Transfers count against the 25-man rule, plus other scholarship FAQs

[BMF]

I saw this on the interwebs and figured it's a good time to post this. If we have a player transfer we DO NOT get another initial counter. Please take a read and edumacate yoself:


There are the two rules:

• A team can only carry 85 scholarship players in a given year
• A team can only bring in 25 new players per year, including transfers and recruits

Q: Don't seniors not count due to COVID?

COVID 85 exemption: for the 2021 season, seniors who were on your 2020 roster and elect to return do not count against the 85-man limit, as the NCAA has granted them an extra year.

Q: With all the the players transferring out, can a school take more players?

There is no COVID or transfer exemption for the 25 initial rule. The only rule change concerns the 85. No matter how many players transfer out, it does not increase the number of new players a school can sign. And there is no pending proposal or legislation on this which would impact 2021, as of this writing, despite baseless message board and social media rumors to the contrary.

Q: I see some teams can take more than 25. How?

If a school was under its 25 cap in the previous cycle, and the player enrolls early, he can be backcounted. It's like an accounting trick.

 

[soflagator]

Thanks for the insight. Hopefully we get a couple guys transferring out to make room for even more. Thanks again.

 

[CGgater]

@BMF, thanks for posting!

 

[MJMGator]

Couldn’t this have gone in the transfer rumor mill thread?

 

[BMF]

Couldn’t this have gone in the transfer rumor mill thread?

Or the recruiting thread? So many retards asking this question I figured I'd make it a thread...but you're right. I should probably plug the info into any thread that deals with transfers or recruiting.

 

[Swamp Donkey]

There are the two rules:

• A team can only carry 85 scholarship players in a given year
• A team can only bring in 25 new players per year, including transfers and recruits.

This is from another board (Barn). It is consistent with what a GA (now coach) explained to me:

Over the years we have seen many people use the terms signees & initial counters (ICs) synonymously including by nearly every recruiting reporter. The reality is these 2 terms are not the same thing. This post & thread will attempt to clear up the confusion most recruiting fans & reporters have on the terms as well as the yearly numbers. Not quoting a source because there is too much to quote but all info comes from the NCAA Manual which you may have to download to see I was going to also use the AU Compliance Corner webpage which answered many compliance questions but it was apparently removed today.

In a nut shell signees are high school & juco prospects who sign an NLI or Financial Aid Agreement (FAA) intending to to receive financial aid/scholly to play football for the school he signs with. NLIs are binding for both the prospect & school if all requirements are met while FAAs only bind the school to the prospect. The max number of signees a school can have each year is 25. Even though high school & juco prospects are the only prospective student athletes who can sign a NLI or FAA they don't have to sign them to enroll at a school. Per the AU compliance page Prospective student athletes can also sign an admission award letter to be accepted into the school. Those award letters are not considered part of signing limits.

Initial Counters are not prospective student athletes anymore. They are current students who have received their first aid/scholly from the school they are attending & include high schoolers, jucos, & transfers. The max number of ICs a D1 school is also 25 but it is completely separate from the signings 25 limits.. An IC can now count to the current academic year getting his first aid from the school in the Spring or Summer semesters just as Fall ICs already do. if that school does not have 25 ICs in the current academic year. Example, a player going on scholly the 1st time in May 2019 can now count in the same IC group as Fall 2018 IC kids. Before last year only January ICs could count with the previous Fall ICs if the school had room. The IC number matters more than the signees number as it's the number of actual new student athletes on scholly for the 1st time.

Let's look at the 2018 list as an example. We signed 24 prospects with the intent on them becoming initial counter should they qualify. Of those 24, 20 are initial counters right now for 2018. There is a 21 in Grad Transfer OT Jack Drisxcoll. If/when Schwarts, Sipposs, & Miller get their 1st aid/scholly at AU then AU will have 24 ICs for 2018. There is room to have 1 more new scholarship player without him signing a NLI or FAA.

Also any student athlete who has been at the school for at least 2 years does not count against a yearly 25 IC limit if he gets aid/scholly from the school for the 1st time after that 2 year period..

Edited January 18, 2019 by ellitor

 

[CGgater]

Or the recruiting thread? So many retards asking this question...

 

[NVGator]

So it’s one for one, right? Lose one, gain one.

What about the redshirt rule? Anyone can redshirt this year?

 

[soflagator]

So it’s one for one, right? Lose one, gain one.

What about the redshirt rule? Anyone can redshirt this year?

 

[LagoonGator68]

So it’s one for one, right? Lose one, gain one.

What about the redshirt rule? Anyone can redshirt this year?

Medical hardships and gray shirts change everything....

 

[Swamp Donkey]

So it’s one for one, right? Lose one, gain one.

I actually thought you were serious first second

 

[Swamp Donkey]

Medical hardships and gray shirts change everything....

/crete