Vaughn isn't deterred by Oak Hill's stigma

"Diploma mills" are being scrutinized by the NCAA.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Julian Vaughn stands 6-foot-8, boasts a high GPA and is ready to enter one of America's most prestigious basketball factories -- Virginia's Oak Hill Academy.
Nobody, not even the NCAA, can convince Vaughn he's making a mistake.
Two days after Oak Hill was placed on the list of 22 schools which will have its academic standards under review by the NCAA, Vaughn still intends to enroll there this fall.
"Even if it was on the list of offenders, I'd still want to go," he said. "I have a 3.7 GPA, so I'm really just going there to get my last few credits."
The focus
Of course, there's the added attraction of playing basketball for an institution that annually produces some of college basketball's premier prospects. Vaughn and Jeff Allen, a future teammate, both hope to carry on Oak Hill's legacy after they finish playing at this week's Nike All-America Camp.
The questions being asked now, though, are more about academics than talent.
Ever since The New York Times exposed University High in Miami, a correspondence school that offered diplomas to students despite having no classes or instructors and operating almost without supervision, the NCAA has been scrutinizing the standards of non-traditional high schools to identify "diploma mills."
The NCAA has been looking for irregularities such as one-year students, dramatic academic improvements or uncharacteristic classwork patterns.
The risk: Students attending listed schools could lose their freshman eligibility.
Not all negative
NCAA vice president Kevin Lennon said transcripts will continue to be evaluated individually and that students at the listed schools could retain their eligibility if their records show a pattern of academic achievement.
By publicizing the lists, NCAA officials hoped some athletes would reconsider their choices. The early returns are not encouraging.
On Wednesday, 16 schools were added to the list of offenders -- seven of them from Santa Ana, Calif. Twenty-two others, including Oak Hill, face more review over the next year.
And when Vaughn arrived at camp Thursday, he wasn't even aware Oak Hill made the list.
"I didn't hear about it, no," he said. "People can say whatever they want to say, but I've not heard anything bad about their academics. I know a lot of people hate the fact they have a rich basketball tradition, so they'll say whatever they want."
Vaughn isn't the only one with concerns.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, winner of the 2003 national championship and a prominent member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, is questioning the process.
Suspicion
He wondered why one school, which he declined to identify, made the list even though it has an enrollment of 300, a principal and a faculty. He also believes the NCAA's new mission poses a dangerous potential for expansion.
"The next thing they're going to do is look at inner-city schools, and we're not supposed to take those kids because it's a bad high school," he said. "Where are we going with this?"
Lennon insisted that would not happen.
Instead, he said the NCAA is looking more closely at schools that do not fall under state oversight, and that if investigators found irregularities at public institutions, the NCAA would notify that state's regulating body.
"Every student will have his records reviewed by the clearinghouse," Lennon said. "What we're trying to do is pick out kids who have miraculous recoveries in their last year. That's the kid that needs to be concerned."
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