One of Georgia’s top running backs said that was told by Alabama’s Nick Saban this weekend that he will have to wait until next year to sign with the Crimson Tide.
Justin Taylor of North Atlanta High School has been committed to Alabama for nearly a year, last February becoming the No. 7 pledge for this year’s class. The 5-foot-11, 208-pounder missed his senior season with a knee injury.
Atlanta-Journal Constitution | Nick Saban to Atlanta RB: You can’t sign with Alabama until next year
Injured kid that was going to redshirt in 2012 anyway and who really wants to go to Alabama will now have to wait a whole four months longer to get a full scholarship to UA and to be able to play football for the Crimson Tide. That proves it, Saban was the second gunman on the grassy knoll...
4 months ago
outsidethesidelines
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Taylor even said he hasn't heard from any other school.
So he still gets a scholly from Bama but he has to wait a year…Its either that or he’ll have to walk on at some other school. I hate it for him but Bama is doing the right thing here.
Follow on twitter @thelyell
A Hundred Pounds Lost
He has to wait a semester for the scholly.
Has to wait a year to play, but is coming off an injury.
As I said on the Jumbo Package, I wish we could’ve told him that this was a possibility earlier, but no, it’s not the end of the world.
God bless our Dark Lord.
Well
It’s probably the second best “right thing” here. The “right thing” would be to honor the scholarship offer originally given to him, pass on somebody else, and let him come in with this class. Or else offer this deal to some other commit who hasn’t been committed as long. That being said, this is still better than just cutting him like Spurrier or Miles would do, at least he still gets to go eventually.
maybe I sound like a dick by saying this BUT
Schools offer scholly’s to kids when they’re healthy, why do schools have to honor it when he has a serious injury? If a senior blows out his knee on the last game of the season, there is no guarrantee he makes it in the NFL. In fact he probably doesn’t. I know it sounds harsh and I saw it happen to a friend of mine but thats the business.
Follow on twitter @thelyell
A Hundred Pounds Lost
I wonder
if a kid gets an academic scholarship offer but then spends his senior year getting drunk and making Ds & Fs if he/she still deserves the scholly?
Fourteen and counting
LOL
And if the kid gets the academic scholarship and spends his/her freshman year getting drunk and making Ds and Fs if he/she gets to keep the scholly?
by MDB Tide Roll on Jan 16, 2012 3:35 PM CST up reply actions
nope, unfortunately I know this too well
"Make no mistake, Florida is the South's trashcan" Peter Griffin
Of course not
Anybody who is not able to keep good grades despite being drunk deserves to lose their scholly.
Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to make it through life, son.
— Dean Wormer.
9th January, 2012: Section 101, Row 1, Seat... I'll let y'all spot that one.
"And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land"
-- "Big John" by Jimmy Dean
by TiderUpNorth on Jan 17, 2012 12:45 AM CST up reply actions
Short answer
They don’t. They don’t sign any kind of binding agreement until February, and schools pull offers for that reason all the time. Only difference is that this kid seems like he’s ready to go. Don’t misunderstand me, I think Saban is doing something pretty decent thing here, it’s just not the most decent thing he could do.
with the 25 limit being even more strickly enforced is important now more than ever
to make sure every commit is legit. Can’t be taking a chance on a kid with a broke knee. He needs to prove the knee is fine before signing.
Follow on twitter @thelyell
A Hundred Pounds Lost
props to coach spurrier
when glen coffee’s brother, matt committed to USCe before his sr year even began, everyone thought he was CRAZY. turns out he blew out his knee or some other major body part and never played a down his last year in high school. lots of folks wondered if he would still have a scholly and CSS honored it. i was pretty impressed.
"You have to create 6 seconds of hell each play..."
Coach Nick Saban
Jeoffrey Pagan injured his ACL and PCL his senior year too
I also recall some kid a few years ago who had an aneurysm or something and needed brain surgery. Saban said the offer was still good but he ended up going somewhere closer to home.
Anyone remember that guy?
Fourteen and counting
I thought that kid went to Clemson
and it was Dabo who honored it.
If Auburn was in New Mexico and we never played them I would still hate them and their dumb coach and their cheating players.
The comment section on this article is priceless!
