Brigham Young University senior opposite hitter Joe Hillman is
allegedly in violation of NCAA rules by currently playing in his
sixth year of college volleyball, according to an opposing coach,
but he is still expected to start in matches at UCLA on Thursday
and Friday.
A pair of BYU wins could clinch the top seed in the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation tournament for the top-ranked Cougars,
who have determined that Hillman has yet to exhaust the NCAA limit
of four years of collegiate eligibility.
“I wouldn’t call it an investigation, but
we’re aware of it,” BYU spokesman Jeff Reynolds said.
“We’ve resolved the issue with our compliance
department.”
The issue of ineligible players has plagued the sport in the
recent past, with 2002 national champion Hawai’i having been
stripped of its title and 2003 national champion Lewis currently
sitting out two players with questionable eligibility.
Now, it is conference-leading BYU that is in the spotlight after
UC Santa Barbara coach Ken Preston, whose team was swept twice by
BYU last month, turned over information regarding Hillman to the
NCAA and BYU coach Tom Peterson early last week, according to UCLA
coach Al Scates.
Hillman, 27, still played in wins over UC San Diego last Friday
and Saturday after his eligibility had apparently been cleared,
helping extend a school-record winning streak to 20 matches.
Since a subsequent investigation by the NCAA and ruling by MPSF
commissioner Al Beaird could conceivably result in the forfeiture
of matches Hillman appeared in, Scates cautiously accepts the
legitimacy of BYU’s findings.
“He’s still playing, so he must be in the
clear,” Scates said. “If (BYU) says he’s
eligible, he must be eligible.
But UCLA assistant coach Brian Rofer suspects something far more
sinister.
“It’s unfortunate for the athletes to see a blatant
disregard for the rules when we’re supposed to be educating
them,” Rofer said. “It’s just sad, especially for
a religious school. It’s just not right.”
The 6-foot-7 Hillman leads BYU in service aces this season and
is the team’s second-leading attacker, averaging 3.61 kills
per game. He appeared in 21 games for the Cougars in 2003 and
earned All-American honors twice in unspecified years for the Utah
Valley State College club team before transferring, according to
the BYU media guide.
Just how much Hillman, a Las Vegas native, played at UVSC after
returning from his two-year Mormon mission in 1997 appears to be in
question. He made all-tournament teams at the National
Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Collegiate Volleyball
Sport Club Championships in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to
nirsa.net.
“(Preston) looked it up and thought that might be too
much,” said Scates, who declared his own starting opposite
hitter, Cameron Mount, ineligible for the 2003 season after being
presented with information proving Mount had used up a fourth year
of eligibility seven years earlier before going on his Mormon
mission.
But BYU believes Hillman to be eligible.
“It’s all been documented, and he’s within the
guidelines,” Reynolds said. “It’s a
non-issue.”