Ajee' Wilson Puts College On Hold

[gh]

the T&FN list of American Junior records lists Slaney's indoor 800 AJR as 2:01.03, which is the same time as Legesse's world record. Is that a misprint, or did Mary Slaney run that time too?

Good catch. She ran 2:02.4 for 880y, converted to 2:01.8' for meters. Feb 17, 1974 in San Diego.

Not quite. The time is indeed 2:01.8, but that was an official en route time taken at 800m. Nobody accepts converted marks for record purposes.

[ATK]

I see nothing wrong with her decision to defer college for a year. Either she'll do well by making the WC team and performing respectably in Moscow which would land her a pro contract, or she won't do as well she hoped and then she'll enroll as a freshman in the fall of this year.

If there's a bad decision it's not now, it would be at the end of the season if she deviates from those two options, ending up neither in school nor with a decent pro contract. Or during the season if she throws away the college scholarship option by taking a bit of prize money without already having a solid pro contract.

she may already have taken a contract, which would eliminate any future college options.

[18.99s]

she may already have taken a contract, which would eliminate any future college options.

Eliminating college scholarship options is OK if it's not "without already having a solid pro contract".

[26mi235]

Can she have a contract that simply pays expenses and still retain collegiate eligibility?

[18.99s]

Can she have a contract that simply pays expenses and still retain collegiate eligibility?

An individual contract? No. But if she's training in a club that raises funds to pay the competition-related travel expenses and medical insurance for its members, maybe (with a bunch of ifs and buts).

[Blues]

Regardless of the specific details of a contract with Adidas, does the fact that Ajee Wilson is a Flynn Sports Management athlete represented by agent Ray Flynn also automatically eliminate college eligibility?

[26mi235]

The NCAA has been losing a bit in it's insistence that any representation by an 'agent' makes the athlete ineligible. If she has already gone passed the point of no return why has there been no comment from anyone involved (FSU, Wilson's team, etc)?

Well, that is answered see the front page link:

World Junior Record Holder and 2012 World Junior 800m Champion Ajee Wilson has turned Pro. She will be running for adidas and will be represented by Ray Flynn. She will continue to train with Derek Thompson of the Juventus Track Club of Philadelphia.

[ATK]

If she has already gone passed the point of no return why has there been no comment from anyone involved (FSU, Wilson's team, etc)?

How is FSU involved? didnt she drop the ball on them a while ago?

[gh]

Some good chatter on this subject on our Facebook page.

[az2004]

it should be noted derek thompson has been ajee wilson coach for the past couple year in hs and now, it's nt something new

and the states top 60/200 girl taylor williams is running without any hs link

[aaronk]

it should be noted derek thompson has been ajee wilson coach for the past couple year in hs and now, it's nt something new

and the states top 60/200 girl taylor williams is running without any hs link

As is Mary Cain!
Are we being "Lebron James'd" out of future collegiate stars??

[Marlow]

Are we being "Lebron James'd" out of future collegiate stars??

That didn't seem to be a problem for Basketball. 'HS to Pro' is such a rarity that we can handle the few that do it, and it might even be best for them, since virtually all still go to college for the degree.

[dj]

Are we being "Lebron James'd" out of future collegiate stars??

That didn't seem to be a problem for Basketball. 'HS to Pro' is such a rarity that we can handle the few that do it, and it might even be best for them, since virtually all still go to college for the degree.

'HS to Pro' can't happen anymore since the latest union agreement was signed.

[Bruce Kritzler]

'HS to Pro' can't happen anymore since the latest union agreement was signed.

Unless they go to Europe.

[Conor Dary]

'HS to Pro' can't happen anymore since the latest union agreement was signed.

Unless they go to Europe.

Which is rare, except for those for which even a semester of college is too much.

[GDAWG]

She may choose to go the Allyson Felix route:

She can still attend college and get her degree while at the same time, compete as a pro. She just would be a non-athlete on campus.

Allyson did it, winning a Silver Medal in Athens and the first of her three World Golds in Helsinki while going for a teaching degree at the University of Southern California.