I like how the interviewer was clearly attempting to lead Taylor into making inflamatory remarks about Coach Saban and Alabama. What could be more honorable than providing a signed letter from the head coach in which he and Alabama are committing to Taylor despite his injury?
OTS, so Coach can sign him in April as an immediate medical red shirt, or what?
Also, anyone else notice:
The number from Tennessee didn’t work?
OBC Spurrier didn’t even want to compete with Coach Saban for Taylor?
9th January, 2012: Section 101, Row 1, Seat... I'll let y'all spot that one.
"And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land"
-- "Big John" by Jimmy Dean
OTS, so Coach can sign him in April as an immediate medical red shirt, or what?
No, because it would still count against the limit regardless of what he was classified as. He will sign and then report to Tuscaloosa either the final week of December or the first week of next January.
"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself." -- Milton Friedman
by outsidethesidelines on Jan 16, 2012 11:39 AM CST up reply actions
I'm trying to figure out if Saban can actually sign something like Taylor describes
that guarantees him a scholly next year. Can we do that??
God bless our Dark Lord.
I don't see how it's different than accepting a commitment from a recruit.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
by Slice of Life on Jan 16, 2012 11:56 AM CST up reply actions
I think this is still mostly a symbolic gesture.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
by Slice of Life on Jan 16, 2012 12:01 PM CST up reply actions
If he signs it...
…it’s more than symbolic….
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 16, 2012 12:50 PM CST up reply actions
Meh.
He’s only signing it to show the kid that we’ll have a spot for him next year (which we apparently were already prepared to do). Obviously, we would never pursue action if the kid decided to go somewhere else (PR nightmare), so I think that it amounts to little more than a symbolic gesture to ease the mind of the recruit (despite the fact that it may in fact be a legally binding document).
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
by Slice of Life on Jan 16, 2012 1:47 PM CST up reply actions
But I don't think the NCAA allows us to make him that promise
in any binding form.
God bless our Dark Lord.
Only napkin contract are binding.
'There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you'll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment,'- Nick Saban
by J Tadpole on Jan 16, 2012 6:53 PM CST up reply actions 2 recs
...and you gotta be durnk....
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 8:49 AM CST up reply actions
OTS...
can you speak to this? Would this be viewed as a legally binding contract between the parties, & does it fall within something like the Statute of Frauds, requiring it to be in writing?
"It's not the size of the cat in the fight, it's size of the fight in the cat"
"Pep talks... only work when they touch that ember of truth learned the hardest possible way on the field.-Kleph
by thecalicocat on Jan 16, 2012 1:46 PM CST up reply actions
It's a token gesture, nothing more
"Underlying most arguments against the free market is a lack of belief in freedom itself." -- Milton Friedman
by outsidethesidelines on Jan 16, 2012 2:33 PM CST up reply actions
I heard that the Honey Badger was making a tokin' gesture after the NCG....
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 8:50 AM CST up reply actions
The writer is playing to the hometown crowd with his questions
The dawgs bark angrily every time one of their better players crosses the line to be a star with the Tide. They are just bitter that we are more successful despite having 1/2 the population of GA with two legitimate BCS programs. (GA Tech no longer qualifies as being legitimate.) I am not worried about all of the whining. Taylor was told from the beginning that me might have to wait until the fall.
by ApothecaryMark on Jan 16, 2012 11:39 AM CST up reply actions
We have to #1 rated running back in the country
and another 4* coming in next year. No UGA fan is worried about losing this guy.
The nice folks who commented on the AJC website appear to disagree.
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer Give 'Em HELL Alabama!
by RoscoeOfAlabama on Jan 16, 2012 2:47 PM CST up reply actions
Yes,
And they are idiots, aren’t they? The AJC comments section is our Paul Finebaum show, representing only the stupidest part of our fanbase. They represent our fanbase as much as Harvey Updyke represents yours.
We apparently didn’t spend a lot of time recruiting this guy, have commitments from two other stud running backs, and could have easily gotten another in Davis from Stephenson. This guy is a 3*, apparently isn’t desirable enough to be the 26th man on your roster, and didn’t get any kind of attention from other coaches. Why would we want him?
Fair enough.
