1. 

   Buckskin
   March 13th, 2010 - 17:01

   I’m pretty sure that there is no way that Latwan will be able to be on the football team with a track scholarship as once he walks on it will then count against football. I will try to find documentation but the NCAA put a stop to stacking other sports with football players a long time ago. As I recall there were many SEC teams that did this back when recruiting limits were first imposed. It wouldn’t shock me if Woody Hayes did it too as it wasn’t against the rules.

   My guess is Miami is expecting some “fallout” by the end of summer and if not then he will “grayshirt” to the 2011 class. I know Ohio State walked away from him so from Miami’s point of view this is probably a good thing since they can easily walk away if grades/issues arise since the football team never technically signed him.

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2. 

   SoccerMike
   March 14th, 2010 - 12:07

   Since this site seems to ignore all rules set by the NCAA let me educate you on this and if you do not agree please look it up. If a player was recruited by a school for football but receives a scholarship for another sport and then walks-on the football team they become a counter for the football team and their scholarship counts as a football scholarship. This prevents schools from using other sports to get free players for the football team.

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   • 

     Joshua
     March 14th, 2010 - 12:22

     Great, thanks for the information. Now let’s answer these questions:

     1. How many players did Miami have returning on scholarship on signing day?

     It appears they had 65 on signing day–coming from an original roster of 75 they had 17 seniors leave and 7 guys from the class of 29 enroll early (75 – 17) + 7 = 65.

     2. How many players did they sign with this recruiting class?

     29 minus the 7 that enrolled early. This means that they added 22 players to a roster of 65, which puts them at 87, two over the limit of 85 despite staying under the 25 per class limit, and this is before Anderson is counted. Note: this does not count 5th year seniors from that group of 17 listed above; there might be a few guys who still have a year left, but we just assumed the entire senior class is done. If that’s not the case then Miami will have gone over by that many more.

     3. Who is going to be forced to leave the team when Anderson walks on and his scholarship counts?

     The only way Anderson makes it on the team, if Miami is over the limit which it appears they are, is if someone else leaves the team.

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   • 

     Joshua
     March 14th, 2010 - 12:24

     The article was pretty clear that he was not recruited for football; Anderson even mentions that he didn’t even speak to the football coaches, only the track coaches. Not that it matters, but he wasn’t recruited to play football and received a scholarship in another sport.

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     • 

       SoccerMike
       March 14th, 2010 - 12:52

       Again the info on this site is limited to support the writer. If you go to Scout.com http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=8&c=1&nid=4118441 link provided he was offered a FB scholarship by UM. So yes he was recruited by UM for football.

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       • 

         Joshua
         March 14th, 2010 - 13:10

         Then the source link we provided above where Anderson states he was not recruited by the football coaches is inaccurate, not us. Here’s the main question, if Miami has football scholarship room RIGHT NOW, then why not sign him to a football scholarship. It is clear that he is going to play football. The best case scenario for Miami is that they signed him to a track scholarship to get him by until they shed a football scholarship to give him. Regardless, this is shady at best. If you have legit room, sign the kid to a football scholarship right now, if you don’t have legit room then pass on him.

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3. 

   SoccerMike
   March 14th, 2010 - 12:53

   So if he plays football for UM his track scholarship will be counted as a football scholarship against UM per the NCAA.

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   • 

     BamaTracknFieldGuy
     April 7th, 2010 - 10:21

     As a former athlete at Alabama, in track and field, I can tell you for a fact that I was not allowed to play football. If you are on scholarship for another sport, you CANNOT PLAY FOOTBALL unless the football coaches are willing to count you as a football scholly! (This is an NCAA rule, not an individual choice by each university.)

     This is very unfair and it still makes me furious!

     Each year, many football players get the opportunity to compete in track and field, baseball, or basketball. Essentially, they are extra scholarship athletes in their second (or third) sport.

     It is also unfair the way baseball players are treated — they can go to the minor or major leagues, make money (in some cases, large amounts of money) as professional athletes and then return to college to play football (or another sport) at no penalty. If I took money for any athletic-related event, even a 3-on-3 basketball tourney (no relation to track) with a less than $100 prize, my entire track and field eligibility was forfeit!

     The reality is that the NCAA is run by a bunch of politician morons who make STUPID rules. Further, they usually fail to anticipate the effects of their rules and have to constantly revise them.

     I admire Saban. I think he plays and coaches within the NCAA rules. I think this site should focus less on Saban and more on the actual NCAA rules and their many inconsistencies.

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     • 

       Joshua
       April 7th, 2010 - 10:42

       Thanks for the feedback! It’s great to get insight from an actual scholarship athlete.

       Just to reinforce our point in this post, we were not trying to imply that Anderson would get to play football while on a track scholarship…that was not the issue…we know that as soon as he plays, practices, etc, with the football team that will will count towards the 85 limit. The situation was that there wasn’t room to sign him to a football scholarship, so Miami signed him to a track scholarship with full intentions of putting him on a football scholarship as soon as one becomes available. The issue we have is that we don’t like the idea of a school placing football recruits on other types of scholarships just long enough for them to cut dead weight and make room.

       Again, we simply want schools to report their scholarship budget before signing day and sign the number of players they have available in their budget. This is something that is very common to several very successful programs, so it’s not like everyone couldn’t be made to do the same.

       If you have 66 returning scholarship players at the end of the previous season, then you have 19 scholarships to work with and you should sign 19 recruits to LOI to fill those 19 roster openings, period, end of story. You shouldn’t be allowed to sign 29 recruits to 19 openings and then find all these tricky ways to work it out over the spring and summer. It’s a loophole; one that we are sure will be closed one day.

       At a minimum, a coach should be required to prove exactly where a scholarship offer is coming from. At the time Saban signed 10 extra players he either knows where they are coming from and doesn’t want to announce it or he doesn’t know exactly where they are coming from and figures that he can just “work it out” through medical hardships, transfers, Bryant scholarships, or simply kicking guys off the team. Either way, he’s wrong for doing it that way. When a player signs an LOI he should know where his scholarship is coming from, and the 66 guys returning on scholarship should know their status with the program going into signing day. Spring ball is not supposed to be tryouts for scholarships.

       Regardless, thanks for taking the time to write. We know that Saban is a hot topic and that Alabama fans are passionate about their football. We are trying to expand our focus on this topic, but for now, or at least until Saban works out his roster issues, he will be a focus here.

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