuals that can help you win. Recruiting foreign athletes is not like going to the grocery store and selecting your favorite fruit. It takes work just like recruiting Americans.

Walk around your own college campus one-day. Your university is not just built upon Americans. Universities represent many nations of the world. Guess what? So do NCAA athletes... Get better American distance runner and quit crying!

former Bama runner wrote:

That's because doing business the way Joe Walker does (and that's the only thing it is to him) is disgraceful, and nearly *everyone* thinks so.

You clearly don't know Joe Walker. At this point you should just stop posting.

Mtn Dew wrote:

You clearly don't know Joe Walker. At this point you should just stop posting.

(shrugs) You're right; I don't know him, though I have met him twice. He seems like a nice enough guy, and I've even heard that he's a bit of a father figure to the Kenyans he brings over. Good for him.

But that has no bearing on his recruiting tactics. This guy had a well-known MO long before he arrived at Alabama. He made a bunch of Kenyan contacts while coaching at Meridian CC, and decided then and there that he had a winning formula. He did the same thing at South Alabama and then at Alabama. His first priority has always been recruiting Kenyans.

My only point is that he makes very little attempt to balance his teams by attracting and developing American talent from anywhere in the US, let alone the South. That's what rubs me the wrong way.

this is a hot topic, but i do not believe the fact that scholarships are send off to eldoret kenya, lets decline abit in touching specific, but what matters is who are the foreigners, is it kenyans alone, i believe there are many foreigner including those who come out of this two states.again those who wish or informed to further their studies or maximise their talents, no one will stop them so long us there is room for that.

lets stop abit and think about the act of paliarment or congress who sloted out room for internationals or foreigners, this makes america a the most democratic and supper power.once you stop acomodating foreigners you will suffer what we suffer, they come because they are not able to provide what the state provide.

lets, look the good side, the 1000s of 100s of cheerer who pay their entry fee to watch at any invitationals games or sports weather american or non american bot has contributed to the docket by the end of the day, lets also thing about the effects of sports in the wide diaspora, it is only this field that has made poeple of different origin to sit and reason together.it is here where we can share passion, it is here where we can express ourselves as human.

i guess all the recruits are vetted out, one scholarship is offered on tender, who can provide what within and without.the best person who can answer well is athletics department.if no one comes to your home a times it will put you in question.

The original question does include nationality (not "race" as you put it) and did not include age as a factor (see below), as you are preoccupied with.

Why do those two schools bring in so many foreign cross country runners? Are they trying to buy a championship? Are they unable to recruit Americans to their cesspool programs? How proud will everyone be of a NCAA National Champion team that has more foreigners than Americans? How will taxpayers feel about giving away taxpayer money to give scholarships to foreigners?

clearly the above poster is kenyan by the way what he is saying is almost incomprehendible.

The question about how taxpayers would feel is so stupid. Why even bring that up because it does not matter.

You are talking about buying championships - what does oregon do? They have a professional coach mentoring their best athlete. How is that legal? They illegally recruit SKB from New Mexico and no one calls them out.

There are plenty of coaches that only recruit good old american boys that are absolute slime. Joe Walker is a great guy and doing very well in his profession. Coaches are not paid by USATF so it doesn't matter where you get 'em. Be real!

GlobalView wrote:

The original question does include nationality (not "race" as you put it) and did not include age as a factor (see below), as you are preoccupied with.

Why do those two schools bring in so many foreign cross country runners? Are they trying to buy a championship? Are they unable to recruit Americans to their cesspool programs? How proud will everyone be of a NCAA National Champion team that has more foreigners than Americans? How will taxpayers feel about giving away taxpayer money to give scholarships to foreigners?

as a former collegiate coach who only very occasionally recruited against Alabama, and never really OK State, i'll give you my answers to your questions.

1 - Why? I don't really know. because those coaches have good connections with those areas? because there are talented runners? why does ray treacy recruit from ireland, why does SUNY-Cortland recruit from NY? I'm guess the programs referenced do it for the same reason i developed relationships with coaches and schools in particular cities, because they would; to get kids to come run for you.

2-I don't consider them trying to "buy" a championship any more or less than any other schools that have the same number of scholarships.

3-The programs are pretty successful, i think that's the opposite of "cesspool."

