I don't think it is much of a loophole really. The key is the 85 overall limit...that is for every single academic day at every single school. As the article says, no loophole there. If TN or any other school wants 40% of their roster TR FR (assuming they could get around the other issues mentioned), good luck on them competing on game day! Not to mention, what is going to happen the next year when the 85 limits bites them in the butt again.
It is stretching the bounds of what's "okay". New Mexico really perfected this approach. I think it really works well for positions like kicker/long snapper who don't get recruited. Big name players typically don't fit this scenario because they all get recruited and they all seem to like the process. Of course it isn't long-term binding on the athlete, so a player could initially agree, see the roster is not working to their advantage, and transfer elsewhere. But I disagree that the key is simply 85 overall. The 25 per class is just as significant and for teams who constantly over-sign or play that game end up having to "let go" of some players or claim academic ineligibility, it's kinda sad.
I was talking it not being much of an advantage for the team. As you correctly stated, it creates more flux, more uncertainty, etc. And you probably know about the new NCAA rule which came/will come into effect. Now, colleges can GUARANTEE scholarships for multiple years. My guess is the schools that don't start doing this, they are going to be at a disadvantage. So that is counter to "letting go" of players. Sorry, I don't want LSU to even try this. I think it will come back to bite them big time...with the 85 overall limit...the shuffling of players in and out of the program...the lack of seniority on the team...the bad press for processing players out... etc, etc, etc. As far as you mentioning "New Mexico perfecting this approach", how is that working out for the Lobos who have a horrible team year in and year out? They at least have a better program than New Mexico State which year in and year out may be the worst FBS one. Thanks but no thanks
I suspect that many teams who consistently oversign marginal scholars have consistently large attrition rates due to bad grades. They do it to maintain their 85.
That used to be a very valid point but in 2012 or 2013, the SEC instigated the 25 signees per year...counted on NSD. Of course you can sign over 25, say 28 for example and count 3 of them against last the previous year's class if you say ended up with 22 that year. However, what Ole Miss and South Carolina became infamous for...signing 33 or so and knowing only 25 would be admissable in September, that don't work any more. They did it to place those guys into JUCO and gain a future recruiting advantage of course. But now, the 25 is counted on NSD, not September of next season when they may/may not enroll. You count back to last year to some extent, but you can only sign 25 to count against current class. 2 signees don't make it into school....too bad, your class just became 23. That was a great rule that the SE adopted to end the abuse of teams like Ole Miss and South Carolina...maybe Miss State too.
What is funny in the whole numbers game is all the crap we took for the Greyshirt offer to Porter, he goes elsewhere, comes back and should get drafted as an LSU Scholarship player.
This might help: Commonly used NCAA terms that cause confusion! Posted September 10, 2014 A recent visitor to our Informed Athlete website asked me about the term “blue shirt athlete.” He had been told by his recruiting coach that he would be a “blue shirt,” and he wondered if he would lose a year of eligibility because of it. It was the first time I’ve had a question about it, and is a term that I hadn’t heard myself until recently. So, with that in mind, I’ll explain what all these different colors of shirts mean (in athletic terms, of course!!) and how they are, or should be, applied. Red shirt athlete – This is an old term that many of you have heard of, but is sometimes misunderstood. When a college athlete is redshirted, that simply means that they have not used one of their four seasons of college eligibility. With few exceptions, if a college athlete plays in even just a minute of one game or match against another team, or only gets a couple of tackles or at bats or a couple of innings pitched for their team during a season, they have used one full season of eligibility. I regularly get questions from athletes or parents who wonder if they can still redshirt because they’ve only played in a limited number of games or minutes, or only competed in their event a couple of times that season. In most cases, they are confusing this with a medical hardship waiver. A medical hardship waiver can be sought by a college athlete (their school must do this on their behalf) when they have become injured or ill to the extent that they can’t compete any more during that season. There are rules in place that vary between NCAA Division I, Division II, Division III, NAIA, and NJCAA, but the basic principle is the same to obtain the waiver. The school must submit medical documentation to support the request for the waiver and demonstrate that the athlete wasn’t healthy enough to complete the season. Gray shirt athlete– This term is used to designate a high school athlete who is delaying their initial enrollment in a college. The athlete, usually an NCAA Division I football athlete (which is where the term began), doesn’t enroll in college in the Fall immediately after high school graduation, but will delay enrollment until the Spring semester. The primary reason has historically been because a university doesn’t want to consider the football athlete to be an “initial counter” until the following academic year because they’re already at their initial counter limit. NCAA Division I has a limit of 25 “initial counters” for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams, and 30 for Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams, during each academic year. Another reason (often for sports other than football) can be because the athlete wants to delay the start of their “five-year clock.” Green shirt athlete– This term is new, but refers to a strategy that has been in place in college football for at least ten years now. The term is used for Fall sport athletes (again, primarily in football, but increasingly for soccer, volleyball, etc.) who graduate from high school a semester early. The reason is to enroll in college and participate in spring practice in their sport so that they can learn the plays, train with their team, and bond with their teammates before their initial Fall season. Blue shirt athlete– The practice of “over-signing” in the sport of NCAA Division I football has been around for a long time. However, until recently, colleges often worked through those over-signings by convincing a high school athlete to start out at a junior college and then transfer later on, or to delay their enrollment for a semester (“gray shirt”). The “blue shirt” approach is basically the same as a “gray shirt” with one very significant difference. Whereas a gray shirt athlete is delaying their enrollment at the university until the Spring semester, a “blue shirt” will enroll in the Fall, and attend as a walk-on athlete without a scholarship for at least the first semester. This will allow them to participate in practices, and perhaps even play in games as a true freshman, and then get a scholarship later on. As a walk-on during at least the first semester, they will postpone counting as an “initial counter” until the following academic year. In addition, if they come in as a non-recruited walk-on, this may present some advantages as well if they will be receiving non-athletic scholarships such as academic scholarships, or legacy scholarships.
