Where exactly is Butch Davis going to put all those recruits?
NC State fans have a name for it. They call it the “waiver wire” and pretty much openly accuse Butch Davis of screwing kids by taking away scholarships from less talented players and giving them to new recruits. I am not sure it is that cutthroat but the N&O picks up on the fact that UNC needs roughly 13 spots to open up from players currently slotted for a scholarship to fit all 24 recruits who have given verbals.
The Tar Heels will lose 12 scholarship seniors after they complete the 2008 season vs. West Virginia at the Meineke Bowl on Dec. 27. But coach Butch Davis and his staff have already secured 24 verbal commitments for next season — and they’re still recruiting.
Football Bowl Subdivision teams are allowed a maximum of 85 scholarship players on the roster and can sign a limit of 25 athletes each year. So how does the equation work?
“It may seem like a large number of extra players right now, but it’s hard to judge … because at the end of the season, guys might leave, some of [the recruits] might not qualify; it’s just a fact of football,” said Allen Wallace, editor of SuperPrep magazine. “… It’s incredibly complicated, managing a football team in that regard. You have to weigh a lot of different factors — injuries, transfers, borderline academic problems.”
Davis is also still recruiting and that number of commits could grow but at the same time might lessen depending on who actually signs their LOI. The question is how does it get resolved? Roy Williams is quoted as saying these things tend to work out as they did for him in 2004-05 when he had JameSon Curry, JR Smith, Marvin Williams and Quentin Thomas on tap with ten spots already filled. Had all four come in UNC would have exceeded the limit by one. Instead Smith went to the NBA and Curry was convicted of selling drugs working the problem out for Roy.
In all likelihood something similar could happen here. Players will quit, transfer, Hakeem Nicks might go to the NFL, some recruits won’t qualify, some recruits will enroll down the road. It is definitely a huge puzzle and as Allen Wallace points out hugely complicated. The real debate in this whether a coach can or should cut a current player off in favor of giving his scholarship to a new recruit? This seems to be the beef Wolfpack fans have with Davis thus their use of the term “waiver wire” which is used in professional sports to cut a player a team no longer wants.
Scholarships are one year contracts and must be renewed for every player each season. Granted when a player receives an offer to play at a school, the general understanding is that player is getting a four year ride. So if a coach decides to boot a player off scholarship, it appears unseemly in nature. There is a absence of loyalty on the part of the coach, especially if a player has worked hard for the team despite not playing or being the 84th best player on the team. In my mind there are no easy answers and Davis says his goal is to put together the best roster possible. What we don’t know if how he might get to that goal and that is not even getting into the possibility Davis might rescind scholarship offers to lower rated players when the time comes to make sure everyone fits.
Needless to say it can be a messy business rife with decisions I do not envy in the least.
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State’s just pissed because they couldn’t get enough players to fill their scholarship allotment to begin with this year. UNC is hardly the only school that overcommits. That same article points out that dook is already up to 26 commits.
It’s simple business strategy and it’s the same way you book an airline. When a flight is booked, if there are 225 available seats, they’ll sell up to 235 seats on the assumption that some people aren’t going to make the flight for whatever reason.
Similarly, football coaches have to do the same thing. Transfers will play a role. (I guarantee Mike Paulus is gone this offseason) Players won’t make the team initially because of eligibility concerns or qualification concerns. And let’s not forget that verbal commits aren’t binding, so I’m willing to bet at least a couple of the current commits ends up signing with another school on the first Wednesday in February. After all, UNC’s own Greg Little was a Notre Dame commit until the day before Signing Day 2007.
The day I give a horse’s ass what State folks think will be the day that they win another NCAA title in basketball. I expect that to be a long time.
I don’t think Butch is dumb enough to get into the habit of cutting scholarships due to poor performance on the field, as long as the player is giving the effort. That would lead to players thinking twice about committing, and who wants that? This sounds like a standard route that many schools take, no big deal.
It’s just another case of Wolfpackers trying to stir up some dust. I think they need to spend some time thinking about Rutgers and how they are going to handle ACC play in basketball with a division 2 point guard running the show.
Also in the beginning of the Era that shall not be mentioned by THF, our coach did not understand the recruiting game as well as Amato did. He asked why did Chuck say he got more than he can talk, only to see all the things talked about here come to pass and remain under the limit. Now if you dump a poor performer for a better player, well I have tow thoughts on that. First, would anyone complain if we dumped a poor performer and there were extra scholarships, I doubt it. Second if we dump a poor player just to get a better one, it would tend to tell the others, coach really does not care about me and kids stop coming. Again it has been said this i s a very complicated business and one I am glad to watch from the sidelines.
Dave Glenn on 850 the Buzz radio always points out that even on signing day, not all those players will end up enrolled in the fall. Mainly for academic reasons, some go to prep school, some go to junior college, etc. As for the Heels, everything will work out like they always do.
NC State has a lot of brass to be talking. I mean, for cryin’ out loud, they recruit cows.
Oh, wait, my wife reminds me that that’s for the FACULTY.
I hope it doesn’t become an issue. I thought this was common and wouldn’t be newsworthy. I guess I was wrong. I am holding out optimism this will die, but it may come back to bit us. You can never tell til signing day.
I think the article did a good job of explaning what happens on most teams to a degree. Of course, State fans are melting down due to their over concern of all things that happen at UNC.
Just a reminder that TOB was cleaning house this past year with several transfers and players simply being dismissed from the program. TOB’s famous “we are a performanced based organization” are viewed by State fan as TOB’s Marine like toughness, etc. BD and staff are doing the same, in fact, BD and staff are giving lots of players chances at positions that Bunting would never dreamed of.
If one looks at the numbers and digs a little bit (even without inside knowledge) I think we are losing 18 players. That would leave 5 spots (doubt D Tate will sign) for decommits and non qualifiers.
By position we lose (I predict)
1 QB Paulus (and possibly Hansen to transfer)
1 FB Rome
1 TE Quinn
5 WR (including Thornton)
4 OL
3 LB (including Tinsley) I’ll bet one of the younger ones transfers as well
1 CB (Rich)
1 S
1 Punter
It is a tough job and there’s no doubt that it’s more than a full time job. You just have to love the logic – he doesn’t care about the kids. I know of at least one scholarship BD awarded mid-season to an existing player. How should that be addressed in the media or with State fans? I am in total agreement on the State comment – don’t care, good luck with your own team.
Go Heels!