Perlman: Diaz had another shot at exam
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BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s admissions department offered a basketball recruit another chance to pass a required English exam, but the athletic department turned down the idea, according to Chancellor Harvey Perlman.
Jorge Diaz could have flown to Lincoln as part of a paid official recruiting visit and taken an English placement exam that would have fulfilled necessary UNL requirements in the necessary time frame. Had Diaz passed, he could have immediately enrolled in classes and been eligible to play basketball this semester.
“We are flexible enough we could’ve accommodated this person, if, in fact, he’s proficient,” Perlman said Thursday. “Athletics decided not to take advantage of that opportunity.”
Why not?
“I think they had real reasons to do that,” Perlman said. “I’m not criticizing their judgment in doing that. I think it was a reasonable judgment.”
Nebraska men’s basketball coach Doc Sadler confirmed Perlman’s account of the situation but said he couldn’t comment further. He referred questions to athletic director Tom Osborne, who declined comment through an athletic department spokesman.
Diaz, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound forward, orally committed to Nebraska the week before the start of the fall semester on Aug. 25. He was cleared by the NCAA academic clearinghouse but was denied admission to Nebraska because he didn’t meet the school’s English proficiency requirements.
Applicants who indicate English is not their first language, or language spoken in their home, must show proof of English proficiency. Diaz indicated his first language as Spanish. He attempted to take the TOEFL — Test Of English as a Foreign Language — which could have met UNL’s requirements. However, a computer malfunction at Diaz’s school prohibited him from taking the test.
Those facts, Perlman said, were presented to Nebraska’s admissions department.
“I said to myself, and I think legitimately,” Perlman said, “that if any student was in that circumstance, being in a position with something that’s outside their control, we would try to do what we could to accommodate the student. We’d do that for anybody.”
That’s why Nebraska tried to arrange for Diaz to take the UNL exam.
“It’s a multiple-choice test, based off a Michigan test,” Perlman said, noting there was no required preparatory period. “It’s not some funny thing that we developed on our own. We give it all the time.”
Nebraska couldn’t make any exceptions for Diaz that it wouldn’t make for any potential student. Doing so would be an excess benefit — a direct violation of NCAA rules.
Alan Cerveny, UNL’s dean of admissions, said there are multiple ways UNL students can indicate their English proficiency. The TOEFL is most popular — a score of 530 on the paper version is required. Students who score at least an 18 on the English subscore of their ACT or a 430 on the verbal subscore of their SAT aren’t required to take the TOEFL, Cerveny said.
Nebraska has no appeals process for its English proficiency requirement. Being fluent in English isn’t sufficient proof.
“This is not fluency,” Perlman said. “The question is whether he has the reading skills, the speaking skills, the oral listening skills to be successful in the classroom.”
Diaz, who may take an official visit to Lincoln later this month, can take the TOEFL, gain a necessary score and enroll in the spring semester. He would be eligible to join the team for practice Dec. 19 — three weeks before the beginning of the Big 12 Conference season.
Diaz, who has not signed a letter of intent, could also reneg on his oral commitment and attend another school.
Diaz could not be reached for comment.
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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