Recruiting Question for Bama fans

[Tigermike 3,042]

How do you think your recruiting is going so far?

How would you rate this class so far? A, B, C, D.

Are you guys getting the players you wanted? Players at positions needed?

Bama has 21 commits right now so it would seem like there is only room for three or four more. Who is not expected to qualify? How many over the limit do you expect them to sign.

[BamaBrad 0]

How do you think your recruiting is going so far? 

How would you rate this class so far? A, B, C, D.

Are you guys getting the players you wanted?  Players at positions needed? 

Bama has 21 commits right now so it would seem like there is only room for three or four more.  Who is not expected to qualify?  How many over the limit do you expect them to sign.

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I'd say it's a B with the possibility to turn into an A-. Seems like we are getting the people we expected to get.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Right now id say it is a B+. We have 23 verbals and I think we sign about 28. We have one Bryant Scholarship guy. Probably one greyshirt...and a couple of guys will probably not make it due to academics. If we get either Mikell Simpson or Roy Upchurch...and manage to land either Greenwood or Deadrick...id say we will finish with an A-.

We have a legit shot at a 11th or 12th ranked class. But i think we will finish around 16th. But for filling our needs at certain positions...we are doing great.

The only one that really stings is Tommy Trott. We needed him, but all of his friends are going to AU...i mean ALL of them.

[AUesquire 1]

Real tough to rate classes so early in the process. I say early because the big guns usually drag it out til' the end. Notre Dame has 5 verbals to date. Some schools have 20 plus while others have in the low teens. Yet, there are rankings that have already been published. The one I heard this morning had AU 22nd and UA 23rd. Those numbers will definitley change in the next few weeks.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Rivals has AU ranked 11th and bama ranked 16th. I think that is about right for now.

[BiggestAUfan 0]

When are the bummers going to learn to count?????

"23 verbals and sign 28"???????

Have we forgotten that Shula gave 9 grey-shirts away Feb '04? Do you not know that those greys counted towards the 25 total that were available for '05?

Assumming Shula is a man of his word, he only has 16 schollies to give, b/c the other 9 signed with his last class and should already be on campus.

[BamaGrad03 0]

We didnt have 9 greyshirts in 04. Do your homework next time before you talk trash. Maybe then you wont sound so foolish.

[aufan175 13]

Bama pretty much signed there class...auburn can sign about 8 more players. we will have a better class by far.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Bama will sign at least 5 more players.

[tkdpal 0]

We didnt have 9 greyshirts in 04. Do your homework next time before you talk trash. Maybe then you wont sound so foolish.

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Actually BG he is almost correct Alabama "borrowed"(grey shirted) 8 players last year. They will only be able to give 17 players scholarships this year. The other will have to Junior, Prep or simply walk on. Mike Shula will only be able to "sign" 17 players this year

[BiggestAUfan 0]

I'm one of the few who knows that bamagrad03 used to go by bamastudent. I still call him BS even though he now has a degree from his chosen university.

BS, maybe you should do your homework?? Your coach only had 19 to give last Feb. You signed those plus 8-9 grey-shirts (JP Wilson to name one). Each "grey-shirt" counted against the 2005 class. You spend a lot of time online so I'm sure you can find the NCAA rule on this if you have any questions about the accuracy of my original post.

We can probably have the mods pull some of your posts from Feb '04 talking about how bummer, "had a better recruiting class than AU b/c you signed sooooo many players" and that, "Shula completely shut CTT out of the State". However, nothing of the sort happened. How soon you forget what you post on these boards. Face it Shula mortgaged his recruitung future this past Feb/04 but got very little out of it. The big DL from GA (JUCO), Stover (still trying to spell SAT) and the Castile kid are the only true SEC players from that class.

roll tide roll, down the toilet bowl!

[BamaGrad03 0]

I'm one of the few who knows that bamagrad03 used to go by bamastudent. I still call him BS even though he now has a degree from his chosen university.

BS, maybe you should do your homework?? Your coach only had 19 to give last Feb. You signed those plus 8-9 grey-shirts (JP Wilson to name one). Each "grey-shirt" counted against the 2005 class. You spend a lot of time online so I'm sure you can find the NCAA rule on this if you have any questions about the accuracy of my original post.

We can probably have the mods pull some of your posts from Feb '04 talking about how bummer, "had a better recruiting class than AU b/c you signed sooooo many players" and that, "Shula completely shut CTT out of the State". However, nothing of the sort happened. How soon you forget what you post on these boards. Face it Shula mortgaged his recruitung future this past Feb/04 but got very little out of it. The big DL from GA (JUCO), Stover (still trying to spell SAT) and the Castile kid are the only true SEC players from that class.

roll tide roll, down the toilet bowl!