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer Give 'Em HELL Alabama!
by RoscoeOfAlabama on Jan 16, 2012 3:06 PM CST up reply actions
Please, don't take AJC commenters for reasonable UGA fans
The AJC comment section is our Paul Finebaum show, and they represent the UGA fanbase like Updyke does yours. Why would we want a 3* back who wasn’t good enough for either your 26th spot or attention from other programs?
Those of us that have ever visited AL.com understand completely.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
by Slice of Life on Jan 16, 2012 3:15 PM CST up reply actions
That writer at AJC is definitely UGA biased.
He kept teasing that Dillon Lee, Geno Smith and other Alabama commits from the state of Georgia were going to flip to UGA when clearly they were not.
He is also one of the leaders of the Oversigning Tin Foil Hat Society, always reporting on Bama, LSU and others but never a peep about all the players who have left UGA in recent years (and there are A LOT).
Fourteen and counting
You got him
The guy hired to cover UGA has a UGA bias. Whoops. Believe me, even if he doesn’t report on the departures of recent UGA players (believe me, we know much better than you how many have left in recent years), many others at the AJC do. This guy may have a UGA bias, but the AJC sports section generally does not. In fact, it is quite the opposite.
Not to get too technical, but you probably don’t hear about peep about kids leaving due to oversigning because UGA doesn’t oversign. They leave for many reasons that are a lot worse, but not because there isn’t room on the roster for them.
Elf, get your facts straight
1) This guy, Michael Carvell, was not hired to cover UGA. He covers College Sports Recruiting.
2) I did not mention “the AJC sports section” as being biased. I agree with you that in general, they are not. But Carvell is.
3) You insinuate that Bama players leave the program because “there isn’t room on the roster”. There is absolutely no truth or proof to that. Oversigning is a myth.
Fourteen and counting
My most sincere apologies sir
I had no idea you were so in tune with the AJC hiring process and each bloggers job description. Mea culpa.
Look, I don’t mind that people oversign, but let’s not pretend it doesn’t exist. Whether it’s through actions like this, medical redshirting, greyshirting, or anything like that, coaches find way to get their numbers down to 85. Last year before signing day you had like 15 open roster spots, but still signed like 26 people. It’s fine if you’re for it, but let’s not pretend it doesn’t exist.
"15 open roster spots, but still signed like 26 people."
I didn’t know CFB players sign 4-year contracts. If a player is not pulling his weight, his scholarship can get yanked. Kind of like how my undergrad academic scholarship was predicated on maintaining a 3.0 or better. It’s harsh, but it isn’t a charity. I like how a UGA man pointed this out when Richt used a scholarship on Crowell’s high school friend. Nothing to see there, right?
There have been coaches whose tactics border on the sinister (Miles telling a player he didn’t have space for him in the SUMMER and Nutt signing 36-37 players for one class), and Coach Saban isn’t one of them.
9th January, 2012: Section 101, Row 1, Seat... I'll let y'all spot that one.
"And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land"
-- "Big John" by Jimmy Dean
by TiderUpNorth on Jan 17, 2012 12:57 AM CST up reply actions
You mean Cooter Harrow?
The guy that actually got on the field as a freshman and made some big plays? I don’t really see how that’s related. He wasn’t being recruited by anyone, he’s big kid with good athleticism, and, most importantly, we had an open roster spot for him. We didn’t have to greyshirt or medical redshirt anyone to get him on the team, so why not take a chance on him? It’s turned out pretty well for us.
I love this cold attitude so many fans take when their team oversigns. Never mind that half these kids wouldn’t stand a chance at getting into the school without football, or that they wouldn’t be able to afford if they lost the scholarship. Or even that the coaches probably promised to keep them on for 4 years when they recruited them. Cut ‘em lose! He can’t run his routes as well as that high school senior can! This isn’t a charity!!
Wow!
Or even that the coaches probably promised to keep them on for 4 years when they recruited them.
Which site do you subscribe to that let’s you in on this insider ‘information’? I’ve got to find out what each coach ‘probably’ said to their prospective players.
And if you want to talk about cold attitudes, you may want to direct your attention to the SEC office and any other NCAA administrators who seem hellbent on reducing the number of scholarships available to these kids who wouldn’t be able to afford school otherwise.
BTW, I saw Cooter Harrow. It’s ‘probably’ my favorite slasher porn film.