4- I will feel as proud about an NCAA Championship team that has no Americans as much as I do about an NCAA Championship team that has all Americans. Unless it's my alma mater, or a school i worked at, i'm not all that concerned if a team of Americans from whitetown, USA wins or a team of Kenyans from UTEP.

5- I feel fine about my tax money going to give scholarships to foreigners. That's what universities do. I also don't really feel like that's really how it works. Taxes don't really pay for scholarships.

These threads have become ridiculous and redundant! The reason these threads stick around is that people reply. Let’s try not to reply, and let the racists just complain about how they didn’t train hard enough or recruit hard enough. I see two basic problems that no one has stated, The coaches are doing their best with the resources they have, I am willing to bet that Joe Walker would change campuses, schools, and resources with any of the other top schools that any of you feel are “quality programs that don’t have foreign athletes,” What I am saying is that each coach has to find their recruiting base or “niche.” No one of great quality is going to go to a school in the middle of nowhere. The other problem is no one is knocking down the programs that have recruited foreign athletes for years and we all know who they are! Coaches who have foreign athletes and perform well at the NCAA’s spend just as much time coaching their athletes just like any other coach. If anything they work harder. They spend more time recruiting, traveling, and helping their athletes adjust to the US, which is something other coaches don’t have to worry about. So if you all are as tired of these racists and less talented athletes complaining then do like me and not listen to it! Eventually, they might stop crying!

BUMP ;-)

"In these tough economic times" coaches have to defend the sports right to exist within the athletic structure, you know how you defend your team to your AD? Winning.

I'd like to hear about all of these barely sub-10 champions out there at the D1 level. I legitimately cannot think of any. And don't fire back and say that its just becuase they're not being coached- its because there is a very genuine and very large talent difference between someone who runs 8:56 and someone who runs 9:46, and you don't just make up that difference by getting a good coach.

former Bama runner wrote:

(shrugs) You're right; I don't know him, though I have met him twice. He seems like a nice enough guy, and I've even heard that he's a bit of a father figure to the Kenyans he brings over. Good for him.

But that has no bearing on his recruiting tactics. This guy had a well-known MO long before he arrived at Alabama. He made a bunch of Kenyan contacts while coaching at Meridian CC, and decided then and there that he had a winning formula. He did the same thing at South Alabama and then at Alabama. His first priority has always been recruiting Kenyans.

My only point is that he makes very little attempt to balance his teams by attracting and developing American talent from anywhere in the US, let alone the South. That's what rubs me the wrong way.

You make it sound like recruiting Kenyans is tantamount to raping toddlers.

He has a bunch of Kenyan contacts, so what? His job is to have a good team and that's how he does it.

GlobalView wrote:

The original question does include nationality (not "race" as you put it) and did not include age as a factor (see below), as you are preoccupied with.

Why do those two schools bring in so many foreign cross country runners? Are they trying to buy a championship? Are they unable to recruit Americans to their cesspool programs? How proud will everyone be of a NCAA National Champion team that has more foreigners than Americans? How will taxpayers feel about giving away taxpayer money to give scholarships to foreigners?

Everyone buys championships. Name me one championship team in the past decade or two without at least 2 or 3 blue chip recruits that were the cream of the crop in high school.

To your last two questions, no one really gives a damn about xc anyway so I don't the amount of foreigners changes the "pride" level. If taxpayers really cared they could campaign for a bill limiting the amount of money available to foreign students, but I don't really see anyone up in arms about that.

Protectionism is bad for American distance running. We need the Kenyans to remind us how big of scrubs we are in the long run and to inspire us to step our game up. As someone who runs for a D1 school I have to say that racing very talented foreign athletes makes me step my game up.

amen, brother.

Curious Chris wrote:

I'd like to hear about all of these barely sub-10 champions out there at the D1 level. I legitimately cannot think of any. And don't fire back and say that its just becuase they're not being coached- its because there is a very genuine and very large talent difference between someone who runs 8:56 and someone who runs 9:46, and you don't just make up that difference by getting a good coach.

FYI

Daniel Lincoln (born October 22, 1980 in Ruston, Louisiana) is a world-class American track and field athlete and the American record holder in the 3000 meter steeplechase.