[Conor Dary]

She may choose to go the Allyson Felix route:

She can still attend college and get her degree while at the same time, compete as a pro. She just would be a non-athlete on campus.

Allyson did it, winning a Silver Medal in Athens and the first of her three World Golds in Helsinki while going for a teaching degree at the University of Southern California.

Webb did it too. That sure worked out well. Though he did get the AR in the mile so it wasn't completely a lost cause.

[18.99s]

With a best of only 2:00.91 and never having made the final of an Olympic or Worlds trials or NCAA championship, nor done anything of note in mixing it up with the pros on the circuit yet, I have to think the contract isn't a very good one. It's surely not as good as what she'd get if she made the WC team or ran sub-2:00 this summer.

She probably simply didn't like the idea of college and preferred to take any contract that pays just enough to live and train, even if it's worth less than a college scholarship.

[18.99s]

'HS to Pro' can't happen anymore since the latest union agreement was signed.

Unless they go to Europe.

Which is rare, except for those for which even a semester of college is too much.

Or those who were unable to meet the academic standards to go to college.

[Blues]

With a best of only 2:00.91 and never having made the final of an Olympic or Worlds trials or NCAA championship, nor done anything of note in mixing it up with the pros on the circuit yet, I have to think the contract isn't a very good one. It's surely not as good as what she'd get if she made the WC team or ran sub-2:00 this summer.

She probably simply didn't like the idea of college and preferred to take any contract that pays just enough to live and train, even if it's worth less than a college scholarship.

I have to wonder if maybe one of her club coaches or someone else influenced her decision... I know it doesn't prove anything, but Ajee did pretty well academically in high school with a 3.5 grade point average.

[az2004]

derek thompson was ajee coachwhen she was a senior at neptune

he has a very good reputation

and with ray flynn invovled, i think ajee is in good hands

[Blues]

This isn't a big deal, but since Ajee will start running her indoor 800's soon and more people might be referring to the American Jr. Record list in the T&FN records section, could we get Mary Slaney's AJR corrected to 2:01.8 on the list? As I write this it still needs some correction.

(It was changed on the list a few days ago when the subject was first brought up, but it was changed to 2:01.08, still making it seem like an athlete like Ajee would have to run 2:01.07 to break Mary's record instead of 2:01.79. I sent a pm to gh about it on Monday, but the pm is still in my outbox so I'm not sure if he'll get a chance to see it, or if he'll assume it was about the original listing of 2:01.03 that he's already aware of...)

[Pego]

This isn't a big deal, but since Ajee will start running her indoor 800's soon and more people might be referring to the American Jr. Record list in the T&FN records section, could we get Mary Slaney's AJR corrected to 2:01.8 on the list? As I write this it still needs some correction.

(It was changed on the list a few days ago when the subject was first brought up, but it was changed to 2:01.08, still making it seem like an athlete like Ajee would have to run 2:01.07 to break Mary's record instead of 2:01.79. I sent a pm to gh about it on Monday, but the pm is still in my outbox so I'm not sure if he'll get a chance to see it, or if he'll assume it was about the original listing of 2:01.03 that he's already aware of...)

IIRC, he indicated to never check his PM's. E-mail him.

[Blues]

This isn't a big deal, but since Ajee will start running her indoor 800's soon and more people might be referring to the American Jr. Record list in the T&FN records section, could we get Mary Slaney's AJR corrected to 2:01.8 on the list? As I write this it still needs some correction.

(It was changed on the list a few days ago when the subject was first brought up, but it was changed to 2:01.08, still making it seem like an athlete like Ajee would have to run 2:01.07 to break Mary's record instead of 2:01.79. I sent a pm to gh about it on Monday, but the pm is still in my outbox so I'm not sure if he'll get a chance to see it, or if he'll assume it was about the original listing of 2:01.03 that he's already aware of...)

IIRC, he indicated to never check his PM's. E-mail him.

Mary Slaney's indoor 800m record on the T&FN AJR list is now correct. Thanks gh, or whoever it was that corrected it.

