Oversigning (capacity 25, everyone welcome! maybe)

[NightmaresDad]

You may have had a couple kids who had almost no hope of being admitted hit the books/retake ACT, etc, and mess up what you thought was a really good faith effort to make the numbers work out right.

Why in the wide world of sports would you be offering kids who had little or no shot of qualifying? you're just asking for trouble, are you not?

 

[Gatorubet]

Why would Gator care? From what I've seen, Florida doesn't over-sign.

I'm sorta invested in this thread.

 

[Saw31]

I'm sorta invested in this thread.

I don't know what you mean.

 

[jwinslow]

Shocking, 3 more medical "hardship" cases in the works...

Nick Saban Memorial Medical Hardship Winners Announced

Congrats to Kerry Murphy, Kendall Kelly, and Wesley Neighbors. Glenn Harbin you have won a chance to play baseball so you get that arm warmed up. Congrats to all of the first round winners I am sure more will be announced soon! Thats 4 down 5 or 6 more to go, nobody really knows.

http://www.al.com/sports/index...ams_recove.html

"All these guys have physical issues that have not allowed them to participate in the off-season program and will not allow them to participate in spring and most certainly could affect their future ability to contribute here," Saban said.

Saban was then asked if those players were being considered for medical hardship scholarship.

"There's a process for everything," Saban said. "It's not good to comment on things until it's gone through the process."

Kerry Murphy was so pissed upon hearing the news, he threw his box of crayons at Saban. It went well over his head.

from the article:

"Jesse Williams had minor knee surgery, which Alabama coach Nick Saban described as a lingering issue from his time at Arizona Western College. Williams, who is expected to compete immediately for playing time on the defensive line, will be available for spring practice.
Three players Alabama will not have this spring due to unspecified physical issues include Kerry Murphy, Kendall Kelly and Wesley Neighbors."

Why is it OK to give out the medical information on Williams but not on the other three? Oh, I guess the part in Red is why.

Because the other three have made up "issues".

Damn...all that work getting Kerry Murphy eligible down the drain. Best wishes to the only graduate of the Hooverson Tide Prep School.

They had to cheat to get Murphy in school and they just toss him in the trash like that? Kelly gets added to the list with his buddy BJ Scott. USA says come on down!

Anyone know what they're referring to here?

 

[Buckeye86]

"All these guys have physical issues that have not allowed them to participate in the off-season program and will not allow them to participate in spring and most certainly could affect their future ability to contribute here," Saban said.

An ingrown toe nail most certainly could affect their future ability to contribute... a meteorite could hit the earth and wipe out life as we know it so why not cut the entire team and dig bomb shelters?

 

[SmoovP]

So, what have we decided since I last checked in with this thread about 5-6 weeks ago?

 

[Steve19]

So, what have we decided since I last checked in with this thread about 5-6 weeks ago?

Uh, well, we seem to be pretty certain that SEC teams are oversigning as usual. Oh, and that we think it's wrong.

 

[SmoovP]

Uh, well, we seem to be pretty certain that SEC teams are oversigning as usual. Oh, and that we think it's wrong.

Whew. Glad we got that cleared up.

I was getting worried that we were never going to come to a resolution.

 

[osugrad21]

AJC--

UGA coach Mark Richt sounds off on controversial recruiting issue of ?oversigning?

1:42 am May 14, 2011, by Michael Carvell

What do I REALLY think? Richt has been "unplugged" in Bulldog Club Meetings (AJC photo)

There? something about the Georgia Bulldog Club meetings that seems to bring out ?the edge? in UGA football coach Mark Richt.
The normally cool and calm (and almost always ?politically correct) Richt from press conferences and halftime TV interviews ? well, that guy morphs into a different person in Q&A sessions with his fanbase.
Richt was asked about the controversial issue of ?oversigning? this week in Greenville, S.C.


Cont...

 

[Gatorubet]

They bring up the South Carolina fiasco with Mauldin. From Linked article on Mauldin

Mauldin still has the matter of qualifying for freshman eligibility to overcome. He has been taking ACT/SAT courses at Georgia State and has attempted the tests a number of times. "I actually just took the SAT two weekends ago," Mauldin said. "I felt pretty good about. If not, I have another chance to take it. I don't know whether I?ll take the SAT again but I?m going to continue to take the ACT."

Louisville offered him the option of coming in as a non-qualifier, but Mauldin said he'll likely still go the prep school route if he continues to come up short on the entrance exams. At prep school he can continue to study for and take the exams without his eligibility clock starting. As soon as be achieves the minimum score he would be eligible to enroll.

"I believe my best bet would be to go to prep school," Mauldin said. "As a non-qualifier, there would be the advantage of getting to know my professors and the school and everything, but football is the reason I?m going there and that's the main factor. I couldn't practice with team, so I feel like I'd be better off getting bigger and stronger while working on the test."

To sum up, he was never qualified during the entirely of the SC courtship, would never have enrolled at S.C. had Spurrier only signed five guys - and will not go to Louisville even though he signed with them, as he was not qualified, is not qualified now, has never received a qualifying score on his multiple SAT/ACT tests, and admits that he should go the prep school/juco route - despite signing with Louisville.

