NCAA Gives Alfy Hill the Les Miles Treatment
The sole purpose of this site has been to expose the oversigning loophole in the NCAA rule book to the masses, identify the coaches that abuse it the most, and follow the stories of the kids that get screwed in the process. As we near 3 million hits since this site was created in February, it is pretty clear to anyone who can type the word "oversigning" into a google search box that we have delivered on those three objectives.
For the last several months, we have closely followed Alabama and LSU as they were both identified as teams guilty of gross oversigning of their rosters. During that time we were able to predict with a reasonable amount of certainty the number of players LSU and Alabama would have to lose in order to remain under the 85 scholarship limit by the August 1st deadline. The main problem we have with LSU and Alabama oversigning is that nearly all of the attrition and roster movement below took place after they already accepted over 25 signed letters of intent from new recruits. When schools accept those signed letters of intent the recruits that sign them are bound to the school but the school is not bound to the recruit. As we saw with Elliott Porter, LSU screwed up the signing process so badly that they had to just pull the rug out from underneath Porter, who was already on campus, and send him packing because they didn't have scholarship room for him. Simply put when you accept more signed letters of intent than you have room for when you accept them it's inevitable that someone is going to get screwed.
2010 The March to 85 - Alabama
| Player | Position | Reason for leaving after NSD |
|---|---|---|
| Terry Grant | Running Back | Scholarship not renewed |
| Travis Sikes | Wide Receiver | Scholarship not renewed |
| Rod Woodson | Safety | Scholarship not renewed |
| Star Jackson | Quarterback | Transfer, Georgia State Div 1AA. |
| Deion Belue | Defensive Back | Academically Ineligible; headed to JUCO |
| Alfy Hill | Linebacker | Academically Ineligible; future unknown |
| Taylor Pharr | Offensive Lineman | Medical Hardship |
| Milton Talbert | Linebacker | Medical Hardship |
| Darius McKeller | Offensive Lineman | Medical Hardship |
| Ronnie Carswell | Wide Receiver | Greyshirt |
| Wilson Love | Defensive End | Greyshirt |
With Alfy Hill's departure it opens a scholarship spot for Harrison Jones who just a couple of weeks ago was on the short end of the stick with regards to the scholarship numbers. Jones was going to accept being greyshirted until January because due to Nick Saban's oversigning and the unknown status of so many of the players on Alabama's roster it appeared that there wasn't going to be room for Jones. We'll have more on Alfy Hill in a minute.
The March to 85 - LSU
| Player | Position | Reason for Leaving |
|---|---|---|
| Akiem Hicks | Defensive Tackle | Removed from the team - was involved in NCAA investigation |
| Kyle Prater | Linebacker | Transfer |
| Jhyryn Taylor | Wide Receiver | Transfer |
| Thomas Parsons | Fullback | Medical Hardship Scholarship |
| John Williams | Wide Receiver | Medical Hardship Scholarship |
| Clay Spencer | Offensive Lineman | Medical Hardship Scholarship |
| Chris Garrett | QB | Cut - Scholarship Not Renewed |
| Houston Bates | Defensive End | Released from LOI in April; refused Greyshirt |
| Elliott Porter | Offensive Lineman | Asked to Greyshirt in AUGUST; refused Greyshirt; released |
This is in sharp contrast to how a lot of other schools manage their scholarship numbers and the signing process. As we have mentioned several times, the Big 10 Conference does not allow oversigning, even by 1, much less 8-10 every year. The practice has not been banned by the ACC but in looking at their numbers it is clear that the coaches and schools in the ACC exercise constraint with the regards to the signing process and outside of North Carolina (Butch Davis) and Miami (Randy Shannon), the ACC has some of the lowest number of signed players in the country. Same with the Pac 10+2, their numbers are consistently low.
Outside of looking to get a competitive advantage by moving out lesser players for new recruits, fans of schools that oversign often site that one of the reasons for oversigning is that coaches often don't know who is going to be eligible and they use oversigning as a way to hedge their bets against the NCAA clearinghouse, after all the loophole in the NCAA rule book allows them to do so.