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Again you make yourself look absolutley foolish. We signed more than our allowed 18/19 signees with the UNDERSTANDING that some of them would not qualify - Stover Holifield. They were NEVER greyshirt candidates. They were sign and place candidates. Im sure in all your vast knowledge of football and its subsequent recruitment process...you have heard of that before. Just because you guys wanted to whine and moan about our greyshirts last year doesnt mean that every offer over the 18 guys was a greyshirt. Lorenzo Washington from Georgia is a very intelligent individual. His ACT was in the 20s and he went to prepschool because he messed up in his senior english class. Again, because you are so learned, Im assuming you knew that the special cirumstances that allow guys to go to prepschool mean they were very very close to qualifying. We only have 2 guys who were greyshirts from that class..JPW and Drew Davis. They are already on campus now practicing with the team. Also, Im sure you knew that Jake Wingo (one of the 27) was eligible for the BRYANT scholarship. Which means, as long as he doesnt play for 2 years...he doesnt count against that years scholarship numbers.

To say we only had 3 sec caliber players out of that class is laughable. You remember Keith Brown right? The guy who caught the 50 yarder against AU in the first half of the iron bowl? I know you remember DJ Hall...he caught the TD late in the game. Justin Britt sacked your boy Campbell. Zeke Knight had the 40 yarder late in the game on our next to last drive. And Antoine Caldwell didnt play because he got injured in summer camp. He is a very good player.

And I remember exactly what I said about our class last year. I came back and figured up the average star rating AFTER all our guys got to campus this summer compared to AUs and it was still higher. I never said anything about the number of guys we signed.

I think that should about clear it up. Unless you wanna use one of those...'nuh uh'...'you said it because you are a bammer'...'and you just dont know what you are talking about'...arguments

ive heard it before. unless you wanna do your homework...spare me.

We had two freaking greyshirts...we honored those commitments this year. We have one or two in this class. Big deal.

[Ryan Sanders 123]

WAR EAGLE!

[AURainman 6]

Please explain the BRYANT scholarship.

Honestly, I've never heard of anything like it. Do other schools have the same? Why would you waste 2 years of eligibility?

The only Bryant scholarship Auburn folks know about involves money under the table!!!

[The Prowler 1]

Alabama's Recruiting class will always be up there just because some kids think Alabama is still good....LOLOLOL. But, regardless of their Stars (2*-5*) Alabama w/ Coach Shula can't coach 'em, so their Recruiting class is going to amount to nothin' (except for the Castilles). Now, the REAL team in the state of Alabama can coach their players to their potential....in 1999-2000 we signed a little 2 star athlete not that big or strong no one knows anything about this kid....the kid I'm talkin' about.....Carlos Rogers.

[Bama Bo 0]

Please explain the BRYANT scholarship.

Honestly, I've never heard of anything like it.  Do other schools have the same?  Why would you waste 2 years of eligibility?

The only Bryant scholarship Auburn folks know about involves money under the table!!!

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Anyone who's parent or grandparents played football for Coach Bryant can attend Alabama on the Bryant Scholarship. Be it male or female, and they do not have to play any type of sport.

As far as the 2 years of eligibility goes, they actually only lose one because they still get their red shirt year. They just can't play in a game during their first 2 years. After that, they will still have 3 years to play.

[BamaGrad03 0]

They also have to be a "unrecruited" signee. We cant go after some guy really hard and give him a bryant scholly.

[AURainman 6]

They also have to be a "unrecruited" signee. We cant go after some guy really hard and give him a bryant scholly.

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Do other schools get have this kind of thing? Shouldn't a scholly be a scholly? Is this guy just not good? What's the deal. We've got programs like this, but its specifically not for athletes. And, it has nothing to do with a particular coach. Doesn't that sound like a loophole for Bama to sign 26 a year?

Again, not a flame, just confused.

[BamaGrad03 0]

Other schools do have similar programs. And because he was an unrecruited walkon, he got to "sign". I had a roomate who was on the bryant scholly at bama...he didnt play for the Tide. Its for ANY student though. If it was specifically for athletes, it wouldnt fly.

Basically, he is a student at UA who would receive the Bryant Scholarship whether he plays football or not. Because he wants to play football, he can "walk on". But the NCAA says that he cant be recruited. And that if he was good enough to play in his first couple of years, then he should be on an athletic scholarship.

Think of it like this: If a student has a 31 on his ACT and a 4.0 gpa...he would qualify for an academic scholarship. But if he's a big time football player, and is recruited, they have to give him a football scholarship instead. But if he walked on, he could stay on his academic scholarship. Jake Wingo is the same way. Hes one of those tweener guys who probably wouldnt have gotten a scholly offer to play for bama, but might turn into a solid player with a couple of years work in practice.

[Tigermike 3,042]

If the BRYANT scholarship program bothers you, why don't you do some research on the scholarship program at Nebraska. They have some type of program where every kid in the state can get a scholarship and then walk on. That allows NEB to recruit outside the state for quality players. All those guys who could possibly be playing at smaller schools are on the practice squad at NEB.

