Joey Hale has gone through a range of emotions in the past week. On Saturday, the sprinter went 19.95 to edge out teammate Karl Krug by 0.03 to win the CIF Southern Section. All was good for the Redlands sprinter. He was swimming fast, enjoying life as a senior and looking forward to heading off to Tempe, Arizona.

Three days later, Hale went from being the 25th-ranked recruit in the country to being the most-eligible recruit in America. That's because Arizona State announced the elimination of men's swimming thus making his full ride null and void.

Hale, perhaps naive, perhaps underestimating the value of a 19.9 high school sprinter, told the Los Angeles Times, "Hopefully, some colleges have some extra leftover money."

Auburn University could have the inside track. Hale's sub-20 teammate Karl Krug will be headed to the Plains in the fall. He told the Times, "I'd love for him to come out there. I don't want to go out there by myself."

If he does choose Auburn, he will give the Tigers three of the four fastest recruits in the country. In addition to Krug, Auburn has picked up Indian River's Gideon Louw. The South African has been 19.66 and 42.78 respectively. Ironically, another sub-50 swimmer will be swimming for someone other than the coach he signed for. Penn State signed Illinois State Champion Brian Alden in the Fall. With Bill Dorrenkott heading to Ohio State, the Nittany Lions find themselves looking for a coach.