We know that every player who wants one will be granted an extra year of eligibility based on an NCAA vote on 8/21. And it appears those players will be exempt from the 85 scholarship limit. So, if a team has 20 scholarship seniors this year, next year that team could, in theory, have 105 scholarship players.
So many messy details in regards to recruiting:
- Is the 'temporary' scholarship limit a hard set number or variable for each team based on # of seniors? Does the exemption run through the next several classes? It's hard to imagine all schools being on board with that, especially when you extend this into non-revenue sports
- What will be the recruiting impacts of schools that decide they can't take on an extra 10, 15, or 20 scholarships? Is Purdue in position for this?
- Will grad transfers be allowed in 2021 and do they count against the 85 limit or the 'exempted senior' list? In other words, if you recruit a senior from another team, does his exemption follow him to your team, does it remain with his original team, or does it vanish? Similarly, what if a player transfers away from your team- do you lose that exemption? Or can it be filled by another exempted player only (as opposed to a HS recruit)?
- If we see this play out with rosters in the ~100 scholarship player range in 2021, what will be the scholarship limits for 2022? Will it be dropped down to 85 immediately or stepped down over a few years? If you drop down to 85 immediately you could have an extremely small 2022 recruiting class nationally. But maybe an opportunity to pick up some real gems in the 2022 class if you know that and plan accordingly.
Maybe this is a least in part the reason we are not seeing many recent additions to the 2021 class. I don't think a lot of these details have been figured out yet, and coaches need to know how to plan their recruiting classes for the next few years. At a minimum, you want to ensure you have at least 15 or so open scholarships for 2022, whatever the limit is. If that means a small 2021 class, then so be it. Based on the quality of the class so far, maybe it is better to 'bank' some scholarships for 2022.
Unfortunately, any way this goes I see a lot of transfers in the near future (for all teams), both voluntary and 'less voluntary' in order to get these rosters back to size and at the same time make room for new recruits. For those who don't like the less desirable parts of high stakes D1 college sports, turn your heads.
So many messy details in regards to recruiting:
- Is the 'temporary' scholarship limit a hard set number or variable for each team based on # of seniors? Does the exemption run through the next several classes? It's hard to imagine all schools being on board with that, especially when you extend this into non-revenue sports
- What will be the recruiting impacts of schools that decide they can't take on an extra 10, 15, or 20 scholarships? Is Purdue in position for this?
- Will grad transfers be allowed in 2021 and do they count against the 85 limit or the 'exempted senior' list? In other words, if you recruit a senior from another team, does his exemption follow him to your team, does it remain with his original team, or does it vanish? Similarly, what if a player transfers away from your team- do you lose that exemption? Or can it be filled by another exempted player only (as opposed to a HS recruit)?
- If we see this play out with rosters in the ~100 scholarship player range in 2021, what will be the scholarship limits for 2022? Will it be dropped down to 85 immediately or stepped down over a few years? If you drop down to 85 immediately you could have an extremely small 2022 recruiting class nationally. But maybe an opportunity to pick up some real gems in the 2022 class if you know that and plan accordingly.
Maybe this is a least in part the reason we are not seeing many recent additions to the 2021 class. I don't think a lot of these details have been figured out yet, and coaches need to know how to plan their recruiting classes for the next few years. At a minimum, you want to ensure you have at least 15 or so open scholarships for 2022, whatever the limit is. If that means a small 2021 class, then so be it. Based on the quality of the class so far, maybe it is better to 'bank' some scholarships for 2022.
Unfortunately, any way this goes I see a lot of transfers in the near future (for all teams), both voluntary and 'less voluntary' in order to get these rosters back to size and at the same time make room for new recruits. For those who don't like the less desirable parts of high stakes D1 college sports, turn your heads.
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