Unlocking the Door to His Future

For Hoyas Recruit, Key Was Accepting Learning Disability

Chris Braswell knows he can't defeat public opinion. No matter what happens over the next five months, whether the 6-foot-8 Georgetown recruit either shows up on campus in the fall or returns to a prep school, Braswell is still going to feel skeptical eyes on him -- on the basketball court, in the classroom and in cyberspace.

The end of a curious high school career could come today for Braswell when he suits up for the Capital All-Stars in the Capital Classic at Comcast Center. The player once dubbed the Washington area's next great big man orally committed to the Hoyas in October 2006, but it's far from certain when he will suit up.

Braswell repeated the eighth grade at Andrew Jackson Middle School in Forestville. Then, he spent his freshman year at Suitland dogged by rumors of poor grades and attendance. He spent the next two years at DeMatha, but he missed the final six weeks of his second season there without any explanation. He's spending this year at Hargrave Military Academy, a landing spot for athletes hoping the strict environment will help them improve their grades and gain initial NCAA eligibility.

If Braswell can complete the class work this spring and summer to satisfy those eligibility requirements, and enroll at Georgetown in August, he expects the skeptics to say there is something fishy. If Braswell cannot, and has to return to Hargrave for all or part of the 2008-09 school year, he expects those people will say they knew it all along: Chris Braswell is a bad kid who can't do any schoolwork.

"People are running their mouths about me," Braswell said. "But they don't know what I'm going through."

A year ago, Braswell discovered he had a learning disability, which explains his childhood of academic struggles.

"This has been going on for three or four years," said Braswell's mother, Lesa. "He's frustrated because he sees the Internet and sees what people are talking about him. They talk about him not going to Georgetown, that he's not graduating this year."

Last April, the NCAA, seeking to prevent prospective student-athletes from attending fraudulent prep schools, or "diploma mills," changed the requirements for eligibility. Beginning with the high school senior class of 2008, students must complete 16 core courses, two more than previously required, 15 of which must be completed in their first four years after enrolling in high school.

There is, however, an exception to the rule: students with a previously diagnosed learning disability have no time limit to take courses prior to enrolling in college. Shortly after the rule was adopted, many saw obtaining a diagnosis of "LD" as a loophole.

"It's safe to say there has been an uptick in students who request" waivers for learning disabilities, said Kevin Lennon, the NCAA vice president for membership services. "When a student provides a diagnosis late in his high school career, especially after graduating, that's something we'll investigate. For the most part, you want students who are diagnosed with learning disabilities to receive it early."

Braswell never thought he had a disability. When he didn't do well, he promised to work harder. But the results never changed.

"When he fell into a hole, he didn't know how to handle it," DeMatha Coach Mike Jones said. Jones said Braswell's basketball skill always kept him from being held accountable in the classroom. When Braswell had to sit out two games in December 2005 for not completing his work, Jones said DeMatha personnel began persuading Braswell to get tested for a learning disability.