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 9:11 AM CST up reply actions
And those scholly limitations
Are clearly aimed at trying to stop the SEC juggernaut. No other reason.
That includes Georgia.
by Durdens Wrath on Jan 17, 2012 9:28 AM CST up reply actions
You mean the scholarship limitations
that were imposed by the SEC itself?
Now you're getting it....
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 5:13 PM CST up reply actions
I guess technically his name is "Cootie"
but I think you’ll agree Cooter is better. I have no inside source about what coaches promise players, but I think it’s safe to assume that when a coach is sitting in a players living room, he’s not saying “Sure, we’ll let you come play here, as long as we don’t find someone better than you, in which case you can’t stay here anymore.”
A lot of things...
…are ‘safe to assume’…one of those is that the same coaches are also not saying, “We guarantee that you will receive a full scholarship for however long it takes you to earn a degree, no matter what the circumstances.” What we’re discussing here is not a new phenomenon, and anyone who let’s their son remain uninformed about the way the system works is doing a poor job. Other than Coach Saban signing a note that this kid will still receive a scholarship to Alabama, no one has signed a thing. I’ve yet to move into a house before I signed the papers.
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 5:17 PM CST up reply actions
As I've posted before...
it is actually an NCAA violation to promise a player that he’ll have his scholarship for all four years, no matter what.
The school can promise that they will recommend that the player’s scholarship be renewed (if they will), and can tell the player that the University has always followed their recommendation in the past (if they have), but anything more than that is a recruiting violation.
Fourteen.
Whether they can afford it or not doesn't matter.
Anyone who is poor can go to college with loans and/or grants. There is really no reason someone can’t go to college in this country other than they didn’t take their education seriously enough to qualify.
I know it’s a different subject, but it’s a pet peeve of mine when people say that “so and so” can’t go to college because they can’t afford it. With the cost of higher education right now, most people can’t afford it unless they are borrowing some money.
No matter how you count 'em, we've got more --- Roll Tide!
That's not always true
If schools don’t offer enough in federal loans, then the students have to get private loans, or a job, to cover the difference. Getting a private loan usually requires a cosigner, and many of these kids don’t have anyone with good enough credit to get a loan. I’m from a pretty poor area of Georgia, and I know a lot of people who had this issue. And, as we all know, SA’s are insanely prevented from getting any kind of job during the school year.
I agree with you for the most part though. I come from a pretty modest background and had to take out a lot of loans to pay for school. It drives me nuts to hear normal suburbanites says “I can’t afford to go to school”. Like you said, it comes down to a commitment to you reducation.
And your team...
Oh right. They aren’t all that competitive. Seeing that they don’t actually play the Big 3 during the regular season.
Enjoy your cake walk to the Championship game. Only to be crushed by the West.
by Durdens Wrath on Jan 17, 2012 9:29 AM CST up reply actions
How does the fact that they don't play the "Big 3"
in the regular having anything to do with our competitiveness? We were just as competitive with LSU as Arkansas was, and they’re one of your “Big 3”. And how are we to blame for our schedule? I don’t recall you guys complaining about your weak ass schedule in 2009 when the West was just as weak as the East is now. In both 2008 and 2009 we had one of the toughest schedules in the country, and now we’ve lucked out and have one of the easiest. It just works out that way sometimes.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...
…that was awesome. “Just as weak as the East is now.” Woo-hoo! Were you even paying attention to football in 2009?
If you want to claim UGA is as good as the third-best team in the SECW, fine. I don’t care to argue that. I would be glad to discuss how much better UGA was this year than, say, USCe. Or LSU. Or the National Champs. That would be cool.
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 5:20 PM CST up reply actions
Our schedule was actually pretty difficult in 2009.
Much tougher on paper than this year, at least. I think we played 10 bowl teams that year.
Fourteen.
And yet, you will somehow manage to squander that talent.
Year in and year out.
by Durdens Wrath on Jan 17, 2012 9:27 AM CST up reply actions
The other benefit...
Is that with his knee being torn up, he can come in and begin his eligibility fresh, without wasting a year sitting around rehabbing. He could still get his degree early and declare for the NFL as a RS Soph or Junior. Other than being out of pocket briefly, I don’t see the negative side of grayshirting in his particular scenario.
