Fresno State has ended its practice of signing academically nonqualifying high school students, taking its most aggressive stance to date in an ongoing mission to polish academic reputation and position itself for conference realignment.

"It's part of the total campaign to improve image and perception of Fresno State athletics," Bulldogs athletic director Scott Johnson said.

Academic nonqualifiers are students who do not meet NCAA minimum academic requirements to be eligible for scholarship or competition as freshmen. They are not allowed to participate or receive athletic aid in their first year of college, but are eligible to receive athletic scholarships and join teams in their second year if they meet requirements.

They've figured prominently in the Bulldogs' success in the past two decades, almost exclusively in football and men's basketball.

Lorenzo Neal, Ron Rivers and Anthony Daigle, who accounted for the touchdowns in Fresno State's 24-7 Freedom Bowl victory over USC in 1992, were nonqualifiers. And among them recently in football were All-Western Athletic Conference players Rodney Wright, Alan Harper and Jason Stewart.

Basketball nonqualifiers in the Jerry Tarkanian era included Tito Maddox, Melvin Ely, Terrance Roberson and Damon Jackson.

Only 3.1% of Bulldogs athletes on current rosters -- 22 of 691 -- failed to meet NCAA minimum requirements out of high school, university assistant athletic director Steve Weakland said.

And football coach Pat Hill, with only three former nonqualifiers among his 75-man depth chart, progressively has softened his dependence on those players.

Yet Johnson and Hill acknowledge, regardless of actual numbers, that a perception exists that Fresno State is operating an athletic program based on nonqualifiers.

"The perception outside Fresno State is we have 40 'props'," said Hill, who carries 105 players. "We have nine."

Five more are incoming from his most recent recruiting class -- including Edison High standout Clifton Smith -- but they won't be affected by the new policy.

"I'm glad it happened after I signed," Smith said. "I probably just would have ended up at a [junior college]."

Nonqualifiers are referred to as "props" in reference to Proposition 48, the since rewritten NCAA legislation that mandates minimum academic standards.

The Pac-10 prohibits the signing of nonqualifiers. And a year ago, the Mountain West adopted the same policy, effective this fall.

Mountain West officials have made clear their disdain for the Bulldogs' admissions practices while discussing possible conference expansion.

Johnson said that wasn't lost on him and president John Welty while deciding on this move after months of consideration.

"What we're trying to do is take away people's excuses why we can't be under consideration for things," Johnson said. "I think everybody is trying to position themselves for ... [conference] realignment and to create stability in conferences. This is just another move to strengthen us."

Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson read Fresno State's media release Thursday but declined comment.

"He said it had nothing to do with the Mountain West," said Javan Hedlund, the conference's director of communication.

Mountain West schools are allowed to sign junior college players with two-year degrees who were nonqualifiers out of high school. Bulldogs coaches will be afforded the same flexibility.

"This isn't a total shutout [against nonqualifiers]," Johnson said. "It's a modification, it's a tightening of entrance policies."

Hill said: "We're not turning our backs on nonqualifiers. I have a strong feeling for them. We're still going to be highly active with them. We'll just show them different alternatives and ways they can further their academic careers, and, hopefully, some day they'll play football for us.

"There's a lot of other schools, the Oregons and the USCs, that sign [players who ultimately don't qualify], then find ways to get them into school. We'll be doing the same thing."

But in the big picture, Johnson said, "This is a message to people: 'Hey, we're serious about academics, and this is another step.' "

It was no coincidence, he said, that the announcement comes shortly before the NCAA Infractions Committee determines whether additional penalties are warranted for Fresno State's men's basketball program.

The school, acknowledging academic fraud, lack of institutional control and use of ineligible players, already has imposed its own penalties, including a two-year probation, the reduction of three scholarships and a postseason ban in 2003.

"This is another byproduct of that," Johnson said. "I think it's important to show [the NCAA] we're taking steps."

He also said the school was attempting to "maximize" publicity by making the announcement while the two-day WAC Football Media Preview was opening in Boise, Idaho.

Given the word there, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said: "As the entire NCAA Division I membership addresses academic reform and more stringent requirements, I applaud Fresno State and president Welty for taking a more restrictive admissions policy and a greater stance on the academic side."

The Bulldogs, while crafting a program known as the Academic Gameplan that has been followed by several other colleges, have led the WAC with 49 all-academic players in Hill's career.

"To Fresno State's credit, they have clearly shown they've been able to take at-risk students and provide them with necessary academic services," Benson said. "Despite the props, they've been able to maintain very respectable graduation rates."

But Johnson said those rates need to improve, hence the admissions policy change and a new reporting line for the school's athletics Academic Services unit.

Beginning this fall, the unit will report jointly to the offices of Johnson and the university provost, represented by interim Geronima Echeverria.

"The idea is to have more checks and balances," Johnson said. "Again, it's another step to show the NCAA institutional control not only in athletics, but university wide."

Hill welcomed the plan.

"I think it's a real step forward at Fresno State that the provost is going to be involved with the academic progress of the team," he said. "That's also a real strong statement. Maybe it'll bring more money and attention to building our new academic center; that's what I'm hoping."