[fourjz]

We will see now.Coach Derick Thompson is a very good coach.So hopefully Ajee Wilson will make the transition from HS to Pros,and from HS to the real world in life as well.God bless her in her endeavor.

[az2004]

the article on the front gives a very good review of ajee

"Ajee has been enrolled as a science major at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, Middletown, N.J. since September 2012 and the plan is to transfer to Temple University in Phladelphia this September, where the adidas contract will guarantee her tuition until graduation (just as Felix's adidas contract guaranteed full tuition at Southern California.)"

[doug5321]

wasnt wilson supposed to run this weekends boston indoor meet? her name is not on the start list, is she injured? http://www.nbindoorgrandprix.com/events ... 00-meters/

[az2004]

i'mchecking on that right now, as a promiment hs coach who knows her current coach is checking that out

[Blues]

wasnt wilson supposed to run this weekends boston indoor meet? her name is not on the start list, is she injured? http://www.nbindoorgrandprix.com/events ... 00-meters/

She's running the 800 open division race at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York on Saturday. (Another race on the Armory track prior to her big Millrose 600m race might be beneficial..)

[Blues]

Current entries for the Armory open women's 800m race, scheduled for 4:40pm Saturday, are below.. Although Ajee Wilson's competitors are all talented, their 800m PR's are between 2:04 and 2:06, so their PR's are all at least 3 or 4 seconds slower than Ajee Wilson's.

Ajee's management has said that they're really pleased with her conditioning after her fall training, so if she feels she's capable, it'll be interesting to see if she'll try for an AJR here (currently 2:01.8) or WJR (2:01.03) and take the pace from the start and not have to worry about contact, or if she'll run just to try to win.... Although Ajee's outdoor PR from last summer is 2:00.91, her indoor PR is a little slower at 2:04.13 from 2 years ago.


Armory Collegiate Invitational women's open 800 entries:

1 3025 Supino, Christina unattached
2 3014 Wilson, Heather NJ-NY TC
3 3026 Herrick, Stephanie Central Park TC
4 3015 Wilson, Ajee adidas

[az2004]

Women 800m Run Open
=====================================================================
Saturday (4:40 pm)
=====================================================================
National — 1:58.71, Nicole Teter (2002)
Armory — 1:58.71, Nicole Teter (2002)
Meet — 2:03.43, Frances Santin (2006)
=====================================================================
1 3025 Supino, Christina unattached
2 3014 Wilson, Heather NJ-NY TC
3 3026 Herrick, Stephanie Central Park TC
4 3015 Wilson, Ajee adidas


yes, it's a 4:40 pm starttime, so i presume anyone can catch the race on flotrack IF YOU WANT TO PAY FOR IT and my contact has hishs girlsrunning in the hs 4X200 at 5:12 and hs girls 4X4 at 8:10

so he should be able to give me his read on ajee run as he;ll be there live

[az2004]

with these 4 people in the race, i curious to see how ajee runs tomorrow

it doesnt appear to have the pacers reqired to make a run at the ajr

will ajee treat it as a rudisha like timetrial to make a run at a fast time

i'd like her to take a shot at it, but i;m not expecting her to get it

[az2004]

Women 800m Run Open
=====================================================================
Saturday (4:40 pm)
=====================================================================
National — 1:58.71, Nicole Teter (2002)
Armory — 1:58.71, Nicole Teter (2002)
Meet — 2:03.43, Frances Santin (2006)
=====================================================================
Final
1 Wilson, Ajee' Adidas 2:05.54
2 Wilson, Heather NJ - NY TC 2:08.16
3 Supino, Christina Unattached 2:11.96
4 Douma, Alyssa Unattached 2:18.41
-- Herrick, Stephanie Central Park TC DNF

[az2004]

ajee 800 at armory over the weekend plus interview afterrace

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?vi ... ional-2013

[az2004]

looking at millrose startlists

the womens 800 will be tough for ajee

Melissa Bishop, Nike (Canada)
Alysia Montano, Nike
Erica Moore, Nike
LaTavia Thomas, Nike
Ajee' Wilson, adidas
Phoebe Wright, Nike