Greyshirting
I do not really have a problem with greyshirting, and clearly Taylor wants to go to Alabama. That said, if Alabama thought there was a good chance that they might have to greyshirt Taylor, a month before Signing Day seems to soon. At this point for a good but not great prospect who plays RB most schools have already filled those slots.
Again, I do not think it is especially unreasonable to tell a player coming off a major injury and at a loaded position that he needs to delay enrollment. It does feel like Alabama’s staff should have done a better job communicating earlier with Taylor.
Plus...
Alabama told him with plenty of advance notice in case he wanted to pursue options elsewhere. A back with his film shouldn’t have too much trouble finding another D1 school, but if he is cool with waiting a couple of months to begin eligibility fresh with a good knee, then more power to him. Glad he’s willing to stick with us.
To be honest
it makes good sense. And, he is going to be about #6 or 7 on the depth chart whenever he shows up anyway. Unless we have a slew of injuries who knows how much the kid will play anyway until he is a junior. Even then he may never get to play much. I’d figure Lacy, Fowler, Hart, Sims, Yeldon are all ahead of him and what about Callaway?
If Auburn was in New Mexico and we never played them I would still hate them and their dumb coach and their cheating players.
Saban is clearly evil...
I’m sure Taylor will get tons of new scholarship offers from altrusitic programs from all across the nation looking for a RB with a long rehab ahead of him.
"Make no mistake, Florida is the South's trashcan" Peter Griffin
OMG we're so EVIL
People who live in glass houses should not hang out with Charles Barkley.
Stache pic upgraded to Championship mode
What blows my mind...
Is how people think football scholarships are 1st come, 1st serve. Until the paper is signed in February, does it even matter? Football isn’t the line at Best Buy on Black Friday, people!!!
Sacrifice. Work. Self-discipline. I teach these things, and my boys don't forget them when they leave. Paul "Bear" Bryant.
by RocksinBama on Jan 16, 2012 2:44 PM CST reply actions 1 recs
Kevin Scarbinksy tweeted earlier that
Taylor said he won’t wait till 2013 and is looking else where.
Follow on twitter @thelyell
A Hundred Pounds Lost
Well good luck to him.
Truth is if he wants to go to a BCS school his only shot may be Bama or someone like Indiana because he is not that good. It is not like Trent Richardson got hurt before his senior season.
Bama will give him a scholly even though he will likely never play. He can enter in Dec. I promise if NS signed a peice of paper he intends to make good. But signing him right now is not even in his best interest. He would be better doing rehab, maybe be taking taking a few classes at a local juco and get ready for NEXT SPRING.
It isn’t that big a deal but the ATL people are making it into something horrible.
If Auburn was in New Mexico and we never played them I would still hate them and their dumb coach and their cheating players.
None of this would happen if the NCAA didn't keep cutting football scholarships
Because of this, some players cannot go to the school that they want and piss-ass little programs like South Florida & UConn are the benefactors.
Did you hear the NCAA wants to reduce football scholarships from 85 to 80?
Ugh.
Fourteen and counting
They voted yesterday not to reduce.
Old news is old.
I mean sure
but it’s not likely to happen for a while. It’s been stuck at 85 for quite some time now, I don’t see it changing any time soon.
And it would not have happened if the SEC
had not reduced the limit on the number that could be signed in a given year. Given all the players leaving early for the NFL, the ability to sign another three or so recruits this season might have gotten this guy in immediately. Congratulations Ohio State and Big 10-11-12 for making this kid wait a year to attend the school and play for the team he is most interested in.
Big 10 didn't do this. At all.
It was all Slive. Also, the kid might not have been receptive to a grey shirt (which is basically all this is, without getting to sign.)
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
by Slice of Life on Jan 16, 2012 4:22 PM CST up reply actions
The big 10 did this
By name calling the SEC, because they constantly stink.
by Durdens Wrath on Jan 17, 2012 9:30 AM CST up reply actions
I disagree.
If a weakling calls you out on the play ground, and you tie one hand behind your back. That’s on you for giving in, not on the weakling for claiming things aren’t fair.
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that." - George Carlin
by Slice of Life on Jan 17, 2012 10:09 AM CST up reply actions
You are right about this.