Case and point, Alfy Hill. Hill was part of Alabama's oversigned class of 2010. He was cleared by the NCAA clearinghouse, admitted onto campus, completed 3 courses of work, and is now being told that he is not eligible because after reviewing his high school transcript a second time, the NCAA has determined that a couple of his high school courses did not meet their requirements for eligibility. Hill has now been released from his scholarship at Alabama and will have to go to JUCO or pay his own way.
This is one of the most bizarre situations we have seen since we really started following oversigning. Alfy Hill is getting screwed, as is Alabama, and it is completely the NCAA's fault. The level of ineptitude and the lackadaisical nature of the NCAA is sickening. The entire signing and scholarship management process that is under the care of the NCAA needs to be thrown out the window and there needs to be drastic reform in order to prevent more kids like Elliott Porter and Alfy Hill from getting screwed over. The NCAA has managed to create a system so flawed and screwed up that potential student-athletes can get screwed from either side of the equation (Porter by LSU and Les Miles and Alfy Hill by the NCAA clearinghouse).
Between coaches like Les Miles and the NCAA does anyone know what the **** they are doing? You have coaches signing more players than they have room for and then having to cut players in order to make room and you have a governing body who cannot accurately determine if a player is academically eligible in a timely manner and leaves a loophole in their bylaws that allows coaches to hedge their bets against their ineptitude. It is almost like the NCAA is telling coaches, "since we are not efficient enough to tell you who is academically eligible in a timely manner so you know exactly how many players to sign or who to sign, just go ahead and sign as many as you want and sort it out later." WTF???
The combination of coaches willing to oversign and ineptitude of the NCAA is a lethal combination that results in guys like Porter and Hill getting screwed.
This by no means excuses coaches that oversign. They know the deal and they should at least keep their side of the street clean and some do - shame on the others that don't (Les Miles, Nick Saban, Houston Nutt, Randy Shannon, Butch Davis). After all, it is these coaches and not the NCAA that are in the living rooms of recruits promising them and their parents that they will take care of them for the next 4 years.
The bottom line is that the entire recruiting and signing process needs to be thrown out the window and replaced with a system that permanently closes the oversigning loophole and determines academic eligibility in an accurate and timely manner. The new system should provide coaches with the exact number of players they can sign without going over their limit (which means the number for each team will be different every year based on who each team has graduating and leaving for the NFL early) and it should provide them with a list of players cleared to be signed. They also need to make the letter of intent a two-way binding agreement, not a one-way agreement that only binds the recruit to the school.
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August 21st, 2010 - 09:59
wow, you finally write something decent
This is one of the most bizarre situations we have seen since we really started following oversigning. Alfy Hill is getting screwed, as is Alabama, and it is completely the NCAA’s fault. T
August 21st, 2010 - 10:47
Well thanks for hanging around long enough for it to happen…lol
August 21st, 2010 - 20:14
Although…you’re still mislabeling Woodson.
Woodson WAS renewed. He’s in the media guide (which came out far after the deadline for a player not to be renewed) with all the other guys who were renewed. Woodson transferred.
Woodson got caught shooting off fireworks in a dorm, along with a couple other players who have since been seen in practicing at the bottom of the depth chart. I personally don’t think Woodson was going to be told to pack his bags, rather than face some sort of punishment or suspension like his fellow teammates (I would say for the crime, it would have been justified, but then again it probably depends on the type of fireworks). Woodson’s case would have likely been worse as he was the “ringleader” of the group.
It’s that simple, a player who was expected to get major playing time did domething stupid….learned that he was going to be in the coach’s “doghouse,” was to be demoted to the bottom of the depth chart and was likely facing a lengthy suspension. So rather than take the punishment, he tranfers. God this witchhunt is getting old.
August 21st, 2010 - 23:03
This is consistent with what I’ve heard too.
August 22nd, 2010 - 09:44
But here is the issue….
1. Did the incident happen before or after National Signing Day?
2. Saban oversigned his roster on National Signing Day and he obviously had no idea Woodson was going to transfer a couple of days before August. So if the incident happened before National Signing Day you could argue that Saban had a notion that Woodson would be gone and therefore oversigned his roster, and then the question becomes, why did it take so long to announce that Woodson was transferring. If the incident happened after National Signing Day then there is no way that Saban knew Woodson would be gone, and therefore, had Woodson not “voluntarily” transferred someone else would still have to go because Saban was over the limit. Sure, I bet Saban didn’t want to lose Woodson, but when you are over the limit and will face NCAA penalties, which include losing scholarships for the next year, for being over the 85 limit, what would you rather do, kick a guy off the team who is a bit of a trouble maker or find some poor soul and take his scholarship away?
