COLUMN: Recruiting brings out the worst

You learn a lot of things working for this newspaper. You learn the name of Judith Rodin's dog. You learn that Stanley Chodorow thinks this would be a great place to work if it weren't for all the pesky students running around trying to have "input." You learn that even at college newspapers, cold-hearted financial calculations outweigh the loyalty and friendship of those who have served a vital role for more than 20 years. And you learn that college basketball recruiting, even at the Ivy League level, is a corrupt, disgusting orgy of deception and chicanery. Take, for instance, the recruiting of one Mason Rocca. Those of you who read the sports section on a regular basis will recognize the name, as it certainly appeared a lot. A few people even thought he was our top recruit because of the sheer number of times he popped up on these pages. But the reason he kept appearing in the DP had little to do with his basketball talent. In all honestly, it is because he went to my high school and is a good friend of my brother's. As I type this they are 50 feet away from each other on the baseball field, my brother at second, Mason at first. On our answering machine at home, sandwiched between the end of the outgoing message and the beep is a shout from the background: "My name's Mason." So I had what those in the business call "access" and it is a journalist's friend. I followed closely as Mason narrowed his choices to Dartmouth and Harvard, and then Penn reemerged and then Princeton reemerged. I spoke with him on his official visit, and he stayed with me on an unofficial visit. And each time I spoke to him, I worked it into the paper and gradually the Quaker community came to recognize the name. After his unofficial visit here, as well as trips to Harvard and Princeton, Mason chose to go to Princeton, and his comments to me were quite revealing. He said that he was told he would play a lot and that Carmody was opening up the offense, which was more suited to Mason's game. But wait a second, here. Carmody has already said that the Princeton offense will still be The Princeton Offense. Didn't Brian Earl list that as one of his reasons for leaving after only a year. And take a look at Princeton's recruiting class: 6-5 John McCann, 6-7 Nate Walton, 6-3 Phil Belin and 6-3 J.W. Gillern, as well as Rocca. That's fine, except there are 10 returning players even if Earl leaves: Goodrich, Johnson, Mastaglio, Henderson, Rosenfeld, Lewullis, Gregory, Hite and Gillett. And let's not forget Boston Celtics coach and general manager M.L. Carr's son sat out this season with a broken arm. So I ask you: where exactly does Mason expect to play? It is a tragedy of college recruiting that players can get sucked in by the hype, that a coach can lie and the recruit won't realize that until they get there. Just ask Ira Bowman, who got sucked in by Rick Barnes's recruiting pitch at Providence and ran for his life after two years. With Rocca, Michael Jordan, Matt Langel, Geoff Owens and Rice transfer George Mboya to go with the returnees, Penn would have been a near-lock to win at least three Ivy titles. Alas, Rocca -- deluded and lied to -- has chosen to scramble for an NIT berth for the next four years. I wish I were going to be here for his first trip into the Palestra. His last visit to college basketball's most historic gymnasium included a boisterous crowd, a revenge blowout of Dartmouth and a visit from Mayor Rendell. His next visit will feature a shower of verbal bile and filth from the Quaker faithful. Hell hath no fury like a Penn fan scorned.

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