Slive and some of the presidents are more worried about the perception that the SEC is just a football factory and mean to poor kids etc. So to give the appearance we are kind and gentle etc. we limit our ability to sign players. Furthermore, we think if we become like some of these other prestiguous Big 10 schools people are going to think we are some academic stronghold.
Well Alabama does not have to aplogize of academics, neither does UGA, UF or even (hate to admit it) AU. But, the truth is football is important and the way we were doing it was helping more poor kids than it was hurting. But, as we cut the practice out, which was not breaking NCAA rules, we may very well move ourselves from the leader of the herd to somewhere middle of the pack.
If Auburn was in New Mexico and we never played them I would still hate them and their dumb coach and their cheating players.
5026,
about 10 years ago, I took a young lady I was dating and two friends on a road trip to Alabama and I drove all over the campus giving them a tour of sorts. They were AMAZED at Alabama’s commitment to students as adjudged by the number of libraries and size/quantity of academic buildings. This “football factory” horseshit is a beautiful, comfortable, utopian myth.
The snooty assumption of academic superiority by people (wherever they come from) of schools whose sports teams suck canal water is one of the strongest myths in today’s society. It ranks right up there with that fabled, struggling, “small market” baseball club that is mercilessly shouldered out of the picture by the bigger city teams when in fact, that noble, “small market” club is in the clutches of a greedy owner who not only soaks-up the luxury tax $$$ from the better teams, but never spends that money on free agents.
Alabama shouldn’t apologize for its academics because they’re very good… and you can’t really crow about academic superiority until you talk about Ivy League aristocratic schools anyway… You know, the kind of places where you need political connections and rich relatives to get into anyway — lofty academics therein.
9th January, 2012: Section 101, Row 1, Seat... I'll let y'all spot that one.
"And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land"
-- "Big John" by Jimmy Dean
by TiderUpNorth on Jan 17, 2012 1:13 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
And it's gotten even better in the last 10 years to boot.
No matter how you count 'em, we've got more --- Roll Tide!
That's what I'm saying.
It slays me the way some idiots think Alabama has spent money STRICTLY on stadium renovations while forsaking academics.
And yes, my shot about “snooty” institutions whose football team is enveloped in an urn, yet claim to have out-of-this-universe academics was aimed at you, Notre Dame.
9th January, 2012: Section 101, Row 1, Seat... I'll let y'all spot that one.
"And a crashin' blow from a huge right hand
Sent a Louisiana fellow to the Promised Land"
-- "Big John" by Jimmy Dean
by TiderUpNorth on Jan 17, 2012 1:34 AM CST up reply actions
Oversigning
the biggest non-story in college football.
On a mobile
http://mobile.al.com/advbirm/pm_108574/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=DUXl9XP8
"I'd settle for a one point victory any day" Paul W. Bryant
should
have offered that medical redshirt faster
feel bad for the kid but
hopefully he heals completely and has a good collegiate career.
"Make no mistake, Florida is the South's trashcan" Peter Griffin
I feel real bad for him and his family.
I have twin sons that are juniors in high school and I can’t imagine if they had to deal with this. He is scrambling at the last minute for a scholarship. Reminds me of that Tom Cruise movie All The Right Moves. But that was a totally different situation.
"I'd settle for a one point victory any day" Paul W. Bryant
I feel bad for him too but the truth is, he was going to redshirt anyway
Look who is ahead of him: Lacy, Fowler, Dee Hart, Brent Calloway, TJ Yeldon, Kenyan Drake. You could probably add Blake Sims to that list too.
He doesn’t have to scramble. He could still go to Alabama. But at worse, he ends up at somewhere like Wake Forest: still getting a free college education, still getting to play football…
Fourteen and counting
I've seen this on about every ohio state and BIG blog out there.
The BIG this past year was hands down the most corrupt coference and they are the ones leading the morality charge against Alabama and the SEC.
"There are 40 rules all Schrute boys must learn by age 5. Rule #17- There are 3 things you never turn your back on--- Bears, men you have wronged, and a dominant male turkey during mating season."
Also on EDSBS, where you complained mightily.
Scapegoat ho!
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Follow @semicorrect
I complained mightily?
I don’t comment on EDSBS. What are you talking about?