The whole problem is that Saban is going over his budget on National Signing Day and as long as he continues to do that we will have all of these transfer stories and medical hardship stories and the one thing you can’t overlook is the motive – Saban has a motive to move players off the roster because if he doesn’t he will be penalized with scholarship reductions the next year. In Woodson’s case, it appears that Saban had no idea that he would be gone, yet he oversigned his roster nonetheless, and it is important to remember that Saban doesn’t do depth charts and he practices guys at a lot of different positions, he might recruit a kid that played safety in high school and them practice him at other positions. Obviously, he is not going to take an OL and practice him at WR, but the point is that he can most likely work with what he oversigns and find spots for all of them – he does it every year.
The vast majority of coaches outside of the SEC are not doing this - what is so hard to understand about this? If Saban is such a great evaluator and such a great coach then why does he feel the need to oversign by 8-10 players every single year when his competition around the country is not doing that?
It is as if Saban is sitting at a blackjack table with 5 other head coaches and as the dealer deals the cards, Saban is the only one who gets an opportunity to look at 8-10 more cards on each hand; so if he is sitting on 16, he can keep taking cards until he hits 21 and any time the dealer deals him a card that would put him over 21 he can just discard it and look at the next one; meanwhile for the rest of the coaches, especially coaches in the Big 10, when they sit on 16 they don’t get the luxury of taking another card and discarding it if it puts them over 21. Saban has been doing this ever since he landed in the SEC.
We have said all along that there are two main components to oversigning: the kids that get screwed over and the competitive advantage it creates. And as we follow the stories this year, it appears that Les Miles is leading the way in screwing kids over and Nick Saban is leading the way in the competitive advantage department.
August 22nd, 2010 - 10:34
“Did the incident happen before or after National Signing Day?”
What incident? You said Woodson didn’t violate any team rules, as if you had any idea of what happened.
http://oversigning.com/testing/index.php/2010/08/05/last-comment-on-rod-woodson/#comments
“Had Blake Sims not qualified are we to believe that Saban would have still removed Woodson from the team? After all, no team rules were violated and he is academically eligible.”
August 22nd, 2010 - 10:43
It is quite disingenuous when Josh changes his tack after someone calls him on this sort of thing. It’s never “I made the wrong call on that one. Sorry.” He simply changes his argument. He never backtracked on Alonzo Lawrence either.
All we can do is keep calling him out.
August 22nd, 2010 - 11:53
You’re the one saying now that there was an incident and as far as it has been reported there were no violations of team rules. And I still stand by my original argument, had Blake Sims not qualified would Woodson still have transferred?
August 22nd, 2010 - 13:03
“As far as it has been reported there were no violations of team rules.”
The Joshua school of journalism. What you’re saying with that statement is that unless somebody shows you a story that documents a violation of team rules you are free to state that there were no violation of team rules as if it you know it to be a fact. The burden of proof isn’t on you, the person who writes it. It’s on everybody else to disprove it.
And you offer up yet another lie:
“You’re the one saying now that there was an incident.”
Show me where I said that. I asked you “what incident?” since you’re now referencing an incident after earlier saying Woodson had done nothing wrong.
August 22nd, 2010 - 11:07
Does the system that Saban uses give him a competitive advantage? Yes, but comptetive advantage is a weak arguement against oversigning. Saban’s renowned work ethic also gives him a competitive advantage because “the vast majority of coaches” choose not to work from dawn to well past dusk year around. The vast majority of schools also choose not to invest millions of dollars in facilities including stadiums seating 100,000+ and guess what? Those things provide a competitive advantage too. If a coach decides not to account for projected attrition by oversigning, so be it, but that choice shouldn’t be forced on a coach who is using the practice properly.
