[Husker] Re: Scholarship limit question (fwd)

[Mike Nolan]

> I heard Steve Pederson address this last week on the radio.  One more
> thing to consider in addition to the 25 annual scholarships is that we
> get 5 in the spring.  So I think you can have an incoming scholarship
> class of 30 in any one year because we were using last spring's for
> this next class.  Not to mention if people leave for the NFL, etc.

The NCAA Handbook is not intended to be read by mere mortals.  :-)

I'm not at all sure what Steve was talking about with respect to those
5 scholarships.  The NCAA Handbook limits the number of initial counters
to 25 and the total number to 85.  Those are the only limits specified in
the Handbook for Division 1-A football.  (NCAA Bylaw 15.5.5.1)

Determing if someone is an initial counter is where it gets messy.  
The applicable section of the handbook is 15.5.5.3, which appears to me
to have several circular references in it.  (But I'm a computer programmer,
so I tend to think logically.)

As I understand it, JC players are generally not initial counters, so 
they're not part of the 25 player limit on initial counters.

Players who leave for the NFL aren't going to be part of the 25 initial
counters limit either, though if they were on scholarship they would be 
part of the 85 player limit.  

Getting all the recruits classified correctly and ensuring that all the
scholarship-athletes meet NCAA eligibility rules is why UNL has a full-time 
NCAA Compliance Officer.
--
Mike Nolan