"There are 40 rules all Schrute boys must learn by age 5. Rule #17- There are 3 things you never turn your back on--- Bears, men you have wronged, and a dominant male turkey during mating season."
Apparently, by 'Semicorrect'...
…(s)he means ‘false’….
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 8:54 AM CST up reply actions
Merit-Based Competition
The NCAA limits scholarships to 85. That creates an intense competition for those 85 GIAs at schools like Alabama – the exact same dynamic that creates intense competition for scholarships at MIT and Harvard for the academic stars.
This is NOT about a kid going to college. He’s either going to go to college somewhere for free by playing football, or he’s going to go the way most people do – by paying tuition. This is about a kid playing football for Alabama, which is entirely another matter. He’s 26 on a list of 25 for a program which has 200 incredibly talented kids who would give anything to play here. For a program which represents the MIT of football, except the NCAA makes their athletic MITs play by the same rules as San Diego State.
Amazing how easily the media conflates “playing football at Alabama” with “going to college,” and how quickly jealous fans gobble it up.
Lazy thinking and lazy journalism.
by Bocktean on Jan 16, 2012 8:08 PM CST reply actions 7 recs
Good comment and dead on.
If Auburn was in New Mexico and we never played them I would still hate them and their dumb coach and their cheating players.
The comparison doesn’t hold up. When offered a full scholarship at MIT, the scholarship spells out what level you must stay at in order for the scholarship to renew the next year. It’s a contract, and as long as you keep up with your end of it, the school keeps up with theirs. I ran into a problem with scholarships at Auburn – they accidentally reallocated funds from my wife’s scholarship. It was then that we found out that schools are considered arms of the state and DON’T have to abide by their contracts (sovereign immunity clause). They therefore are able to push the responsibility of funding the scholarship on the person who signed the contract – not the school itself (and the person who signed my wife’s was not at fault – we would not sue her).
It’s an absolute embarrassment that this kid was told he could go to the school for free, was given the paperwork to do so, and the representatives of the school are refusing to sign it. That he has to miss or delay his education by even one day reflects poorly on this program, the words and promises of our recruiters, and academics/sports in this state. That Alabama (and Auburn) are willing to use the letter of the law to bend their promises even the slightest bit is an ethical problem that we’re barely seeing the surface of.
So go ahead – downplay this story. Rationalize that everything will work out ok in the end. Make yourselves feel better by justifying that this isn’t about the kid going to college. In doing so, you forget that the recruiters and personnel in charge of this situation made a promise that they couldn’t keep, and that is not a practice anyone should be defending. When our administrators are dishonest in these things, you can bet they’re dishonest in others.
Books for Bama students: My E-Cubby - UA
by squinky86 on Jan 16, 2012 10:11 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I agree completely
If all the facts that are reported are accurate and this kid wasn’t informed earlier that a greyshirt was a possibility, then this reflects poorly on our program.
by VaTide on Jan 16, 2012 11:10 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
See? You didn't even read my complete post...
… because you continue to equate “education” with “playing football at the University of Alabama.” Last I checked, millions of Americans and tens of millions people worldwide pursue a college education, a percentage of them for free via various mechanisms, including academic and athletic scholarships. On the flip side, 85 people in the world can play football for Alabama on scholarship at any given time and no more than 25 per signing class.
He has been rescinded the right to play football for the University of Alabama in return for an academic scholarship for the Fall Semester. He has not had his right to an education, much less a free one, rescinded. He has not had his right to enter the University as a paying freshman and walk-on rescinded. He has not had his right to find another university willing to grant him a scholarship immediately rescinded.
So, I am not spinning justifications that this “isn’t about the kid going to college.” You simply left off several key modifiers – “for free,” “at the University of Alabama,” “to play football,” “for the fall semester.” When you add those modifiers, you really do have a completely different ethical meaning – which is why most people who want to make this into a crisis leave off the modifiers. But when you leave off some those modifiers, you’re effectively misrepresenting the situation. When you leave off all of them, you’re seriously misrepresenting the situation.