The way in which SC notified him was handled poorly and cannot be condoned. There is some disagreement about oral communication leading up to signing day, but certainly the official written notice from SC was inexcusably late. It sounds to me like nobody but Mauldin thought he was signing with SC as a qualifier for that signing class. Sounds like SC pegged that one exactly right. And despite all of that, oversigning.com will use his case as an example of how kids were tossed to the road to let a better prospect enroll. In this case, it ignores the blindingly relevant fact that he was not going to enroll at South Carolina because of his poor grades anyway. Spurrier knew (suspected...we are not privy to his multiple failed ACTs - but if they were low enough that might be said to be "highly probable") he was not going to count against his numbers.

All of that said, oversigning leading to eligible kids who are not told of being "out" until the last minute (when the other schools' rosters are filled) is a despicable practice. Keeping touch and fully informed to allow grey shirts and prep school placement is, IMO, not a problem. It is all about being up front with the kids and giving them options.

 

[BB73]

AJC--

I've always liked Richt. I'm not sure if it's because I had a thing for Helen Hunt or because expressing admiration for a Dawg annoys Gatorubet.

 

[Gatorubet]

I've always liked Richt. I'm not sure if it's because I had a thing for Helen Hunt or because expressing admiration for a Dawg annoys Gatorubet.

I've always liked Richt too. He has a losing record against our last three Gator Head Coaches. In fact, I LOVE Mark Richt. No homo.

 

[Muck]

Slive to push oversigning legislation

That SEC standoff over oversigning we mentioned earlier this week? It's going to come to a head at the upcoming league meetings in Destin (Fla.), and it sounds as if if Mike Slive has his way, the conference is going to put some serious legislative brakes on the practice.

That news comes straight from Slive himself, who this week told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer that a "package" of legislation aimed at regulating "roster management" would be on the table in Destin ... and that he's hopeful it passes:

"It?s more than just the question of over-signing or grayshirting,? Slive said. ?It?s a question of over-signing, grayshirting, early admissions, summer school admission. We?ve put together what we call a bit of a package to address these issues, that will give our people a chance to think about these issues in a more global fashion. So then it will be an important discussion item in Destin ...

"I think the goal is to make sure that our prospective student-athletes are treated in a way that is as they should be treated, like students our [sic] treated. And I think this package does that ..."

Slive indicated that more debate has gone on behind the scenes.

?Well, we?ve had some discussions to get the proposed legislation in place. I can tell you that the First Amendment in the Southeastern Conference is alive and well,? he said. ?I have a view and not a vote. And I will certainly exercise my view. ... I like this legislation."​

Whether he has a vote or not, that Slive will be pushing for reform should do plenty to boost the package's legislative chances.

.../cont/...

Nothing to see here, just another another uninformed ooutsider (Slive) whose opinions SEC fans will dismiss as not knowing what he's talking about.

 

[Gatorubet]

Slive to push oversigning legislation



Nothing to see here, just another another uninformed ooutsider (Slive) whose opinions SEC fans will dismiss as not knowing what he's talking about.

Yes Muck, give us the breakdown of what rules were discussed and the ways in which they are changed? Mostly I've railed against some of y'all's knee jerk lapping up of the oversigning.com site misinformation, and the use of counting verbals to come up with an incorrect number of hypothetical extra players the SEC has than the Big-10.

 

[scooter1369]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/05/19/sec-oversigning/index.html?eref=sircrc

Stewie chimes in on Oversigning.

Let's again use Ole Miss as an example. One might suggest that Nutt wouldn't be in his current roster predicament if he signed more "high-character" prospects who are less likely to run into academic or disciplinary troubles. But not every school recruits from the same pool of athletes. In a recent Twitter dialogue on the subject, @TheMarchto85 -- the handle for Oversigning.com -- used Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald as a comparison: "amazing how @coachfitz51 is able to sign 17 to get to 85 and stay at 85 AND remain competitive -- it can be done!!!"

But the nature of Northwestern's admissions standards means the players Fitzgerald signs aren't likely to flunk out or have trouble becoming eligible, making the Wildcats' roster numbers more predictable. As the flagship school in a state with the nation's lowest literacy rate, on the other hand, Ole Miss can't realistically field a competitive SEC team by solely recruiting prospects with 3.5 GPAs. That's not a knock against the school; that's basic socioeconomics.

By the same token, Fitzgerald isn't held to nearly the same on-field standards as Nutt. The beloved former Wildcats star recently received a hefty contract extension for going 34-29 (.540) and reaching three straight bowl games. Nutt, 97-64 (.602) in 13 seasons as an SEC head coach, has already been run off by one fan base (Arkansas) and is now at a school that fired current Duke coach David Cutcliffe for going 44-29 (.603).

None of that justifies signing 37 players, but it helps explain why coaches like Nutt, Petrino or Spurrier might push so hard to preserve oversigning. Unfortunately for them, they don't hold the final say.

So, according to Stewie, oversigning is ok in the SEC because the players aren't as smart and may not stay eligible.