When do Early Enrollees officially sign / notify the school of their choice?
Totally ignorant to the process of an EE. Would it be safe to say that someone like Kareem Walker, if choosing to attend Michigan, has already signed all the paperwork, enrolled, selected classes, Etc.? I have always wondered if a recruit has all the time up to the 11th hour before the new semester starts to EE, or if the school and Coaches are aware of a kid EEing weeks in advance. Anyone know?
December 5th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 3:01 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 3:05 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 10:37 PM ^
Which one?
December 5th, 2015 at 2:35 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 2:40 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
I think he means that if they sign the papers and then decide to go to another school they have to sit out.
December 5th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^
December 5th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
That makes perfect sense! Great answer even if you aren't sure it is correct. Except for the part of sitting out a year. I am sure once the Financial Aid papers are signed then it is binding, as you mentioned.
December 5th, 2015 at 2:51 PM ^
https://www.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1725534
For an EE, attending your first class does. Up until that time, they are free to change their mind.
December 5th, 2015 at 2:54 PM ^
Interesting! Thanks Mr. Miggle! I asked for info and am getting it!
December 5th, 2015 at 3:14 PM ^
If that's true, that's a real flaw in the EE system, wouldn't you say?
If a student athlete can wait 2 weeks after the start of the term to enroll in classes, then - at the obvious risk of being unenrolled in said classes - delay attending them for some time further, it seems you could call yourself an EE but drag it out til nearly NSD without actually being a true student?
If you're not bound to the school until actually attending your 1st class, couldn't you be in the S&C program, receive a playbook (or whatever the equivalent is in the tech era), eat at the training table, etc and never be officially in the school?
I'm very much in favor of all the student-athlete's rights they can possibly get, and many of the benefits, but this scenario may be stretching those rights and benefits?!
If there's something I've missed between parcelling together all the various tidbits of info doled out in these posts, please someone clue me in?
December 5th, 2015 at 3:33 PM ^
and registering late for classes. No school or coach is going to allow that. I'm not sure that a recruit gets any benefit from things like eating at the training table, that he wouldn't get by going to a different school. I suppose you could see an EE flip late in the process, but it doesn't seem like much of a problem to me.
December 5th, 2015 at 5:03 PM ^
He could then "unenroll" (though never technically enrolled) and sign with another team on NSD.
OR - even not sign a LOI at all, as is often advocated by the editors of this blog, and just keep dragging his recruitment out (Pryor). The stories of extra and impermissible benefits he received during the process were legendary on this board.
My point in saying the system is flawed if any player would even technically be allowed to do what I suggested is that they should be bound to a school as soon as the scholarship assistance papers are processed and approved. And they should not be eligible to use any team facilities until that happens. Or they really are not "student athletes" in any way or manner.
As I said in my previous post, I'm all for players rights, but that's a pretty gaping loophole. Again, if all these various EE procedures posted here are truly accurate.
December 5th, 2015 at 6:58 PM ^
If a recruit found that he hated the program or the school so fast, maybe it's just as well he can leave. But the whole process comes at some cost to him. He's already graduated from HS and he's losing the chance to be an EE. It would be stupid for anyone to plan to do such a thing in advance. Changing a rule that affects many players to avoid some unlikely scenario that has never happened seems like a poor idea.
Recruits are allowed to sign financial aid papers long before they enroll. Jacob Eason signed his in August. A lot of things could happen between then and the time they start classes. We've seen a coach fired here after a bowl game.
December 5th, 2015 at 7:50 PM ^
So since the assistance paperwork is sometimes filed far in advance, as you point out in Eason's case, then there should be some document a player signs upon arriving on campus that then becomes binding, as a LOI is.
My only point is the player should have no access to facilities and benefits that are exclusive to athletes until they are bound to the school for at least that first season, as a LOI would.
I mean, until they're "students" at a school they shouldn't be allowed to benefit from being an athlete there. That's all.
And you're probably right, it'd likely take someone as flighty as Kiel to do it, but I have a pretty dim view of how self-centered the recruiting industry & social media is making some of these kids.
December 5th, 2015 at 9:53 PM ^
But really, you are worrying about nothing. No coach is going to let a player particpate in team activities while skipping classes or skipping his enrollment. Worst caee scenario is a recruit got a tiny bit more than he was entitled to. That's it. In actuality he'd be getting less when you consider his travel costs. And it really makes no sense that they would set out to do it intentionally. It costs the school very little. They'd rather have an EE decommit than someone on LOI day.
There's more significance to starting classes than I think you realize. Schools can let a player out of his commitment after he's signed an LOI. Once a player attends a class he'd lose a year of eligibility if he left. Maybe giving EEs a chance to be on campus for a couple of days before they are completely locked in is not a bad thing. I don't see who it hurts, but you seem awfully concerned that a player may benefit in some small way.
December 5th, 2015 at 9:59 PM ^
You say no coach would allow my hypothetical, so I'll go with that. I would not be against codifying it though. Kiel & Pryor are wild exceptions, but I worry they won't be for long.
December 5th, 2015 at 7:08 PM ^
Didn't Gunner Kiel essentially do this? I have no problem with it, but it has happened.
December 5th, 2015 at 7:34 PM ^
He didn't show up for the first team meeting or enroll in classes.
December 5th, 2015 at 8:50 PM ^
I thought he got on campus before deciding to flip. His mom started freaking out as soon as he got down there or something.
December 5th, 2015 at 9:10 PM ^
wouldn't him leave.
December 5th, 2015 at 2:39 PM ^
You can sign up for classes about a week or two after they start so that wouldn't neccesarrily be an issue. Obviously there would be less open spots on class rosters at that point so it is not ideal but most freshman dont have great priority on classes anyway.
December 5th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
Athletes have the highest class priority along with students with disabilities.
December 5th, 2015 at 4:44 PM ^
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December 5th, 2015 at 9:10 PM ^
The 2013 revision to the rule, courtesy of the NCAA Legislative Database:
The academic and membership affairs staff determined that a prospective student-athlete who intends to graduate from high school midyear and enroll at a member institution midyear during the same academic year (e.g., spring semester) may sign an institutional financial aid agreement on or after August 1 of his or her senior year, provided the institution issuing the financial aid agreement establishes, prior to issuing the agreement, that the prospective student-athlete is enrolled in all coursework necessary to graduate from high school at midyear.