Your other arguement is that it is legal but unethical (i.e. players get screwed over). In Saban’s case it is not unethical. He is upfront with every player. He does not cut players to make room for incoming players. He avoids going over the 85 limit if necessary by greyshirting incoming players as discussed with them before they sign. If Woodson had not screwed up, been suspended, and chosen to transfer (all according to rumor), then one of the incoming freshman would have greyshirted as discussed with him prior to signing his LOI.
Here is an article from this time last year about Alabama greyshirt Petey Smith:
http://blogs.tampabay.com/preps/2009/08/exhawk-petey-smith-likely-to-grayshirt-for-alabama-in-09.html
“That was always (the plan) because of (Alabama’s) needs,” Callahan said. “Petey always knew he was going in January from Day One and he was fine with that, but he was up there the whole summer working out.”
August 22nd, 2010 - 12:05
Nothing like excessive greyshirting to solve oversigning. Saban oversigns by 8-10 a year and greyshirts about 3. You just don’t see that very amount around the country, especially outside of the SEC.
August 22nd, 2010 - 12:48
What constitutes “excessive”? As far as I can tell, Alabama has greyshirted 5 players in the last 4 recruiting classes.
Can you guess who wrote this?
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with greyshirting a player provided there is an understanding between the school and the player way in advance.”
August 22nd, 2010 - 16:55
Here’s the problem with “excessive greyshirting”, take for example Petey Smith, if he was verbally committed to Alabama then according to proper recruiting etiquette other schools are supposed to back off of him, and then once he signs a letter of intent he is signing a one way agreement that binds him to the school and prevents him from accepting another offer from another school that might have legitimate room for him. This is nothing more than hording recruits and the more you can horde the better.
I would like to see something that binds the schools to these players and guarantees that they have a spot the following year.
I think 5 greyshirts in 2 years is a little excessive and I am definitely apposed to greyshirting as a solution to oversigning.
August 23rd, 2010 - 11:28
LOL, i serious laugh if you think that schools back off a player when they verbally commit to a school. What color are the skies in the world you live in if you really believe that? Until the ink is dry on paper and the LOI is signed and received at a school, schools are after every player they think can help them.
August 27th, 2010 - 10:17
“1. Did the incident happen before or after National Signing Day?”
No, you stupid f___ing moron, it’s not the question. The question is why you continue to spew out your BS after you’ve been repeatedly given the facts.
August 21st, 2010 - 10:03
To make matters worse, one of the classes being nullified was a computer class from his SOPHMORE year. This isn’t a case of a marginal guy taking an on-line joke of a class to get eligable. He is a capable student and was doing well in his classes at UA. We are in agreememnt on the academic aspects of your latest rant.
Luckily for Alabama, they were able to take the greyshirt off of Harrison Jones so that they won’t waste a scholarship and were able to maximize the amount of students taking advantage of scholarships
August 21st, 2010 - 10:46
They could have given it to a walk-on just as well, but yes, it’s good that all scholarships will be used. It should be noted though that the only reason that is happening is because of a mistake by the NCAA…had Hill remained eligible Jones would be paying his own way, which in my opinion is wrong. The whole damn thing is wrong.
August 24th, 2010 - 09:19
Actually before A Hill was declared ineligible we only had 84 on the roster going into the fall. W Lowery, a walk-on just received a scholarship. The grayshirts all were told when they signed it was a possibility.
Grayshirting is a practice more about helping developing players through a full spring practice than it is roster management. Players get to participate in the spring without affecting eligibility.
The reason UA did not wait the extra few days for HIll is usually the NCAA will not overturn their ruling in these cases and it would have prevented adding someone else to the roster if the scholarship was not used righ taway before classes started. Wheter it was to a walk-on or a grayshirt.
August 21st, 2010 - 10:56
Wait a minute, this is the same NCAA you’re always wanting to give more power. You want them to arbitrate disputes between a player and his school to determine whether academic or disciplinary issues warrant the loss of his scholarship. I find it bizarre that anybody who has watched the NCAA in action wants to give them more power over college sports. Only a few months ago the NCAA was ready to expand the NCAA basketball tournament to 96 teams. That would have been another week of missed classes as the NCAA would have had teams playing 3 tournament games in 5 days during the first week.