[quietfan 233]

They also have to be a "unrecruited" signee. We cant go after some guy really hard and give him a bryant scholly.

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Do other schools get have this kind of thing? Shouldn't a scholly be a scholly? Is this guy just not good? What's the deal. We've got programs like this, but its specifically not for athletes. And, it has nothing to do with a particular coach. Doesn't that sound like a loophole for Bama to sign 26 a year?

Again, not a flame, just confused.

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Sounds a little confusing to me, too--and ripe for abuse.

Understand, I'm not accusing Bama of anything specifically and any other school could, and may, do the same thing. But it seems like a loophole or a bending of NCAA scholarship limits. Why not give out fifty, sixty, or more scholarships of this sort? I realize there is no requirement that such students compete in athletics, but it wouldn't be too hard to identify those Bama (or Auburn, or Oklahoma, etc) kids that are guaranteed to attend the school where they've dreamed of their whole life if they could just afford it, and have them "walk on" to football after their financial needs are met. They wouldn't have to be "recruited" beyond a little "backdoor" reminder that they can have the scholarship is available. [Of course, such back door deals probably violate NCAA regs, but they'd be mighty hard to monitor.] Out of 50-60+ "walk-ons" of this sort, I'm sure there would be a few gems that would have otherwise fallen to NCAA limits otherwise.

Again, I'm not singling out Bama since any school can and may do the same, but it just sounds like sure-fire way of dodging NCAA limits for those "legacies" that schools are sure they'd get if their bills were paid. Heck, what keeps me, if I had the money of a Bobby Lowder or Paul Bryant, Jr., from endowing a zillion such schollies? "No, you're not required to play football and we are not recruiting you for football (wink,wink), but one of the conditions for getting the scholarship is that you come from a football family and/or demonstrate great leadership in sports in high school."

I also realize that anyone with an academic scholarship or federal grant can walk on in football. But for those types of aid, the student has earned them academically or met the same federal requirements as the general student population. They aren't tied to athletics in any way, past or present.

Just wondering...

[BamaGrad03 0]

Thats a legit question. But you have to remember, this scholarship is for everyone. The amount of "football" players who use this scholly (maybe 1 or 2 a year) is small in comparsion to the amount of STUDENTS who use it every year and never play football. This wasnt originally setup with the thought of getting these kids in through a backdoor to play football.

If a great football player is recruited by USC, Florida, AU...there's no way he can come to UA on a bryant scholarship. Also, you ask what keeps us from giving out a ton of these? Well you have to remember, even if we had more than our 25 every year sign on (lets say we signed 10 bryant scholarships a year) We could still only have the maximum...what 85 players at any given time? So we would, in effect, be filling our roster with a bunch of tweeners who didnt have any other big time offers. It would be very counterproductive.

[quietfan 233]

I guess I see..but am still a little wary of abuse.

I didn't think there was any limit on how many players you could practice or dress out at home. I thought the "85" figure was just the limit on total athletic scholarships . I also know there is some limit on how many can travel. But I could well be wrong.

So again, if I have deep pockets, I get 100-200 guys dressing at home and practicing on "Bryant" scholarhsips (or "Jordan", "Dooley", etc--still not picking on any one school) and pick and choose the 85 that are most worthy to make the "A team". The rest are at least at my school and not at a rival.

[BamaGrad03 0]

I guess I see..but am still a little wary of abuse.

I didn't think there was any limit on how many players you could practice or dress out at home.  I thought the "85" figure was just the limit on total athletic scholarships .  I also know there is some limit on how many can travel. But I could well be wrong.

So again, if I have deep pockets, I get 100-200 guys dressing at home and practicing on "Bryant" scholarhsips (or "Jordan", "Dooley", etc--still not picking on any one school) and pick and choose the 85 that are most worthy to make the "A team".  The rest are at least at my school and not at a rival.

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But you have to think, if they were THAT good, they would have gotten a scholarship somewhere. If your rival didnt offer them, what does it matter?

Also, there are TONS of scholarships like this...on every campus. But instead of having a coaches name tied to it...its some other prominent figure. I knew a lot of guys who played football in college and got financial aid/scholarship from other avenues besides athletic scholarships. What if a guy gets a pell grant but walks on? Same thing IMO.

And you can only play/practice so many guys. Sure you could have 200 guys on some random scholly...but what good would it do you? There is a definite ceiling in utility you can get from a certain amount of players. The law of diminishing returns. The more practice time you have to spread around to average players...the less likely you are going to make any of them gameday worthy.

[AURainman 6]

The thing that is unnerving about hearing of this Bryant scholarship is that is directly tied in to football.

If the guy is a Bryant era legacy, he is eligible for a scholarship. That sounds more like an athletic scholarship than an academic one. But, if these guys are walk-on caliber, its all a moot point, right?