scholarship at the last minute?
nicely done
that seems like a way around the annual scholarship limit (25), but not the total cap of 85. I think they'd still need room under the 85 cap to award the scholarship when the kid arrived.
Another subtlety of this "blueshirting", not mentioned in the article: it seems like the affected player would not be considered a recruited scholarship player, but instead, would be a former walk-on for the balance of his time in school. The distinction there is that a former walk-on can give his scholarship back (or have it taken away), and then no longer count against the cap of 85, even if he stays in school and/or stays on the team. Nice flexibility there.
This just seems ripe for abuse.
It doesn't seem that they are not considered a recruited player. They must be non-recruited. A recruited SA that enters in fall must count against the 85 and 25 for that academic year. A recruited SA that enters at midyear counts against the 85 for that year and may count against the 25 for that year or the following year.
Also, to be nonrecruited, a coach can only call a Prospect one time.
or at least trying to structure the deal to do that.
I assume that "SA" means "scholarship athlete". If they get a recruit to show up for a day or so of practice as a walk-on, then give him a scholarship, is he considered a recruited SA under that bylaw?
You probably know the rules better than I. If what you're saying is accurate, then it sounds like this tactic wouldn't work to create any advantage at all (scholarship limit or otherwise).