Salaam Declared Eligible for 1991-92

SAN DIEGO —  Like Rashaan Salaam had done countless times as a record-setting running back for the La Jolla Country Day football team, San Diego Section Commissioner Kendall Webb found an opening and darted.

Using a rule interpretation offered by State CIF Commissioner Thomas Byrnes, Webb waived the two semesters Salaam spent as a ninth grader at Bell Junior High, making Salaam eligible for the 1991-92 school year and putting to rest one of the longest eligibility disputes in recent years.

Salaam, 16, might have been eligible, anyway, after winning an appeal from the San Diego Section Board of Managers in January, but Webb said the state CIF office could have intervened and overruled the board’s decision.

Tuesday’s action by Webb eliminated that possibility.

“I’ve been trying to find a way to get him eligible for some time,” said Webb, who even tried to amend an existing CIF rule to fit the case. “It’s been my intent all along that the kid has been deserving of another year.

“The rules were put in to prevent kids from having an unfair advantage over other kids. In this case, he gets no such advantage.”

Said LJCD Coach Rick Woods, “We felt it was over in January. But we appreciate (Webb’s) effort in pursuing this matter.”

Salaam: “I thought it was over, but then I read an article a couple of weeks ago saying it might not be.

“I’m glad that it is finally and totally over. Now I can get on with working out and having a good senior year and preparing for college.”

Salaam, whose scoring numbers in 1990 were unprecedented, ran into a numbers game concerning his eligibility last fall.

Despite being 16 years old, Salaam already had completed eight semesters beyond the eighth grade, which would make him ineligible under CIF bylaw 202.

Salaam entered the ninth grade at Bell as a 13-year-old. After graduating, he repeated the ninth grade the following year at La Jolla Country Day. Because of another rule prohibiting varsity football competition until the age of 15, Salaam could not play until midway through his sophomore season in 1989.

In the fall of 1990, Salaam rushed for 2,162 yards in 114 carries (19 yards per carry) and scored 52 touchdowns.