But I have to give you credit for not laying this one at Alabama’s feet. According to Hill’s high school coach, hundreds of kids at his high school have taken these computer courses and as Catch 5 notes one of the two classes was from his sophomore year. Had he known there was a problem with the course he probably could have made up the credit during a summer. He is the first from his family to go to college, did well in summer classes in Tuscaloosa and the NCAA had him thrown out so late that his options to go elsewhere have to be severely limited. And based on what I’ve read he will not be able to play anywhere this year and will lose the year of eligibility.
Here’s followup on another Alabama item. Blake Sims, who you stated was the replacement for “cut” Rod Woodson at the safety position, has been practicing at QB and running back since the first day of practice when he worked with the defensive backs. A redshirt freshman wide receiver who was transferred to safety, Kendall Kelly, had heat related issues on the first day of practice and has not practiced since as Alabama’s doctors evaluate him; he apparently had a similar issue in high school. Alabama now has 2 true freshmen and a walk on who are getting reps at safety. As I said at the time, Woodson was a promising player at Alabama’s weakest position and would not have been high on the list to “cut” for no reason.
Also, Terry Bowden (coach of North Alabama which took in Rod Woodson and Steven Wesley from Miami) said he tried to get Terry Grant to transfer there and play this season but Grant is done with football.
https://decaturdaily.com/detail/66201.html
“We were looking at trying to get Terry Grant after he graduated, but he has decided not to play football anywhere,” Bowden said. “He had a lot of injuries and decided that he couldn’t continue to play.”
August 21st, 2010 - 12:32
This is a good piece! Everyone knows any governing body is not perfect. Although I think Alabama got the short end of the stick, it would have been even worse if they didn’t consistently oversign because they wouldnt have a surplus of players to plug in. Dont get me wrong by the sounds of this the Alabama kid really got screwed and NCAA blew this one big big time. I am absolutely shocked they cleared him and then went back on their word after he had already enrolled and everything. Not right.
August 21st, 2010 - 13:17
Contrast the NCAA’s position on Alfy Hill versus Jeremiah Masoli. Masoli had already graduated from Oregon and had a year of football eligibility remaining but was kicked off the team for multiple violations of team rules. The NCAA says he can go to any school that offers a graduate program not available at Oregon, so he finds a program that Ole Miss offers but Oregon doesn’t (Parks and Recreation) and the Ole Miss grad school admits him several months after their April 1 application deadline. He will be eligible to play the entire regular season for Ole Miss even if he never sets foot in a classroom there. He wouldn’t become ineligible until second semester when the lack of credits from first semester kicked in, so if he did that he would only be ineligible for a bowl game.
The NCAA’s academic requirements for “one and done” basketball players are only slightly more demanding. I believe a freshman only has to pass 6 hours in fall semester to be eligible for the entire basketball season. Kids who already know they’re going to enter the NBA draft after the season can remain eligible through the entire season and NCAA tournament even if they never attend a college class after January. I don’t know this for fact but have read that some of Calipari’s players at Memphis and Kentucky have done exactly that.
How does that pass any reasonable definition of “student athlete”? The NCAA is a joke.
August 22nd, 2010 - 13:07
According to CollegeFootballTalk.com, Alfy Hill is transferring to ECU. Meanwhile, “Hill has appealed the Clearinghouse’s decision to deny some of the coursework he took during high school, but Alabama decided not to wait on the results of the appeal and gave a roster spot — and scholarship — to tight end Harrison Jones.”
August 22nd, 2010 - 15:21
Vesper,
Youre way off.
That was nice of Alabama the team and coach to stand by their guy and wait for the appeal to go through. Alabama and Saban are crooks and any recuit who plays there is gambling with their future big Time. DO NOT GO THERE IF YOURE A RECRUIT.
August 23rd, 2010 - 11:34
whatever, talk to me when your program is relevant again. BTW, when you talk about crooks, do you include Lawrence Phillip, Christian Peters and Andy Christensen? shining examples of the Husker Program.
August 23rd, 2010 - 18:47
You are completely wrong with this description. Bama keeping his scholarship open would do nothing since the NCAAs ruling on the appeal would not come until the season is over. Since he in ineligabe to receive a scholarship, he could not benifit in any way from this years scholarship. Bama would like to grey shirt him, and if he’s. Reinstated, they would have him back next year. This is not likely with his rumored move to ECU, which is close to his home, where it will be much cheaper to pay his own way.