The MIT/Harvard comparison had nothing to do with rules and regs for academic scholarships. I wouldn’t even make the comparison on that front, since those scholarships are not arbitrarily capped. MIT/Harvard can grant as many academic scholarships as they see fit to afford – as you noted, an apples and oranges comparison to athletic scholarships.
by Bocktean on Jan 17, 2012 12:40 AM CST up reply actions 5 recs
By separating the two, you fall into the problem of ignoring previous promises. Whether you like it or not (and I personally do not), the problem here is definitely a promise we made of a scholarship (ie: education). The other points you made have nothing to do with the fact that we went back on a promise. Yes, this time, it happened to be with a football player. Above, my wife at Auburn was given an academic scholarship that had something similar happen to it. I freely admit that football has nothing to do with my arguments: it’s the ethics and honesty of our administrators compounded with the broken scholarship-for-play system that we have.
You can continue to keep trying to divorce the ugly part of this story from the kid’s ability to play football – that’s fine. You cannot, however, lose focus in the school’s administration as a whole promising something and reneging on it.
Books for Bama students: My E-Cubby - UA
by squinky86 on Jan 17, 2012 12:56 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
I am not ignoring anything
You, on the other hand, seem determined to ignore all context in pursuit of a black-or-white, all-or-nothing ethical either/or – either Saban’s completely wrong or completely right. Since you cannot find him completely blameless, you flip into the “completely wrong” mode. I think mistakes were made – but they are not the rend garments/gnash teeth variety. A 3-star RB (not a position of need) with an injured knee has been asked to defer enrollment. At this point in the process, he has lost nothing. At this point, his worst case scenario is a deferral. Less than he was originally promised, granted. Marginally less. He still has a standing offer to be one of 85 players on scholarship at one of the most prestigious college football programs in the country at the height of its powers.
The horror.
Andy Staples at SI.com has an excellent article on this. I suggest you read it.
My MIT comparison demonstrates that competition at the top is much, much more intense at the top than it is even a few rings down the ladder. MIT can offer as many scholarships and incoming freshmen as it feels it can afford. Alabama has been capped. That intensifies the competition exponentially. Frankly, purely from a PR standpoint, I wish Alabama had just pulled the scholarship when he hurt his knee. But Saban’s trying to balance his promises to the kid with his promises to his bosses. I get it.
by Bocktean on Jan 17, 2012 3:00 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
That he has to miss or delay his education by even one day reflects poorly on this program, the words and promises of our recruiters, and academics/sports in this state.
He was given said paperwork prior to blowing his knee out. As of today, he is unable to deliver on his end of the deal due to the injury. As of NSD, he will be unable to deliver, and who knows how good he will be after that? Maybe Saban had expected the rehab process to be further along right now, who knows? Bottom line, place the blame where it should be placed- on the new SEC rules governing oversigning and scholarship limits in general. I’m guessing Bama would be willing to give out many more than they do.
'There are two pains in life. There is the pain of discipline and the pain of disappointment. If you can handle the pain of discipline, then you'll never have to deal with the pain of disappointment,'- Nick Saban
I agree with most of what you said, and absolutely agree that the institutions you mentioned share a large portion of the blame.
Books for Bama students: My E-Cubby - UA
What has transpired with this young man is unfortunate, but it appears that CNS has been as forthright with him as possible. If he misunderstood anything about the current system, then he and anyone who he depends on for daily guidance have been extremely naive. It’s a stumbling block, but it’s not an insurmountable one. Young men like Rashad Johnson and Antoine Pettway have run up against larger obstacles in their pursuit of academic and athletic opportunities and shined.
"High standards come from passion within...." --Coach Nick Saban
by NiceLittleSaturday on Jan 17, 2012 9:04 AM CST up reply actions
I have a friend who plays for JSU(in Jacksonville, AL)
who speaks glowingly of Saban’s honesty. He was/is a lifelong Bama fan but in the recruiting process. Saban was straight forward with him saying " we think you are a great young man but the best I could offer you is a partial scholarship or a greyshirt." Which led my friend to look elsewhere. He was recruited by Tommy Tubberville and offered a scholly. Tubby was fired, and the Chiz called and said “we still want you”. Only to have Chiz’s people call him 2 weeks before sigining day and say “we don’t have a roster spot for you.” Then they had to nerve to tell him it was because “he was Tubberville’s recruit and they wanted to give spots to their OWN guys”.
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