A key part to the signing day puzzle is having enough scholarships on hand to sign all the kids. You wouldn't believe how long it took me to explain this to Robb Akey.
After the jump, I do my best to figure out how many scholarships Boise State has used, how many it has left, and how the 2011 recruiting class will fit in to the Broncos' plans. Help me out with walk-ons I missed or scholarship strategies I'm not aware of. Let's discuss.
Note: The best thing I have read all day was Dr. Saturday's piece on the college football fad of oversigning, which is exactly what it sounds like. It comes highly recommended. The story, not the oversigning.
The rules
College football teams can have 85 scholarships per roster and 25 scholarships per recruiting class.
Boise State's scholarship update
The most recent edition of the Boise State roster features 91 players. Twenty of these players are known walk-ons who are not under scholarship. That leaves 71 players with scholarships and 14 schollies available for the 2011 recruiting class.
Boise State's recruiting class
The Broncos currently have 18 verbal commitments for 2011 and appear to be after at least one or two more.
So you're saying Boise State is over its allotted number of scholarships?
By my count, yes. But a lot of roster shuffling happens between now and fall practice. Players leave, players get suspended, players wind up with redshirts they don't want. Boise State can get away with a couple more recruit commitments and still be fine.
Scholarship strategies
Grayshirting
When a player takes a grayshirt year, he delays his enrollment in school until second semester and cannot practice or participate with the team. However, he is allowed to get bigger and faster and stronger, which is why Boise State chooses this route for so many of its incoming recruits.
Grayshirts do not count against the scholarship total. Players in the 2011 recruiting class who are expected to grayshirt include:
- TE Hayden Plinke, 6-4, 230, Glencoe HS (Ore.) (confirmation)
- NB Corey Bell, 5-11, 199, Capital (Ida.) (speculation)
But we really never know until Boise State tells us.
Transferring
Or Nick Lomaxing, as I sometimes call it. Switching schools happens more often in the big BCS leagues where talent and ego flow like a river. Former BSU QB Lomax is probably the most recent and most notable example of a Boise State transfer leaving the program and opening up a scholarship.
Medical hardship
Major injuries can open a scholarship if the player has to sit out the year. Often, a team will use a redshirt in situations like this, but the NCAA can grant medical hardship in special cases (like those where a redshirt has already been burned).
Academics
Not all scholarship players pan out academically (Malcolm Johnson, so far), which can open up scholarships.
Suspension
Unspecified rules violations mostly. Sometimes it's a cover because you need a free scholarship, other times players really do screw the pooch.
Cuts
As Dr. Saturday explained, you are the world's worst person if you lead along an 18-year-old kid by making him think he has a place on the team only to take that place away when a better option surfaces. *cough* Nick Saban *cough* Cutting players on scholarship because you recruited too many guys is evil. But it happens.
Boise State's walk-on list
Here are the players I could confirm as walk-ons for the Broncos. If you have any information on other players who are walk-ons, please let me know and I will update the post. In particular, anyone know if Michael Ames received a scholarship? My Chadd Cripe emergency journalism phone is out of order.
- K Trevor Harman
- K Dan Goodale
- LB Robbie Lusk
- LB Junior Alvarado
- LB Travis Saxton
- OL Greg Dohmen
- WR Alexander Miles
- RB Drew Wright
- LB Matt Wilson
- DT David Cushing
- LB Dustin Kamper
- CB Josh Borgman
- LB Hazen Moss
- LS Chris Roberson
- LS James Crawford
- K Jimmy Pavel
- RB Carlo Audagnotti
- LB Dane Turner
- LB Billy Derome
- DT Matt Paradis
- FB Jake Hess