Good luck to Alfy as he is a beast, we were looking forward to seeing him play.
August 23rd, 2010 - 11:54
I love how you named off 3 people from the Nebraska program all time. I will give you Lawrence Phillips but how is Christian Peters and Andy Christensen crooks? Please tell me because I would love to know. As for the relevant again I am talking. I guess you must not have noticed last year and the predictions for this year. Nebraska won 10 games with and injury riddled offense with a quarterback with a torn tendon in his throwing arm since the 3 game of the season. Nebraska returns 18 starters with 8 of them coming back from the #1 defense in the nation last year. Many have predicted Nebraska to challenge for the National Championship or win a BCS bowl this year so maybe you need to do some research before you pipe up and go back to the old failsafe of saying Nebraska is no long relevant. Alabama is a big time overrated #1 especially since they lost every stater but 8, most of them from their defense. I predict Alabama will lose 2 in the SEC and their bowl game which is less than Nebraska. Hows that for relevant?
August 23rd, 2010 - 13:05
Lets see, Peters ‘allegedly’ raped a Nebraska co-ed, enough that the school paid a settlement to her and Osbourne apologized to the coed, yet the school never did anything to Peters. Christensen sexually assaulted a woman at a campus bar. So every program has their share of bad apples. As much as fans of other schools seem to hate Saban, he certainly seems liked by recruits and their parents.
As for Bama overrated at #1, i agree. We lost too many people to be that high. I would be curious to see which 2 teams you think beats Bama this year in the SEC. The only one i see having a chance is UF. Arkansas has a slim chance, but their defense is still non-existent.
August 23rd, 2010 - 14:36
Maybe Peters did rape her and we will never know because it was settled out of court apparently since I am not all too familiar with those details. As for Christenen, charges had been dropped and he eventually go to play. I do know I had a couple friends who were at the bar that night and they said it was completely blown out of proportion because he had his back turned to the girl when the incident actually happened. My friends told me the reason why he probably go charged is because he refused the cops and disputed ever doing anything and then thing escalated (which could happened to anyone when getting accused of something like that). There are going to be players get in trouble at ANY university because they are just kids. Bottom line.
As for who I think Alabama is going to lose to….I think Florida will be one and I assumed another just because they have to make it though the SEC. I was highly impressed with Alabama’s defense last year and I think it will be tough to replace the majority of those guys. Idk for sure but I am just playing the numbers game in my prediction here. Who knows, maybe Alabama will be able to plug in and prove me wrong.
August 23rd, 2010 - 14:53
I am not sold on UF. They had trouble last year relying on Tebow alone, and they had no true running game. They return 6 on offense, 6 on defense. But the 5 they lost were huge parts of their team. Bama lost a bunch on defense, but luckily one thing Saban does is platoon players, so everyone playing with the exception of 1 DB, has plenty of game experience. Our best player on defense, Marcel Darues (top 5 projected pick) didnt start last year. As for the numbers game, Bama has gone 24-0 during the last 2 regular seasons. It will be an interesting year for sure. The offense put up 38/game last year and will be needed to do that again early on until the newer D get their feet under themselves.
August 24th, 2010 - 11:06
Clarification also for A Hill. Hill was still allowed to be enrolled full time this fall at UA. UA had no issue with him being a student. The NCAA declared him ineligible, which means no school, DI in this case explain later, would be allowed to offer him a athletic scholarship. So his reason for transferring to ECU is bacause it would be instate and the tuition alot cheaper also not very far from his home.
His HS is a very small HS and are limited in regards to resources and staff. So to offer more students a variety of courses they can take, they offer classes that do meet in the classroom but an instructor via online. So it not a internet course like some take to qualify. Like the current situation with J Hunter at UT who is in limbo because he took a course like that this summer and is still not cleared. The majority of the students at the school take these courses and the state and every college these students apply to accept them. The school is also concerned about other DI athletes that are now receiving scholarships that also took these courses.
Where the NCAA really screwed this kid is two ways. One they cleared in him in the spring. So A Hill attended UA this summer full time which for summer is 3 courses 9 credit hours. He made an A and 2 Bs. The NCAA passed new regulation this summer that just so happened to go into effect in August that courses such as the ones Hill took would no longer qualify a student to be cleared to play DI athletics. Now if he decides to go to a DII program this fall he could play right away and the NCAA would clear him. Now it is not like he took some last minute course to qualify. Two courses are being deemed not counting. One was from his fall of his senior year and the other from his sophmore year. They have had plenty of time to be concerned and when they originally looked at them had no issues. Now the new regulation does not allow these classes. Which in all fairness to the player they should be grandfathered in. Because where the player like Hill gets really screwed is with eiligibility now.
Since Hill enrolled fulltime this summer he can no longer attend a prep school or try and pass these courses via another method. He must attend one year at a school on his own dime and forfiet 1 year of eligibility before the NCAA will clear him to play and receive a scholarship. For him to come back to the SEC it would require him to sit out an additional year unless the SEC commisioner waived the rule for him. Most feel that would happen. His only other alternative would be to attend JUCO which he would still loose eligibility atleast one year if he redshirted the other, but would play FB at that point. So not only did the NCAA dropped the ball but they are costing him his possible opportunity to play CFB and beyond and forcing a player no matter what DI school he attended to be ineligible.
My other concern with this, is why are DII schools the exceptions to this rule. To me the same standards for academic eligibilty should be across the board for both. I know DII schools that offer better education than many DI and the tuition is alot higher.
Also no matter what is presented to the NCAA in fixing issues with oversigning or whatever, what good does it do when the system you hope to govern these schools is also broken. The NCAA is as bad as the BCS. Both a joke with no one for either to answer to.
August 25th, 2010 - 16:59
Black Warrior,
Did you read what Josh wrote? He is explaining how it was the NCAA and not Alabama in this case.
August 26th, 2010 - 09:49
It seems to me that all of the coaches are playing within the rules set forth by the NCAA. Elliot Porter was not just cut, he was asked to greyshirt and refused, then cut loose. This witch hunt of going after the coaches is pointless. You should focus more of your resources on the NCAA. The whole design of the current recruiting rule book is designed for attrition.
You can’t bring in but 25 each fall but you’re allowed to sign 28.
Then beyond that the NCAA expects 25+25+25+25 to = 85
So through 4 years of by the book recruiting by a coach, he is almost forced to cut anywhere from 15-27 guys.
Also, I don’t feel sorry for any of the guys that are “forced” to take medical hardship scholarship. Yeah it sucks they don’t get to play football anymore, but how bad is it really that they are basically given $50,000 and told go finish getting your degree so you can get a great job.
August 27th, 2010 - 11:58
hahaha.
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2010/08/stockpiling_talent_weve_got_ro.html
August 27th, 2010 - 20:51
You cannot argue with an Alabama fan. They are completely beyond help. This is all about football with them. If given their way they would just let these guys play football and not worry about them really going to college. Alabama does not have much going for it other than football and that is the way it has been for decades.
August 28th, 2010 - 09:10
Wow, Jackie. You sound like you really know what’s going on down in Tuscaloosa. This blog is fortunate to have a man with such insight and insider knowledge of the University, its football program, and its fan base available to us. I can’t wait to read your next entry.
August 30th, 2010 - 14:45
Jackie, I guess all those people from outside Alabama going to vacation and move to Gulf Shores and Mobile must not know what you do. I dont happen to notice where you are from. Must be a truly exciting place.
September 14th, 2010 - 15:46
I spent every summer growing up in Point Clear (and Gulf Shores). I’m an SEC grad and Southerner.
Jackie’s exactly right. (And Alabamans aren’t alone in this sad behavior among SEC fans.)
September 5th, 2010 - 23:30
You might want to start putting that ALA number in the negative numbers. I see they have gotten 2 more commitments since 8/4.
September 13th, 2010 - 07:16
Couple of things. The Alfy Hill episode had nothing to do with over signing so not sure why you included it.
Most of the greyshirts are nothing more than glorified walk-ons. Harrison Jones and Wilson Love come from affluence and were to pay their own way. Alfy Hill leaves and Jones gets his scholly. Big deal. Tressel would have done the exact same by awarding scholarship to a walk-on had one of his players not been eligible. Much ado about nothing.